On-street EV charger grant: no driveway, still covered
The on-street EV charger grant covers drivers who park on the road rather than a private driveway. Through a cross-pavement cable channel and the OZEV chargepoint grant, you can claim up to £500 per socket towards a home charger — without owning off-street parking.
Am I eligible? →How to claim, step by step
Check your parking
On-street or shared parking near your home qualifies. You generally need to be able to park close to the property wall where the charger and cable channel will sit.
Survey & council permission
Your installer confirms a safe cable route and arranges any council permission needed for a cross-pavement channel — many local authorities now have a fast-track process.
£500 off the invoice
The grant is applied directly to your install price by the OZEV-approved installer, so you only pay the balance.
Last reviewed Jun 2026 · figures from the published 2026 scheme rules.
How the on-street EV charger grant works
Around a third of UK households have no driveway, which historically meant no home charging and no grant. The current scheme closes that gap: if you have no off-street parking, you can still claim up to £500 per socket towards a home chargepoint, using a cross-pavement solution to run the cable safely from your wall to a car parked on the street outside.
The grant covers 75% of the combined cost of the chargepoint and its installation, capped at £500. It is claimed by your installer in exactly the same way as a driveway install — the only extra step is permission for the cable to cross the public pavement, which your local council grants and your installer normally arranges on your behalf.
Who qualifies and exact eligibility
To qualify you need: a home with no private off-street parking; the ability to park your car on the street directly outside, or in shared parking close to the property; an eligible electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle (owned, on order, or leased for six months or more); an OZEV-approved installer; and a chargepoint model on the government's approved smart-charger list. If you rent, you'll also need your landlord's written permission to fit the wall unit and channel.
Council permission for the cross-pavement channel is the eligibility step unique to on-street installs. Not every authority allows them yet, and some have specific approved gully or channel products. Your installer checks your address against the local policy before quoting, so you know up front whether your street is covered.
What a cross-pavement solution is
A cross-pavement solution is a recessed channel or gully set flush into the pavement that holds your charging cable below the surface, so there is no trip hazard and no cable left lying across a public footpath. You lift a small lid, drop the cable in, and close it when you're done. These products are the reason the on-street grant exists — they make road-side home charging safe and council-approvable.
Costs vary with the channel length and the council's requirements, but the £500 grant applies to the chargepoint-and-install element just as it would on a driveway. Some councils also run separate on-street residential chargepoint schemes (using lamp-post or bollard chargers) — those are public infrastructure rather than your own home charger, and are worth checking alongside this grant.
Timelines and common pitfalls
The install itself is a half-day job once approved, but the council permission for the cross-pavement channel can add one to a few weeks depending on the authority. The most common pitfall is assuming every street qualifies — it depends on local policy, pavement width and whether you can reliably park outside your own home. Don't pay for hardware before your installer has confirmed council sign-off.
The other pitfall is confusing the home on-street grant with public charging. This grant is for your own chargepoint and cable channel; it is not a public roadside charger. If you can't get a channel approved, ask your council about their residential on-street charging scheme instead.
Questions
Can I get an EV charger grant without a driveway?
Yes. The on-street provision of the EV chargepoint grant covers drivers with no off-street parking, worth up to £500 per socket, using a cross-pavement cable channel to charge from a car parked on the road.
What is a cross-pavement solution?
A recessed channel or gully set flush into the pavement that holds your charging cable below the surface, so there's no trip hazard. It lets you charge safely from an on-street parking space and is what makes the on-street grant possible.
Do I need council permission for an on-street charger?
Yes, for the cross-pavement channel that crosses the public footpath. Your OZEV-approved installer checks your local council's policy and, in most areas, arranges the permission for you before quoting.
Is the on-street grant really £500?
Yes — up to £500 per socket, covering 75% of the combined chargepoint and installation cost for people without off-street parking, applied directly to your invoice.
Who qualifies for the on-street EV charger grant?
Drivers with no private off-street parking who can park on the street outside their home, have an eligible EV, use an OZEV-approved installer and an approved chargepoint, and can get council permission for a cross-pavement channel.
Are there any free EV chargers anymore?
There's no fully free home charger, but the grant plus occasional installer or energy-supplier deals can cut the cost sharply. Treat 'free install' offers as market context and always check what the grant covers first.