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Putting you in charge of charging

Pavement channels and charging gullies, and other cross-pavement solutions

The terms pavement channel, cross-pavement channel, cross-pavement solution, and gully all refer to mechanisms for those without driveways to connect to their home electricity supply when their car is parked on street. This enables them to cross the driveway divide.

Cross-pavement channels have been around since 2022, when trials of Gul-e took place in Oxfordshire. However, interest has increased recently. EVs have become more mainstream, Deborah Mead has invested in Kerbo Charge on Dragons' Den, and the government has announced one grant to residents using cross-pavement channel and another grant to highway authorities to subsidise channels.

The final section of this page discusses other proposed cross-pavement solutions: cable protectors, and underground and overhead methods of passing cables to the car.

Contents

Can I get a pavement channel?

Your highway authority decides whether you can get a pavement channel. They usually decide how much you have to pay and require you to sign a licence which ensures conditions of use, and they may charge an annual fee to cover any maintenance. In two-tier areas, your highway authority will be your county council. In unitary areas, it will be your unitary authority.

To see your highway authority's position on pavement channels, please enter your postcode:

or

Parking competition

You will not get any right to reserve a parking space on a public road solely for EV charging through a pavement channel. While some authorities do offer reserved spaces for disabled drivers, highway authorities are generally keen to avoid privatisation of public parking spaces through pavement channels.

Manufacturers of pavement channels emphasise that most drivers will not need to charge every day, and discussion with neighbours could help free spaces - as long as neighbour cooperation is voluntary.

Process and planning permission

Because there are no set methods of administering channel applications, the process varies from authority to authority much like dropped kerb applications.

The general pattern involves application, initial approval, a gap for planning permission, installation of the home charger, and finally installation of the channel, which may be a few months after initial application.

England's planning rules treat chargepoints differently depending on whether they are "within an area lawfully used for off-street parking" or not (The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2, Class D and E, emphasis mine). In practice this means that planning permission is almost always required alongside pavement channels, although there is a consulation open on changing this.

Why won't my local authority let me have a pavement channel?

Most UK highway authorities do not permit pavement channels at present, although 81 of 100 eligible authorities in England have applied for the government's Pavement Channel Grant, and Northern Ireland's Department of Infrastructure has approved channels across the whole of Northern Ireland. Highway authorities are in charge of pavements (or "footways"), and therefore have to consider the risk they bear from dangerous cable use, channel defects, and the possibility that all the pavement channels in their area become redundant in the long term, entailing removal costs. This risk must be balanced with the risks of climate change, and the driveway divide giving people an incentive to trail cables over the footway in an unregulated way.

London Councils, who advise all the boroughs of London, published guidance for London boroughs days after the Pavement Channel Grant was released. It contains nearly six pages (13-18) on challenges of channels. Please read this report before contacting your highway authority about pavement channels.

With thanks to the good work of London Councils, here are the key questions your highway authority must answer before saying yes to pavement channels:

Costs and grants

Assessment fees

Many highway authorities carry out assessment of suitability before they grant permission for pavement channels. They may charge a fee for this.

If the highway authority delegates the assessment of suitability to the pavement channel manufacturer, they may charge an application fee for this as well.

Installation fees

Installation fees include the cost of the channel unit, but not the charger.

Installation fees set by local authorities may include a commuted sum to cover any costs they may be liable for in the long term, such as replacing or removing the channel. Other authorities may do this via a regular licence or maintenance fee (below)

Installation fees set by local authorities may also include administrative costs.

Licence fees

Some authorities demand an annual licence fee to cover maintenance of pavement channels and the risk of large costs down the line.

For example, Enfield charge an annual fee of £103.

Planning permission

The government is running a consultation from November 2025 to January 2026 on making both cross-pavement channels and associated chargepoints permitted development in England.

However, at present in England, planning permission will be necessary in the case of cross-pavement channels. The charger on your wall definitely requires planning permission, as EV chargers are only permitted development in the case of off-street parking. Your planning authority may also require planning permission for the channel itself, but this varies by planning authority.

Planning application fees in England are determined by the UK Government. Full planning applications cost £528, however charger installations may qualify as operations within the boundary of an existing dwellinghouse, for purposes ancillary to the enjoyment of it, in which case the application fee is £262.

Some authorities may use a workaround to avoid the planning process. For instance West Berkshire tell you they recommend you apply for planning permission but will not see it as expedient to enforce against you if you do not.

Charger cost

The installation fee for the channel does not include the charger, which needs to be installed at the same time. Highway authorities almost always insist on a dedicated charging unit when they grant permission for pavement channels.

A charger plus installation can cost around £1000. See our home chargers page for more information.

Pavement channel companies may have an arrangement with home charger companies. For example, Kerbo Charge offer a £250 discount on the MyEnergi Zappi.

Chargepoint grant for on-street households

The £350 chargepoint grant for households with on-street parking applies to your home charger, not to the channel itself. However, it is only applicable in situations where you are getting a cross-pavement channel.

You submit the application online before the channel and charger are installed. Once the government notify you that you are eligible, your installer takes over the grant claim, and the £350 ultimately comes off your invoice to the chargepoint installer.

Pavement Channel Grant (England)

In contrast, the Pavement Channel Grant goes to your highway authority or combined authority. Not all eligible authorities are applying for the funding. The authority then decides how to spend the grant. One possibility is that they use it to lower the fee they (or a channel installer) set for channel installation.

An enquiry by the Fast Charge found that only 81 of 100 eligible authorities (and 22 of 32 London Boroughs) made an application for this funding. To find out whether your authority applied, find your authority here.

OZEV aim to distribute this funding before the end of the 2025-26 financial year.

Cross-pavement charging grant (Scotland)

In some areas of Scotland, there is a separate cross-pavement charging grant worth up to £3,500.

Overall costs

There is significant variation in all the above costs, but the assessment fee, installation fee, planning permission, and home charger can total about £3000. Discounts from the chargepoint grant and the Pavement Channel Grant may swing this back towards £2000.

Those who drive higher mileages will see the benefit of cheaper charging more quickly. It may take two years to break even on a pavement channel, but from then on, you are saving.

Pavement channel manufacturers

Kerbo Charge

The Kerbo Charge channel is plastic, able to flex with uneven pavements, and has a lid which is sprung to close itself.

Kerbo Charge is the pavement channel manufacturer which is live in the highest number of local authorities in the UK.

In February 2024, the company received investment from Deborah Meaden on Dragons' Den. In September 2025, Kerbo Charge acquired Charge Gully (below).

Charge Gully

The Charge Gully channel is metal, rigid, and has a lockable lid.

Charge Gully is not live with many authorities in the UK.

In September 2025, Charge Gully was acquired by Kerbo Charge (above).

Gul-e

The Gul-e channel is metal and has no lid. Instead, bristles ensure the cable cannot come loose. The channel has no moving parts and is similar to drainage channels.

Gul-e is the pavement channel manufacturer who are live with the second highest number of local authorities, and were the first to go live with a dedicated product.

As "Gul-e" sounds the same as "gully", this manufacturer is often referred to as "Oxford Gul-e" or "ODS Gul-e" after its origins at Oxford Direct Services, an innovation arm of Oxford City Council.

Pavecross

The Pavecross channel is made of both metal and plastic, and has a rotating closing mechanism.

Pavecross is not live with many authorities in the UK.

Others

Some authorities are trialling products which were developed for purposes other than EV charging cables, such as drainage channels. However, the four above are those which are listed by name and with a photograph in the London Councils guidance.

Cross-pavement solutions beside channels

Cable protectors

Few highway authorities explicitly permit residents to trail bare EV cables over the pavement like some people do with vacuum cleaners to reach their car.

However, a handful such as Hampshire County Council and Manchester City Council give explicit guidance on how best to use cable protectors.

Some highway authorities which object to trailing cables over the pavement (either with or without a cable cover) may seek enforcement to prevent it. Enforcement can be complicated because of the temporary nature of trailing cables and a legal grey area around Section 162 of the Highways Act 1980 (England and Wales):

Highways Act 1980, Section 162: Penalty for placing rope, etc. across highway.

A person who for any purpose places any rope, wire or other apparatus across a highway in such a manner as to be likely to cause danger to persons using the highway is, unless he proves that he had taken all necessary means to give adequate warning of the danger, guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [level 3 on the standard scale].

As a result, often highway authorities in England and Wales neither enforce against trailing cables nor condone their use.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, the legal wording is more clear-cut, and trailing a cable is an offence.

Reputable home charger installers are reluctant to install chargers in the absence of planning permission and authority permission where required. They often ask you to obtain highway authority permission, which can be difficult to get even if the highway authority has no intention of enforcing against you.

There is an argument that if people are going to put cables across the street anyway, then a controlled way is better than an uncontrolled way. The difference in local authority eyes is that all the liability sits with the resident if they go ahead in an unsanctioned way.

Trojan Home

Trojan Energy produce flat chargepoint sockets, flush to the pavement, close to the kerb. As seen in Brent, Barnet and a few other London boroughs, Trojan's initial goal was to install public chargers without cluttering the street.

However, Trojan have now pitched to market their home-connected Trojan Home solution as their first option. Trojan Home chargepoints connect to a domestic electricity supply via a permanent cable running underground beneath the pavement.

Trojan Home is newer than the public charging Trojan Hub, but several authorities have signed up to trials.

While Trojan Home is a cross-pavement solution, it does not put you in charge of your tariffs. Trojan operate a subscription model. One advantage over standard pavement channels is that the subscription allows you to charge at other Trojan chargepoints if the space outside your home is taken.

Overhead solutions

ChargeArm and Nodum are the main proponents of overhead solutions to pass cables from houses to cars. Highway authorities are in general dismissive of such solutions because of the risk to safety of either the cable or the overhead apparatus falling upon the public footway.

You may have seen people come up with improvised overhead solutions, such as tying cables around signposts or trees. Highway authorities are very likely to object to this, and may seek enforcement if they can fund it. As with cable protectors, there is an argument that if people are going to do it anyway, then a controlled way is better than an uncontrolled way.