No Driveway? How to Charge an Electric Car in Northampton

Plenty of Northampton homes have no driveway, and a home charger needs somewhere to put the car. Here is what the council offers, what the rules say about cables and pavements, and the options that are realistic today.

The Northampton picture

In West Northamptonshire, 23.1% of households live in terraces and 13.2% in flats, and 45.1% run two or more cars or vans (Census 2021). The Department for Transport counted 634 public EV chargers in the area on 1 July 2026 — 144.2 per 100,000 people, against 174.9 for the UK. For a terraced street, the public network is part of the answer, and the council has a plan to grow it.

Option 1: the council’s on-street chargers

West Northamptonshire Council has an online form for residents without driveways to register interest in an on-street charger. It is careful about what that means: registering is not an assurance that your street will get a charge point, but every request is considered. The council has appointed char.gy to deliver more than 3,000 charging sockets under the government’s LEVI scheme, many of them in existing lamp columns, with priority for streets without off-street parking. Its programme page, updated on 13 August 2026, says installation is expected to begin towards the end of 2026.

Option 2: a home charger, but no cable across the pavement

The council says private charging cables must not be run across public roads, pavements or footpaths, and that its highways team is still reviewing how cross-pavement channels could be introduced. National rules are changing too: under the new permitted development rules that start on 21 October 2026, a home charger whose cable has to cross a footway is only permitted if the cable crosses by an authorised cross-pavement solution — one installed by, or with the permission of, the highway authority. A gully you install yourself, without the council’s authorisation, does not qualify, and until West Northamptonshire authorises a scheme there is no authorised way to run a home charger’s cable across a pavement here.

Option 3: make a driveway

If the front garden allows it, a dropped kerb creates the off-street space a home charger needs. The council’s page (updated 15 September 2026) sets a licence and inspection fee of £330, requires an unobstructed space at least 5 metres deep and 3 metres wide within your property, and says that on an A, B or C road you must obtain planning permission first. Decisions can take up to 28 days. Cost the crossover before you cost the charger.

Option 4: share a charger

The council points residents to community schemes that let neighbours rent out a home charger: Zap-Home, Co Charger and Place2Park. It is not a permanent answer for everyone, but it works on a street where one household has a driveway.

What about grants?

The government’s EV Chargepoint Grant pays 75% of the cost up to £500 per socket, but not to owner-occupiers of houses. It is open to flat owners, renters and landlords whose property has its own private off-street parking, and the separate on-street version needs a cross-pavement solution — which Northampton has not yet authorised. All the schemes are confirmed only until 31 March 2027.

If you do have, or can create, off-street parking, the costs, the planning rules and the grants are set out on our EV charger installation Northampton page.