No-Driveway EV Charging: Solutions for Manchester Terraced Rental Properties

Greater Manchester has more terraced housing than almost any other region in England. Streets across Levenshulme, Longsight, Gorton, Fallowfield, Salford, Oldham and Rochdale are lined with rows of Victorian and Edwardian terraces, most of which open directly onto the pavement with no driveway, no garage and no off-street parking of any kind.

As electric vehicle adoption accelerates — driven by the Government's ZEV mandate requiring 80 per cent of new car sales to be zero-emission by 2030 — landlords and tenants in these properties face a genuinely difficult question: how do you charge an electric car when you have nowhere to put a charger?

The obvious answer, running an extension cable from the front room window across the pavement, is dangerous and non-compliant. But it is not the only answer. This guide sets out the practical, legal and compliant options available to landlords and tenants in Manchester's terraced rental stock.

Why Standard Home Chargers Do Not Work Here

A typical home EV charger — a 7kW wallbox mounted on the exterior wall of a house — is designed for properties with dedicated off-street parking. The charger sits on the wall near the driveway, the cable reaches the vehicle and no public footpath is involved.

In a terraced street, this arrangement falls apart. The front door opens directly onto the pavement. The car is parked on the public road, separated from the property by a council-maintained footpath. Running a charging cable across that pavement creates a trip hazard for pedestrians and breaches the Highways Act 1980, which makes it an offence to obstruct a public highway without lawful authority. Local authorities can issue fixed penalty notices and require the obstruction to be removed.

Beyond the legal position, there are practical insurance implications. If a pedestrian trips over a cable stretched across the pavement and is injured, the property owner or tenant responsible for placing the cable faces a personal injury claim with very little defence. Most household and landlord insurance policies explicitly exclude liability arising from obstructing the public highway.

For landlords, there is an additional problem. Even if a wallbox could be mounted on the front wall, the vehicle is parked in a public space with no guarantee the tenant's car will be directly outside the property. The charging cable would need to reach an unpredictable distance along the street, which no domestic charger is designed to do.

Cross-Pavement Cable Channel Solutions

One of the most promising solutions for terraced properties is the cross-pavement cable channel. These are purpose-built conduits, manufactured by companies such as Trojan and UrbanElectric, that sit flush with the pavement surface and allow a charging cable to pass safely from the property wall to the kerb edge.

The channel is installed by cutting a narrow trench across the footpath, laying the conduit and reinstating the surface so it sits level with the surrounding pavement. When the charger is in use, the cable runs through the channel below foot level. When not in use, the channel sits closed and flush, presenting no trip hazard.

Installation requires a licence from the local highway authority. In Manchester, this means applying to Manchester City Council or the relevant borough council for permission to make an opening in the footpath. The process typically takes several weeks and involves demonstrating that the installation will not obstruct pedestrian access or damage underground services.

Costs for a cross-pavement cable channel installation, including the wallbox charger, trenching, reinstatement and council licence fees, typically fall between £1,500 and £3,000. The question of who pays — landlord or tenant — depends on the tenancy agreement and the specifics of any tenant right to charge request. In many cases the tenant funds the installation, but the landlord must give consent and may need to arrange the electrical connection through a qualified installer.

Community Charging Hubs

Not every terraced street needs a charger on every house. Community charging hubs — shared facilities located in nearby car parks, on council-owned land or in converted spaces — offer a practical alternative that requires no installation work at the property itself.

Greater Manchester has been a beneficiary of the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, a Government programme administered through local authorities to support the rollout of public charging in residential areas where off-street parking is limited. LEVI funding has enabled the installation of charging hubs in locations specifically chosen to serve terraced streets and other housing without driveways.

For landlords, community hubs are attractive because they involve no capital expenditure, no building work and no ongoing maintenance responsibility. The chargers are publicly owned and maintained by the charging network operator. Landlords can market their rental properties as having convenient EV charging nearby, which is increasingly relevant to prospective tenants.

The limitation is availability. Not every street has a hub within comfortable walking distance, and spaces may be shared with other users. But as the network expands across Greater Manchester, community hubs will become a standard part of the charging landscape in terraced areas.

On-Street Lamp Post and Bollard Chargers

Another solution that requires no action from landlords is the growing network of on-street chargers installed on existing street furniture. Several charging providers now offer units that attach to lamp posts or are installed as standalone bollards on the pavement edge, providing slow charging at 5 to 7kW — enough to fully charge most electric vehicles overnight.

Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have been rolling out on-street charging points as part of the wider Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) electric vehicle strategy. These chargers are particularly well suited to terraced streets because they use existing electrical infrastructure, occupy minimal pavement space and provide overnight charging at a rate that matches most residents' needs.

From a landlord's perspective, on-street chargers require no installation, no permission, no cost and no maintenance. Their presence near a rental property is simply a benefit to be aware of and, where relevant, to mention in property listings. Tenants pay for charging through the network operator's app, just as they would at any public charger.

Solutions for Properties With Rear Access

Not all terraced properties lack off-street space entirely. Many have rear yards, back alleys or small gardens accessible from a back lane. Where a vehicle can be parked behind the property — even occasionally — a wallbox charger can be installed on the rear wall with the cable reaching the vehicle in the yard.

This arrangement avoids the pavement issue entirely. The charger is on private property, the cable does not cross any public highway and the installation follows the same process as any standard residential EV charger installation. Cable routing from the consumer unit to the rear wall may be longer than a typical front-of-house installation, which can add to the cost, but it is a straightforward electrical job for a qualified installer.

Landlords should be aware that properties in conservation areas or those with listed building status may require planning permission for external electrical installations. In most cases, a small wallbox on a rear wall is considered permitted development, but it is worth checking with the local planning authority before proceeding.

Landlord Obligations and Tenant Rights

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 and subsequent regulations give tenants the right to request the installation of EV charging equipment at their rented property. Landlords cannot unreasonably refuse such a request.

What counts as a reasonable refusal is narrowly defined. Genuine structural concerns — for example, a shared wall that cannot safely support a charger — may qualify. Listed building restrictions or the absence of any feasible installation location may also be considered reasonable. However, a blanket refusal on grounds of inconvenience or cost preference is unlikely to stand up.

Where a tenant funds the installation, the landlord's obligation is primarily to grant consent and ensure the work is carried out by a qualified, registered installer. Where the landlord funds the installation, grants and funding schemes may be available to offset costs, including the OZEV grant for landlords which covers a proportion of installation costs for rental properties.

Responsibility for ongoing electricity costs should be agreed in writing before installation. In most tenancies, the tenant pays for the electricity they use for charging, either through the property's meter or via a separate sub-meter installed as part of the charger circuit.

Electrical Safety and Compliance

Whatever charging solution is chosen, the electrical installation must comply with BS 7671 (the IET Wiring Regulations) and Part P of the Building Regulations, which covers electrical work in dwellings. EV charger installation is notifiable work under Part P, meaning it must be carried out by a competent person registered with a scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA, or inspected by building control.

The charger circuit should be protected by its own dedicated RCD and MCB or RCBO at the consumer unit, with appropriate cable sizing for the load and route length. Proper earthing is critical — particularly in older terraced properties where the existing earthing arrangement may be a TT system with an earth electrode rather than a PME supply.

Once installed, the charger circuit forms part of the property's fixed electrical installation and should be included in the scope of any subsequent EICR inspection. Landlords should ensure their EICR provider is aware that EV charging equipment has been installed so it is tested as part of the periodic inspection.

For insurance purposes, the installation must be carried out by a registered installer who provides the appropriate certification — either a BS 7671 Electrical Installation Certificate or a Minor Works Certificate depending on the scope of work. Without this documentation, an insurance claim related to the charger or its circuit may be rejected.

Manchester-Specific Context

Greater Manchester's terraced housing stock is concentrated in areas that are also among the most active rental markets in the region. Levenshulme, Longsight, Gorton and Fallowfield in south Manchester, along with large parts of Salford, Oldham, Rochdale and Ashton-under-Lyne, are dominated by terraced streets where EV charging without a driveway is not an edge case but the norm.

TfGM and GMCA have recognised this in their Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy, which prioritises the rollout of public and on-street charging in residential areas with limited off-street parking. The LEVI fund allocations for Greater Manchester specifically target these neighbourhoods.

Landlords in these areas should also be aware that OZEV grant eligibility depends on using an approved installer and approved chargepoint equipment. Manchester Compliance is NICEIC-registered and can advise on grant-eligible installations as well as the compliance requirements for any EV charging work.

Get Advice on EV Charging for Your Rental Property

If you are a landlord with terraced rental properties in Manchester and want to understand your options for EV charging, we can help. Whether you need a wallbox installation where rear access is available, guidance on cross-pavement channel approvals or simply advice on how to respond to a tenant's charging request, our team can talk you through the options and handle the electrical work to full compliance standards.

No-Driveway EV Charging: Solutions for Manchester Terraced Rental Properties