The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2026 was made on 25 September 2026, laid before Parliament on 30 September 2026 and comes into force on 21 October 2026. The instrument amends the 2015 General Permitted Development Order and focuses on four main areas: electric vehicle charging infrastructure, temporary school buildings for RAAC cases, electricity network apparatus and an update to building safety terminology in Part 20. (legislation.gov.uk) For planning teams, the main point is that this is not a narrow EV measure. It broadens some permitted development rights, narrows others through new limits and prior approval tests, and adds a one-year transitional window for projects that would stop qualifying after 21 October 2026. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
The Order leaves the GPDO structure in place but changes the interpretation provisions that sit behind it. A new definition of European site is inserted, and the GPDO reference to the National Planning Policy Framework is updated from December 2024 to August 2026. That matters because the amended prior approval routes require decision-makers to read the new classes against the current NPPF reference used in the Order. (legislationtracker.co.uk) As with the wider GPDO, the legal effect is to grant planning permission nationally for specified forms of development, subject to conditions, limitations and restrictions rather than the full planning application route. The practical question is therefore not whether permission exists in principle, but whether a scheme still fits within the class after the new tests are applied. (acthub.uk)
On wall-mounted EV charge points, the main change is expansion beyond areas lawfully used for off-street parking. Before this amendment, Class D covered wall-mounted outlets in off-street parking areas; from 21 October 2026 the right also reaches other parts of the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats, but only within a tighter regulatory frame. (legislation.gov.uk) Those new controls are material. The wider curtilage route cannot exceed 1.6 metres above ground level, cannot result in more than one outlet within the curtilage, and is excluded in conservation areas. Where the wall immediately adjoins a highway, the outlet must not project by more than 0.2 metres and at least 1.5 metres of footway must remain between the outermost projection and the carriageway. If a charging cable crosses a footway, it must do so through an authorised cross-pavement solution approved by the highway authority. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
The same approach is carried across to upstands and pedestal-style chargers under Class E. The right is extended from off-street parking areas to other land within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or block of flats, with a new height structure of 1.6 metres in the domestic curtilage route and 2.7 metres in non-domestic parking locations. Conservation area restrictions also apply to the new domestic route. (legislationtracker.co.uk) The more technical change concerns equipment housing. The cumulative volume permitted under Class E is set at 45 cubic metres, but where a scheme would exceed 29 cubic metres on article 2(3) land the developer must first seek a prior approval determination on siting and appearance from the local planning authority. The Order also prevents Class E development above that threshold in a site of special scientific interest, a European site or land used for advertisements, and it builds in a 21-day publicity stage and a 56-day decision period for the prior approval process. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
A new Class F is inserted into Part 9 so that a highway authority, or a party acting on its behalf or with its authorisation, can install, alter or replace a cross-pavement solution under permitted development. This is the supporting mechanism for the new cable-crossing conditions in Classes D and E, and it moves a key part of delivery into the highway authority sphere rather than leaving it to ad hoc private works. (legislationtracker.co.uk) That right is constrained. It does not apply in conservation areas, within the curtilage of listed buildings or at scheduled monuments. It also carries a restoration duty: once the channel is no longer needed, the apparatus must be removed and the pavement reinstated as soon as reasonably practicable. For councils, this means any local operating model for domestic on-street charging will need to sit alongside both planning and highways controls. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
Outside the EV provisions, the main infrastructure change sits in Part 15 on electricity undertakings. Under the previous GPDO position, a chamber for housing apparatus under Class B(a) could not exceed 29 cubic metres. The new Order raises the headline threshold to 45 cubic metres, while adding extra controls for larger schemes. (legislation.gov.uk) For chambers above 29 cubic metres, permitted development falls away where the structure would exceed three metres in height, sit within five metres of a dwellinghouse, or be located on a site of special scientific interest or a European site. A separate prior approval route now applies where a chamber above 29 cubic metres would be on article 2(3) land, again focusing on siting and appearance. The result is more room for electricity network infrastructure, but not a free pass in more sensitive settings. (legislationtracker.co.uk)
The education amendment is short but significant. Class CB, introduced in 2023 to allow temporary buildings on school land where a school has a RAAC-affected building, originally ran for three years to 24 October 2026. This Order substitutes five years and 2028, extending the permitted development window to 24 October 2028. (legislation.gov.uk) The instrument also replaces Part 20 references to the Health and Safety Executive with the Building Safety Regulator, aligning the GPDO text with the current building safety framework. Alongside that, a transitional provision allows Class D and Class E development that was lawful under the pre-21 October 2026 rules, but is no longer permitted after the amendment, to proceed until 20 October 2027. For local planning authorities, installers and property owners, the immediate task is to check whether a proposal now falls within permitted development, a prior approval route or the full planning application process. (hse.gov.uk)