Haringey’s advice to residents leaves no room for interpretation. Its planning advice note on charging points, read on 19 October 2026, says there is no instance in which you can trail your cable across the pavement, and it names the two workarounds people ask about, pavement drainage channels and cable protectors, as not permitted either. On Noel Park’s avenues of 1880s terraces, where the car is parked at the kerb, that settles the home-charger question for now.
What it does not settle is where the car charges instead. This guide sets out the routes that are open in Wood Green, from a council request to a Woodside block’s car park, and when a home charger becomes possible. Where there is a drive, the job itself is covered on our guide to having an EV charger fitted in Wood Green.
What Haringey’s note says, and why
The note grounds the rule in the Highways Act 1980, Part IX, under which it says it is illegal for any person to place or run a cable or wire along or across a public highway. It gives a Noel Park household two practical reasons as well: a trailing cable is a safety hazard, and if a passer-by injures themselves on it, you can be held responsible; and a cable on the ground limits the accessibility of the footway and can affect people with disabilities. The note dates from 2023, and its grant section predates the current scheme, so for grants use the GOV.UK figures below rather than the note’s.
In Noel Park ward, terraces house 32.8% of the 5,342 households (Census 2021), on an estate Haringey’s conservation-area appraisal records as laid out from about 1881 as around 2,000 terraced houses. Many of those homes have no off-street parking, which is why the rule bites hardest here.
Why the £500 on-street grant has nowhere to go
The government’s grant for on-street households gives up to £500 towards a chargepoint installed with an approved cross-pavement solution, subject to the council’s rules, until 31 March 2027. Haringey’s note rules out the channel and cover options by name, and the council has no approved alternative at present, so a Wood Green terrace cannot use the grant today. Our guide to who qualifies for the EV chargepoint grant explains each route if your circumstances change.
Asking for an on-street point
Haringey’s electric vehicle charging points page invites residents to ask for a new on-street charging point, or suggest a location, through a request form. The council says it decides on proof of demand in an area and on the funding and resources available, and that it does not provide charging bays or points for individual use. Where several requests come from the same area, it says it might consider a point that several people can use. On a Noel Park avenue, a handful of neighbours making the same request is the case the council describes. The page’s map shows existing points, including which are lamp column chargers.
Making an off-street space: the dropped kerb
Some Wood Green owners ask whether they could turn a front garden into a parking space. Haringey’s note says that to create an off-street charging space in a front garden you need to request planning permission for a dropped kerb, and that the council’s Policy DM34 on dropped kerbs and driveways seeks to keep at least 50 per cent of a front garden as soft landscaping. Across Noel Park and Woodside, 29.2% of households own their home (our sums of the Census counts), and on a terrace frontage that policy is the first thing to check with the planning team.
Woodside flats with a car park
In Woodside ward, 39.3% of the 6,187 households live in purpose-built flats and 26.9% in converted or shared houses. Where a block has a car park, Haringey’s note gives the freeholder and residents some practical pointers: work out demand together, place charging bays where they are close to the electricity supply to keep wiring costs down, mark them for electric vehicles only, consider a charging timetable, and agree how maintenance and electricity will be paid for. A renter or flat owner-occupier with an allocated space can claim 75% of a chargepoint’s cost, up to £500 per socket, with the freeholder’s consent and, for a tenant, the landlord’s. Claims must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer; tell us your situation at the quote stage.
When a Wood Green house has a drive
Semis and detached houses are only 9.4% and 3.9% of Haringey’s households, but where a Wood Green house does have a driveway or garage, the charger goes on the wall beside it, on its own circuit from the consumer unit. EnSmart’s SmartBee-M, the charger we fit, is IP65-rated for outdoor mounting. Our home EV charger guide covers speeds and smart charging, and if you are thinking about the roof, our guide on whether a Wood Green terrace can charge an EV from solar works through what panels add. For storing daytime power, see battery storage in Wood Green.
Sources: London Borough of Haringey, Planning Advice Note: Installing electric vehicle charging points, for residents (2023; read 19 October 2026); London Borough of Haringey, Electric vehicle charging points (read 19 October 2026); London Borough of Haringey, Noel Park Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan; GOV.UK, Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026 (updated 7 July 2026); ONS Census 2021, TS044 and TS054, Noel Park (E05013595) and Woodside (E05013605) wards and Haringey (E09000014), via Nomis; EnSmart SmartBee-M specification as listed by its UK distributor. Two-ward percentages are our sums.