In Kenton West ward, 64.7% of households live in a semi-detached house, and in North Harrow 54.0% (Census 2021). On those streets, the question about a home charger is rarely whether it can be fitted. It is where: which wall, or whether a post in the drive makes more sense, and how far the cable has to travel from the consumer unit to get there.
This guide works through those choices for a Harrow house, along with the planning checks that apply on Harrow on the Hill and to listed homes. For the rest of the job, from the main fuse to the network operator, see our guide to having an EV charger fitted in Harrow.
Start from where the car stops
The charger belongs where the charging port of the car ends up, not where the wall is most convenient. On a North Harrow semi with a side drive, that often means the side wall beside the parking space; on a Kenton house with a garage, it may mean the garage itself. A charger placed so that the cable stretches across the front of the car, or round the far side, will be awkward every night. If two cars share the drive, one charger placed between the bays can reach both, one at a time.
On the wall: the usual answer
For most Harrow houses with a drive, the charger goes on the house wall. The national rule is Part 2, Class D of the 2015 General Permitted Development Order, read on legislation.gov.uk on 19 October 2026. It permits a wall-mounted electrical outlet for recharging vehicles within an area lawfully used for off-street parking, provided the outlet and its casing do not exceed 0.2 cubic metres and are not within the curtilage of a listed building or on a scheduled monument. A wall unit on a Headstone or Kenton semi sits well within that size. EnSmart’s SmartBee-M, the charger we fit, is rated IP65 for outdoor wall mounting.
On a post: when no wall is close
Where the parking space sits away from the house, at the end of a long front garden or beside a detached garage, a post may be the cleaner answer. The Order calls it an upstand. Class E permits one within an area lawfully used for off-street parking, up to 1.6 metres high within the curtilage of a house or block of flats, with no more than one upstand per parking space, and not within the curtilage of a listed building or on a scheduled monument. On Harrow’s semis, 37.1% of the borough’s households, a post usually trades a shorter cable to the car for a longer run from the house to the post, which the survey prices.
Tethered or socketed
A tethered charger has its cable fixed to the unit; a socketed one takes whatever cable you plug in. EnSmart’s SmartBee-M comes in both forms, with a Type 2 connection, the standard on new EVs sold in the UK. For a North Harrow household that parks nose-in on the same drive every night, tethered is usually the more convenient choice. For a front wall you want kept plain, or a household likely to change cars, socketed keeps the unit tidier.
The cable run from the consumer unit
The charger needs its own circuit from the consumer unit, with its own protective devices and the protection against a broken supply neutral that outdoor charging equipment requires. The length and route of that cable are what most often separate two quotes for the same charger. In a Headstone or North Harrow semi with the consumer unit under the stairs and the drive on the far side of the house, the route may go through the loft, the garage or along an outside wall, and each option is priced at the survey. Our guide to EV charger installation cost explains how the cable route moves the total.
Harrow on the Hill and listed homes: check first
Harrow has 30 conservation areas. Eight of them are on Harrow on the Hill, covered by a supplementary planning document adopted in May 2008, and five of those, Harrow Park, Harrow on the Hill Village, South Hill Avenue, Mount Park Estate, and Roxborough Park and The Grove, carry Article 4 directions. Harrow says an Article 4 direction means you will need planning permission to carry out work in the area. The direction’s own wording decides what is caught, so on those streets, check with Harrow’s planning team before a charger or post is fixed to a street-facing wall or set in a front garden. For a listed house, Classes D and E do not apply at all, so the council’s view comes first.
Terraces and flats
Harrow’s terraces, 16.9% of households, more often park on the street. Harrow’s electric vehicle page says residents must not use charging cables across public pavements; the council is preparing a home charging policy that names gully charging as one option, and says it is installing over 100 new on-street chargers through the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme. In Greenhill, where 69.0% of households live in purpose-built flats, the charger goes wherever the freeholder and the allocated bay allow, and renters and flat owners can claim 75% of the cost, up to £500 per socket; our guide to who qualifies for the EV chargepoint grant covers the conditions. Claims must be made through an OZEV-authorised installer; tell us your situation at the quote stage.
If you are one of the 285 Harrow residents who committed to panels through Solar Together London in 2021 and 2022, or are planning them now, our page on solar panels in Harrow covers the hill’s conservation areas for the roof, and our guide to how an EV, solar and a home battery fit together in Harrow covers which device does which job.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, TS044, Harrow (E09000015) and Kenton West, North Harrow, Headstone and Greenhill (E05013546) wards, via Nomis; The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 2, Classes D and E, as amended including by S.I. 2025/560, legislation.gov.uk (read 19 October 2026); London Borough of Harrow, Conservation areas and Article 4, and Harrow on-the-Hill conservation areas; London Borough of Harrow, Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging in Harrow (read 19 October 2026); GOV.UK, Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026 (updated 7 July 2026); London Borough of Harrow, Living Harrow: Climate and Nature Strategy 2023–2030 (November 2023), section 2.1.3; EnSmart SmartBee-M specification as listed by its UK distributor.