Andy Burnham’s October driveway rules have a major problem - motorists should be furious
Andy Burnham’s new driveway rule changes are a complete game-changer for electric cars , it's a shame that not everyone can enjoy it. Thousands of motorists have been dealt a double blow by the Prime Minister in just one week. UK drivers will be absolutely furious. Picture the scene. After years of paying extortionate 20% VAT charging fees at public charging stations, you hear the Prime Minister will make an important cut to rates. Cue the excitement. Oh no, sorry, it’s not for you. Instead, those who are already paying just 5% VAT at home will now get an even better deal as rates are cut to 0% from October 1. Oh well, you think, there’s still the exciting news that Labour will finally push for a cross-pavement solution, slashing red tape on cables and gullies to finally allow those without a driveway or off-street parking to benefit from domestic rates. What’s changing? Planning permission will no longer be required from October 21. You do the research, work out the measurements and are ready to go. Until you aren’t. Why? Because you live in a conservation area . What? Cue drivers’ bewilderment. On September 25, the Government confirmed an amendment to the rules which means anyone living in one of England’s 10,000 conservation areas will not enjoy the benefit and will still need to secure arduous planning permission. It;s another major blow. Who is affected? Estimates say the areas are home to around 6.8 million people, with as many as 3.4 million not having the benefit of a driveway. There could be as many as 100,000 electric cars caught up in the amendment. For those EV owners, this is surely a nightmare. Conservation areas are defined as places of “special architectural or historic interest”. It’s important that we as a country are maintaining the legacy of the past. But drivers staring down the barrel of extra fees probably won’t be so generous. Those topping up at domestic rates are likely to pay just 7p per kWh to zap up their battery. But those using public plugs can be splashing out as much as 50p per kWh. For a typical 36kWh battery, that can be as much as £16 per charge more. The timing also won’t have helped. Large swathes of the country are now set to benefit from much cheaper EV rates while others are caught in the doldrums having their wallets raided. By choosing to slash VAT rates on domestic electricity instead of public costs, as the industry had initially demanded, could come back to bite the Prime Minister. At least 100,000 EV owners are going to be absolutely furious with him.