The Department for Transport has brought Section 49 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 into force. Signed on 12 March 2026 by transport minister Simon Lightwood and effective from 13 March 2026, the change gives electric vehicle charge point operators (CPOs) a legal route to carry out street works using permits rather than New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) section 50 licences. This applies in England.

Why it matters is straightforward: section 50 licensing was built for occasional private apparatus, not a national rollout of thousands of on‑street chargers. The Department for Transport’s own guidance notes wide variation in licence costs and documentation, with some councils also demanding bonds-factors that slow schemes and tie up working capital. The government’s consultation outcome concluded the process is “lengthy, costly and not fit for purpose” for EV installations. (gov.uk)

Permits are familiar territory for utilities and highway authorities. Almost every English authority already runs a permit scheme under the Traffic Management Act 2004, with applications and coordination handled through DfT’s Street Manager platform. Under statutory guidance, permit schemes carry defined authority response time limits, are run on a cost‑recovery basis, and use capped fee levels by work type and road category-up to £240 for major works on the busiest roads. (gov.uk)

For operators, the financial texture changes. Instead of one‑off, sometimes four‑figure licences and potential bonds, CPOs face predictable, per‑site permit fees within national maxima. Schemes can discount where multiple permits form a wider project and must offer at least a 30% discount for qualifying collaborative works. That creates room to batch urban rollouts and trim unit costs, provided programmes are planned in clusters. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)

For councils, income will look different. Some authorities flagged concern about losing section 50 fee revenue, but permit regimes cannot be used to generate a surplus-over time, income must align with allowable operating costs and be evidenced in published evaluations. In practice, finance teams may need to rebalance from licence receipts to transparent, cost‑recovery permitting. (gov.uk)

One guardrail to budget is lane rental. Where approved, authorities can charge up to £2,500 per day for works occupying the highway at busy times. Crucially, if a site is liable for lane rental, the authority cannot also levy a permit fee for the same activity. In Surrey, for example, published lane rental charges are £1,500 per day for lane closures and £2,500 for road closures. Operators should model exposure by route and time of day. (gov.uk)

Access is being formalised. CPOs will need a Street Works Act (SWA) code from GeoPlace and onboarding to Street Manager; DfT will verify applicants as registered CPOs, and Street Manager charges are recharged on a sliding annual scale by works volume. This creates a standard national workflow that should shorten pre‑construction timelines once teams are trained. (gov.uk)

Compliance does not soften under permits. NRSWA duties on safety, reinstatement and maintenance still apply, with councils able to inspect and charge inspection fees. Reinstatements must meet the Specification for the Reinstatement of Openings in Highways, with a two‑year guarantee-extended to three years for deep excavations. Quality and right‑first‑time reinstatements remain non‑negotiable. (gov.uk)

There is one important trade‑off. Under section 50, a single licence could sometimes cover several installations across different streets; under permitting, each site will generally need its own permit, although schemes can discount for bundled applications. Programme planners should group works into coherent packages to capture discounts and reduce traffic‑management overheads. (gov.uk)

What to do next: operators should request SWA codes, schedule Street Manager onboarding, and refresh budgets to swap licence/bond lines for permit fees, potential lane rental, and inspection charges. Councils should update public guidance, fee schedules and evaluation plans, and agree EV rollout engagement points outside of permitting-remember, permits govern how and when works happen, not where charge points are sited. (gov.uk)