Solar panels

Solar panels on a house in England are usually permitted development, so no planning application is needed. The rules changed on 27 August 2026, with new limits for walls, flat roofs and plug-in panels. Panels must be sited, as far as practical, to limit their effect on the look of the building and the area.

The limits

On the house	Limit
Pitched roof	No more than 0.2m proud of the slope, and no higher than the highest part of the roof, chimneys aside
Flat roof	No more than 0.6m above the highest part of the roof, chimneys aside
Wall that abuts a highway	No more than 0.2m out from the wall
Any other wall	No more than 0.4m out from the wall
Balcony or roof enclosure	0.2m if it abuts a highway, 0.4m otherwise

• The limits also cover a garage or other building in the garden.
• Plug-in panels, the kind that connect through a standard plug and socket, cannot go on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure, or on a timber-clad part of the house.
• Panels must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable once no longer needed.

When permission is needed

• The house is listed.
• The site is a scheduled monument.
• In a conservation area or World Heritage Site: panels on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a highway.
• An Article 4 direction covers the property.

Blocks of flats have their own, separate set of limits.

On a flat roof in a conservation area, National Park, National Landscape, the Broads or a World Heritage Site, you must first ask the council whether it needs to approve how the panels look.

Panels in the garden

For free-standing panels, the lowest height that applies is the limit.

Where in the garden	Maximum height
Within 5m of the boundary and in front of the house	1m
Within 5m of the boundary	2m
Conservation area, closer to a road than the house	2m
Anywhere else	4m

• No more than 9 square metres of panel surface.
• Not in the grounds of a listed building, or on a scheduled monument.
• World Heritage Sites: not closer to a road than the house, and not within 5m of the boundary.
• Plug-in panels cannot be fixed to a wooden fence, gate or wall.
• Ask the council about appearance first if the panels would be closer to a road than the house in a conservation area, or within 5m of the boundary on protected land.

Work planned under the old rules

Work permitted before 27 August 2026 but not under the new rules can still go ahead until the end of 26 August 2027.

Source: The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 14 and The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2026, legislation.gov.uk; Solar panels, Planning Portal.