Class A – Solar panels on a house or flats

 

Class A is a permitted development right. It lets you put solar panels on your home, or on a building in your garden, without applying for planning permission. It covers houses, bungalows and blocks of flats, and it covers both panels that make electricity and panels that heat water. Solar roof tiles count as well, not just the large panels most people picture.

For most people this is the whole answer: you can fit solar panels and save on your energy bills without going near the council.

The main limits now depend on whether the building is a dwellinghouse or a block of flats:

• on a dwellinghouse wall, no more than 0.2m projection where the wall abuts a highway, or 0.4m in any other case
• on a dwellinghouse balcony enclosure or roof enclosure, the same 0.2m / 0.4m split applies
• on a pitched roof, no more than 0.2m projection and no higher than the highest part of the roof, ignoring the chimney
• on a flat roof, no more than 0.6m above the highest part of the roof, ignoring the chimney
• blocks of flats retain the tighter 0.2m wall / pitched-roof projection limit; the detailed block-of-flats rules are set out below

The flat roof allowance was added in December 2023 by SI 2023/1279.

If the panels are going on a flat roof and your home is in a conservation area, a National Park, a National Landscape, the Broads or a World Heritage Site, you have to ask the council first. That is called prior approval, and there is more about it below.

These rules changed on 27th August 2026. SI 2026/896 now sets separate Class A limits for dwellinghouses and blocks of flats. The summary above reflects the current rules. For the detail behind the change — including plug-in solar and the transitional provision running to 26th August 2027 — see our 27th August 2026 plug-in solar planning update.

 

 

 

 

 

Do I need to apply for anything?

 

Usually not. Class A is your permission. If your panels stay inside the limits above, you can go ahead without asking the council and without paying anything.

There are a few situations where you do have to deal with the council first.

A flat roof in a protected area. If the panels go on a flat roof in a conservation area, a National Park, a National Landscape, the Broads or a World Heritage Site, you must apply for prior approval before you start. The council looks only at how the panels will look in that setting.

A wall facing the road in a conservation area or World Heritage Site. You can still fit panels elsewhere on the building, but not on a wall that fronts a highway. If that is the only wall that catches the sun, you need planning permission.

A scheduled monument. Class A never covers these, so you would need permission.

A listed home is the one people get wrong. Since 27th August 2026 Class A does not permit solar equipment on a listed dwellinghouse, nor on a building within its curtilage. The equivalent exclusion applies to a listed block of flats. Work affecting a listed building may also need listed building consent, which is a separate regime, so permitted development is never the whole story. If your home is listed, get the council’s view in writing before you spend any money.

 

Solar panels in a conservation area or National Landscapes (AONB)

 

If you are intending to install solar panels in a Conservation Area, you need to be mindful of a couple of other factors. 

If you plan to put the panels on a flat roof, you will need prior approval in a conservation area or a National Landscape. Planning Geek can assist you with this. Click here for a free fee proposal.

Quite often the local authority (LPA) will question as to whether it would breach conditions A.2(a) and (b), which require solar PV is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building and the amenity of the area.

The phrase ‘so far as practicable’ is not defined in the GPDO. The GPDO does not provide a definition for the term ‘so far as practicable’. Ordinary definitions of the term ‘practicable’ include ‘able to be done or put into practice successfully’ and ‘able to be used; useful’. Additionally, ordinary definitions of ‘minimise’ include ‘reduce something to the smallest possible amount or degree’.

These conditions do not require a conventional assessment of the effect of the proposal on the external appearance of the dwelling and the amenity of the area. Nevertheless, it must be shown, that in practical terms, the effects have been minimised. There is no reference to the design, colour or general appearance of the solar PV or thermal equipment in those conditions.

We would recommend looking at alternative sites on the building, even if these are on less optimal roofs. Obtaining details of how the energy would vary between roofs would be advantageous to any application for a certificate of lawfulness. If there is only a small reduction, the alternative roof might be better. Demonstration of alternatives, would greatly assist a certificate of lawfulness, especially if an appeal is required.

If your roof tiles differ in colour, consider whether the panels to be installed blend in or stick out like a sore thumb? 

Some LPAs might say that because the panels can be seen from the public realm, they breach these conditions. The conditions, do not state that the panels must be hidden from the from public realm, only that they are, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building and the amenity of the area.

We would recommend a certificate of lawfulness if installing in a Conservation or National Landscapes (AONB) area. Planning Geek can assist you with this. Click here for a free fee proposal.

 

 

Plug-in solar panels

 

A plug-in solar panel is a small panel you stand on a balcony, hang on a wall or put in the garden and plug into an ordinary socket, rather than having an electrician wire it into your consumer unit. They are already common in Germany and are starting to appear here.

From 27th August 2026 the law says plainly that these count as solar panels. SI 2026/896 adds a definition of plug-in solar and folds it into the existing meaning of solar PV, so a plug-in kit gets the same permitted development rights, and the same limits, as any other solar panel under Class A and Class B.

There is one plug-in-specific restriction aimed at them. You cannot fit plug-in solar under Class A on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure, or on any part of the outside of the building that is clad in timber. That applies to houses and to blocks of flats alike.

One important caution. This is a planning change only, and the electrical rules sit separately from it.

Those electrical rules changed on the same day. From 27th August 2026, SI 2026/848 allows a compliant plug-in kit to be connected through an ordinary plug and socket. The kit must have a maximum alternating current output of no more than 800 watts, it must not be designed to draw electricity in and store it for later, so kits with a battery are excluded, and it must meet the government’s Plug-in Solar Device Interim Product Specification. Check that a kit really does meet that specification before you buy, and check whether you need to tell your electricity network operator before you use it (subject to change and current electrical standards).

 

What changed on 27th August 2026

 

SI 2026/896 was made on 29th July 2026 and came into force on 27th August 2026. The rules in this section are now the current Class A rules.

The Order split Class A in two: blocks of flats retained rules close to the previous wording, while dwellinghouses received a new set of limits. For a dwellinghouse, the current rules include:

• panels on a dwellinghouse wall can project up to 0.4m, unless the wall abuts a highway, where the 0.2m limit applies
• balconies and roof enclosures, meaning railings, parapets, balustrades and the like, are covered for the first time, on the same 0.2m and 0.4m split
• in a conservation area or World Heritage Site, the ban on panels facing a highway widens from walls to walls, balconies and roof enclosures
• panels on the listed house itself come out of the right, not just panels on a building in its garden
• plug-in solar cannot go on timber, as set out above

The sloping roof and flat roof limits are unchanged, and so are the conditions in A.2, including prior approval for a flat roof in a protected area.

Blocks of flats retained the earlier Class A limits and now also have the plug-in timber restriction and a reworded listed-building exclusion. The new balcony and roof-enclosure measurements were written into the dwellinghouse rules only, so on the face of the drafting they do not apply to flats. That distinction has not been tested by the courts.

If a project was permitted under Class A immediately before 27th August 2026 but is no longer permitted because of SI 2026/896, article 6 provides a run-off period: it may still be carried out up to the end of 26th August 2027. Article 6 sits in the amending Order rather than in Class A itself, so it can easily be missed when reading the consolidated class.

 

What it costs, and what if the council says no

 

Using Class A costs nothing. There is no form and no fee.

You will pay a fee in two situations: if you need prior approval for a flat roof in a protected area, and if you decide to apply for a certificate of lawfulness to put the matter beyond argument. Current figures are on our planning application fees page.

If the council refuses prior approval you can appeal. If it refuses a certificate of lawfulness you can appeal that too, and there is no deadline for doing so. Our planning appeals page explains both.

Is a certificate worth the money? If you live nowhere near a conservation area and the panels will sit flat against a sloping roof, probably not. If you are in a conservation area, if the panels will be obvious from the street, or if you expect to sell in the next few years, it is cheap insurance against an argument later, and a buyer’s solicitor will be glad of it.

 

 

Class A legislation before 27th August 2026 — historic wording

 

Class A – installation or alteration etc of solar equipment on domestic premises

Permitted development

A. The installation, alteration or replacement of microgeneration solar PV or solar thermal equipment on—

(a) a dwellinghouse or a block of flats; or
(b) a building situated within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or a block of flats.

Development not permitted

A.1 Development is not permitted by Class A if—

(a) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would protrude more than 0.2 metres beyond the plane of the wall or in the case of a pitched roof, the roof slope when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of the wall or pitched roof slope;

(b) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a pitched roof, it would result in the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(ba) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a flat roof, it would result in the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being more than 0.6 metres higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(c) in the case of land within a conservation area or which is a World Heritage Site, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a wall which fronts a highway;

(d) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument; or

(e) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a building within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse or block of flats if the dwellinghouse or block of flats is a listed building.

Conditions

A.2  Development is permitted by Class A subject to the following conditions—

(a) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building;

(b) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the amenity of the area;

(ba) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment installed on a flat roof located on article 2(3) land, before beginning development the developer must apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the local planning authority will be required with respect to the impact of the appearance of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment on that land;

(bb) in relation to an application under sub-paragraph (ba), paragraphs J.4(3) to J.4(12) of this Part apply as if “Class A” substitutes the reference to “Class J” in paragraph J.4(4); and [included below]

(c) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed.

 

[section copied from Class J as referred to in sub-paragraph (bb)]

(3) The application must be accompanied by—

(a) a written description of the proposed development;
(b) a plan indicating the site and showing the proposed development;
(c) the developer’s contact address; and
(d) the developer’s email address if the developer is content to receive communications electronically;

together with any fee required to be paid.

(4) The local planning authority may refuse an application where, in the opinion of the authority—

(a) the proposed development does not comply with, or
(b) the developer has provided insufficient information to enable the authority to establish whether the proposed development complies with,

any conditions, limitations or restrictions specified in Class J applicable to the development in question.

(5) Sub-paragraphs (6) and (8) do not apply where a local planning authority refuses an application under sub-paragraph (4) and for the purposes of section 78 (appeals) of the Act such a refusal is to be treated as a refusal of an application for approval.

(6) The local planning authority must give notice of the proposed development—

(a) by site display in at least one place on or near the land to which the application relates for not less than 21 days of a notice which—
(i) describes the proposed development;
(ii) provides the address of the proposed development;
(iii) specifies the date by which representations are to be received by the local planning authority; or

(b) by serving a notice in that form on any adjoining owner or occupier.

(7) The local planning authority may require the developer to submit such information as the authority may reasonably require in order to determine the application.

(8) The local planning authority must, when determining an application—

(a) take into account any representations made to them as a result of any notice given under sub-paragraph (6); and
(b) have regard to the National Planning Policy Framework, so far as relevant to the subject matter of the prior approval, as if the application were a planning application.

(9) The development must not begin before the occurrence of one of the following—

(a) the receipt by the applicant from the local planning authority of a written notice of their determination that such prior approval is not required;
(b) the receipt by the applicant from the local planning authority of a written notice giving their prior approval; or
(c) the expiry of 56 days following the date on which the application under sub-paragraph (3) was received by the local planning authority without the authority notifying the applicant as to whether prior approval is given or refused.

(10) The development must be carried out—

(a) where prior approval is required, in accordance with the details approved by the local planning authority;
(b) where prior approval is not required, or where sub-paragraph (9)(c) applies, in accordance with the details provided in the application referred to in sub-paragraph (3),
unless the local planning authority and the developer agree otherwise in writing.

(11) The local planning authority may grant prior approval unconditionally or subject to conditions reasonably related to the subject matter of the prior approval.

(12) When computing the number of days in paragraph (6)(a), any day which is a public holiday must be disregarded.

 

Current Class A legislation from 27th August 2026

 

Below is the current Class A wording from 27th August 2026, applying the amendments made by SI 2026/896. We have applied the changes to the existing text so the amended class can be read in one place.

SI 2026/896 changed paragraph A.1, splitting it into sub-paragraph (1) for blocks of flats and sub-paragraph (2) for dwellinghouses. The right itself and the conditions in A.2 were not amended by that Order, but they are repeated below so that you can read the whole of Class A in one place.

Note also article 6 of the Order. If something was allowed under the old wording immediately before 27th August 2026, and these changes take that away, you may still carry it out up to the end of 26th August 2027.

 

Class A – installation or alteration etc of solar equipment on domestic premises

Permitted development

A. The installation, alteration or replacement of microgeneration solar PV or solar thermal equipment on—

(a) a dwellinghouse or a block of flats; or
(b) a building situated within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or a block of flats.

Development not permitted: block of flats

(1) Development is not permitted by Class A on a block of flats, or a building within the curtilage of a block of flats, if—

(a) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would protrude more than 0.2 metres beyond the plane of the wall or in the case of a pitched roof, the roof slope when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of the wall or pitched roof slope;

(b) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a pitched roof, it would result in the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(ba) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a flat roof, it would result in the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being more than 0.6 metres higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(c) in the case of land within a conservation area or which is a World Heritage Site, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a wall which fronts a highway;

(d) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument;

(e) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a block of flats, or on a building within the curtilage of a block of flats, if the block of flats is a listed building; or

(f) in the case of plug-in solar, where any part of the plug-in solar would be installed on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure or on any part of the exterior of a block of flats which is clad in timber.

 

Development not permitted: dwellinghouse

(2) Development is not permitted by Class A on a dwellinghouse, or a building within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse, if—

(a) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a wall, it would result in—
(i) where the wall abuts on a highway, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment protruding more than 0.2 metres beyond the plane of the wall when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of that wall; or
(ii) in any other case, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment protruding more than 0.4 metres beyond the plane of the wall when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of that wall;

(b) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a balcony enclosure or roof enclosure, it would result in—
(i) where the enclosure abuts on a highway, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment protruding more than 0.2 metres beyond the enclosure when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of that enclosure; or
(ii) in any other case, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment protruding more than 0.4 metres beyond the enclosure when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of that enclosure;

(c) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a pitched roof, it would result in either or both of—
(i) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment protruding more than 0.2 metres beyond the roof slope when measured from the perpendicular with the external surface of the pitched roof slope;
(ii) the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(d) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a flat roof, it would result in the highest part of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment being more than 0.6 metres higher than the highest part of the roof (excluding any chimney);

(e) in the case of land within a conservation area or which is a World Heritage Site, the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure which fronts a highway;

(f) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument;

(g) the solar PV or solar thermal equipment would be installed on a dwellinghouse, or on a building within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse, if the dwellinghouse is a listed building; or

(h) in the case of plug-in solar, where any part of the plug-in solar would be installed on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure or on any part of the exterior of a dwellinghouse where that part is clad in timber.

Conditions

A.2  Development is permitted by Class A subject to the following conditions—

(a) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building;

(b) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the amenity of the area;

(ba) in the case of solar PV or solar thermal equipment installed on a flat roof located on article 2(3) land, before beginning development the developer must apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether the prior approval of the local planning authority will be required with respect to the impact of the appearance of the solar PV or solar thermal equipment on that land;

(bb) in relation to an application under sub-paragraph (ba), paragraphs J.4(3) to J.4(12) of this Part apply as if “Class A” substitutes the reference to “Class J” in paragraph J.4(4); and [the J.4 wording is set out further up this page]

(c) solar PV or solar thermal equipment is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed.

 

New wording in paragraph P you need in order to read the above

The same Order inserts these definitions into paragraph P, which is the interpretation paragraph for the whole of Part 14—

“plug-in solar” means solar photovoltaics that are intended for connection to the relevant domestic premises’ electricity installation by means of a standard plug and socket;

“roof enclosure” includes any balustrade, railing, parapet or other enclosure installed on the roof of a building;

It also amends the existing definition of “solar PV”, inserting the words “including plug-in solar” after “photovoltaics”. That is what brings plug-in solar inside Class A and Class B, rather than giving it a class of its own.

 

Explore GPDO Part 14

 

 

Solar Panels Page Updated: 27th August 2026