Class B – Stand-alone Solar panels for a house or flats

 

Class B is a permitted development right. It lets you put stand-alone solar panels in the garden, on a frame or a post rather than on the building itself, without applying for planning permission. It covers the garden of a house and the grounds of a block of flats. It is the answer when the roof faces the wrong way, is shaded, or is not strong enough, and Class A is no help.

There are limits, so this is not a licence to erect a solar farm in the field next door. Since 27th August 2026 the rules differ between a dwellinghouse and a block of flats. For a dwellinghouse, the lowest applicable height limit wins:

• 1m where the installation is within 5m of the curtilage boundary and forward of a wall forming part of the principal elevation
• 2m where any part is within 5m of a curtilage boundary
• 2m in a conservation area where it is nearer the highway than the nearest part of the house
• 4m in any other case
• the solar panels themselves must not exceed 9 square metres in total

For a block of flats, the older pattern remains: one installation, a 4m maximum height, nothing within 5m of the curtilage boundary, a 9 square metre panel limit and a 3m maximum dimension for the array. The detailed restrictions for both types of property are set out below.

It also has to be in the garden. The land immediately around your home counts; a field beside the property does not, even if you own it.

These rules changed on 27th August 2026. SI 2026/896 now sets separate Class B 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 permission for stand-alone solar panels?

 

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

There are now two main prior approval triggers. You must apply before starting if stand-alone solar is in a conservation area and nearer the highway than the nearest part of the house or block of flats. Prior approval is also required where any part of the installation is on article 2(3) land — such as a National Park, National Landscape or the Broads — and within 5m of the curtilage boundary, provided the development is not already excluded by another Class B limitation. The council considers the impact of the appearance of the solar equipment on the protected land.

The conservation-area highway trigger was added in December 2023 by SI 2023/1279. The additional article 2(3) land / 5m boundary trigger was added by SI 2026/896 from 27th August 2026. Planning Geek can make a prior approval application for you. Click here for a free fee proposal.

 

Where you cannot put stand-alone solar

 

Some locations or designs remain outside Class B altogether, so a planning application may be needed:

• within the curtilage of a listed building
• on a scheduled monument
• for a dwellinghouse in a World Heritage Site, where the installation would be nearer the highway than the nearest part of the house or within 5m of the curtilage boundary
• for a dwellinghouse, where the installation exceeds the applicable 1m, 2m or 4m height limit, or the panels exceed 9 square metres
• for a block of flats, where the retained block-of-flats limitations are exceeded, including the 5m boundary restriction
• outside the domestic curtilage, such as an adjoining field or paddock
• for plug-in solar, where any part would be installed on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other means of enclosure

The former blanket 5m boundary exclusion no longer applies to a dwellinghouse. Instead, proximity to the boundary now controls the permitted height and can also trigger prior approval on article 2(3) land. The 5m exclusion remains relevant to blocks of flats and to the World Heritage Site restriction for dwellinghouses.

Work to a listed building also needs listed building consent, which is a separate application with its own rules. If your home is listed, get the council’s view in writing before you spend any money.

 

Plug-in solar panels

 

A plug-in solar panel is a small panel you stand in the garden, hang on a fence or prop against a wall 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, and in a garden it is a real one. You cannot use Class B where any part of the plug-in solar would be installed on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other means of enclosure. That applies to dwellinghouses and blocks of flats alike, and a timber fence is exactly where many people would think of hanging a small panel.

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 B rules.

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

• the flat ban on anything within 5m of a boundary goes, and a height limit takes its place
• within 5m of a boundary you get 2m of height, or only 1m if the panels are also in front of the front wall of the house
• in a conservation area, nearer the road than the house, you still get 2m
• anywhere else in the garden, 4m as now
• the 9 square metre panel limit stays, but the 3m limit on the size of the frame is not carried over
• the limit of one installation per garden is not carried over either
• plug-in solar cannot go on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other enclosure, as set out above

There is also an additional prior approval trigger. On article 2(3) land, stand-alone solar within 5m of the curtilage boundary requires prior approval where the development is otherwise permitted. This is particularly relevant to National Parks, National Landscapes and the Broads. Separate World Heritage Site limitations can exclude development before the prior approval condition is reached, and the 5m boundary exclusion remains for blocks of flats.

The World Heritage Site rules for houses are unchanged in substance: still nothing nearer the road than the house, and still nothing within 5m of a boundary. Listed buildings and scheduled monuments are unchanged too.

Blocks of flats retained the earlier limits, including the single-installation and 3m array-dimension restrictions, and now also have the plug-in timber restriction. The Order carried those two size / number limits into the block-of-flats rules and did not repeat them in the dwellinghouse rules, so on the face of the drafting they now bind flats but not dwellinghouses. That distinction has not been tested by the courts.

If a project was permitted under Class B 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 B itself, so it can easily be missed when reading the consolidated class.

 

What it costs, and what if the council says no

 

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

You will pay a fee in two situations: if you need prior approval, 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? Stand-alone solar draws complaints more often than panels lying flat on a roof, because it sits at eye level and the neighbours can see it from their own garden. If yours will be close to a boundary, obvious from the street, or in a conservation area, a certificate is cheap insurance against an argument later. If it is tucked away in the middle of a large garden, probably not.

 

 

Class B legislation before 27th August 2026 — historic wording

 

Class B – installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on domestic premises

Permitted development

B. The installation, alteration or replacement of stand-alone solar for microgeneration within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or a block of flats.

Development not permitted

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

(a) in the case of the installation of stand-alone solar, the development would result in the presence within the curtilage of more than 1 stand-alone solar;

(b) any part of the stand-alone solar—

(i) would exceed 4 metres in height or, in the case of stand-alone solar on land in a conservation area which would be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse or block of flats which is nearest to that highway, 2 metres in height;
(ii) would, in the case of land which is a World Heritage Site, be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse or block of flats which is nearest to that highway;
(iii) would be installed within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage;
(iv) would be installed within the curtilage of a listed building; or
(v) would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument; or

(c) the surface area of the solar panels forming part of the stand-alone solar would exceed 9 square metres or any dimension of its array (including any housing) would exceed 3 metres.

Conditions

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

(a) stand-alone solar is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the amenity of the area;

(aa) in the case of stand-alone solar installed in a conservation area nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse or block of flats which is nearest to that highway, 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 stand-alone solar on the character of the conservation area;

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

(b) stand-alone solar is removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed.

 

 

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

(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 B 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 B legislation from 27th August 2026

 

Below is the current Class B 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 split paragraph B.1 into sub-paragraph (1) for blocks of flats and sub-paragraph (2) for dwellinghouses. In the conditions, it amended sub-paragraph (aa). The right itself and the rest of B.2 were not changed by that Order, but they are repeated below so that you can read the whole of Class B 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 B – installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on domestic premises

Permitted development

B. The installation, alteration or replacement of stand-alone solar for microgeneration within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse or a block of flats.

Development not permitted: block of flats

(1) Development is not permitted by Class B within the curtilage of a block of flats if—

(a) in the case of the installation of stand-alone solar, the development would result in the presence within the curtilage of more than 1 stand-alone solar;

(b) any part of the stand-alone solar—

(i) would exceed 4 metres in height or, in the case of stand-alone solar on land in a conservation area which would be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the block of flats which is nearest to that highway, 2 metres in height;
(ii) would, in the case of land which is a World Heritage Site, be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the block of flats which is nearest to that highway;
(iii) would be installed within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage;
(iv) would be installed within the curtilage of a listed building; or
(v) would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument;

(c) the surface area of the solar panels forming part of the stand-alone solar would exceed 9 square metres or any dimension of its array (including any housing) would exceed 3 metres; or

(d) in the case of plug-in solar, any part of the plug-in solar would be installed on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other means of enclosure.

 

Development not permitted: dwellinghouse

(2) Development is not permitted by Class B within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse if—

(a) the height of any part of the stand-alone solar when measured from the surface of the ground would, after the carrying out of the development, exceed the lowest applicable height limit in the table—

Circumstances where limit applies	Height limit
(i) Any part of the stand-alone solar would be installed— (aa) within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage; and (bb) so that it is situated on land forward of a wall forming part of the principal elevation of the dwellinghouse.	1 metre.
(ii) Any part of the stand-alone solar would be installed within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage.	2 metres.
(iii) Any part of the stand-alone solar would be installed— (aa) on land in a conservation area; and (bb) so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse which is nearest to that highway.	2 metres.
(iv) In any other case.	4 metres.

 

(b) any part of the stand-alone solar—

(i) would, in the case of land which is a World Heritage Site—
(aa) be installed so that it is nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse which is nearest to that highway; or
(bb) be installed within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage;
(ii) would be installed within the curtilage of a listed building; or
(iii) would be installed on a site designated as a scheduled monument;

(c) the surface area of the solar panels forming part of the stand-alone solar would exceed 9 square metres; or

(d) in the case of plug-in solar, any part of the plug-in solar would be installed on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other means of enclosure.

Conditions

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

(a) stand-alone solar is, so far as practicable, sited so as to minimise its effect on the amenity of the area;

(aa) where either or both of the following criteria are met—
(i) any part of the stand-alone solar would be installed in a conservation area and nearer to any highway which bounds the curtilage than the part of the dwellinghouse or block of flats which is nearest that highway;
(ii) any part of the stand-alone solar would be installed on article 2(3) land and within 5 metres of the boundary of the curtilage,
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 stand-alone solar on that conservation area or that article 2(3) land, or both, as the case may be;

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

(b) stand-alone solar 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 this definition 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;

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

 

 

Stand-alone Solar Panels Page Updated: 27th August 2026