Solar panels on a house under Part 14 Class A
Roof solar is permitted development within three limits and subject to two conditions, one of which requires the panels to come down when they stop generating.
Solar panels on a house are permitted development in most cases, under Class A of Part 14 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015. The limits that matter are simple: the equipment must not stick out more than 0.2 metres from the plane of the roof slope or the wall, it must not sit higher than the highest part of the roof ignoring the chimney, and in a conservation area or World Heritage Site it must not go on a wall that fronts a highway. Beyond those, two conditions apply, and the second one surprises people, because it requires the panels to be taken down when they are no longer needed.
None of this covers a listed building, where you also need listed building consent, and none of it survives an Article 4 direction that has removed the right.
What Class A permits
Class A covers the installation, alteration or replacement of solar photovoltaic or solar thermal equipment on a dwellinghouse or a block of flats, and on a building within the curtilage of either. So panels on the house, on the garage roof and on a garden studio roof all fall within the same class.
Standalone solar, meaning an array on a frame in the garden rather than on a building, is dealt with separately in the same Part and has its own limits on height, area, proximity to the boundary and the number of installations permitted. Treat a ground-mounted array as a different question rather than as an extension of the roof rights.
"Microgeneration" is not a loose term here. It is defined by reference to the Energy Act 2004, with capacity limits of 50 kilowatts for electricity generation and 45 kilowatts thermal. A domestic roof array is nowhere near those figures, so the definition rarely constrains a house. It becomes relevant on a large barn roof or a block of flats with a big communal array.
Part 14 has been amended more than once since 2015. Check the current text of the class before relying on a limit you read in an older guide.
The 0.2 metre protrusion limit
The measurement is made perpendicular to the external surface of the wall or the roof slope, from that surface to the outermost part of the equipment. Two hundred millimetres is not much once you add the mounting rail, the bracket and the panel frame.
In-roof systems, where the panels replace tiles and sit flush, pass comfortably. Standard on-roof systems on a pitched roof usually pass with 40 to 60 millimetres to spare, but not always, and the margin depends on the rail depth the installer chooses. Ask for the total build-up dimension in writing before installation rather than measuring it afterwards.
Flat roofs are the awkward case. A ballasted frame tilting panels to 10 or 15 degrees will exceed 0.2 metres above the roof surface at the high edge of every panel, so a flat roof array on a house is often outside Class A even though it is invisible from the street. The detail of how the 200 millimetre projection limit is measured matters here, because the limit is about the plane of the roof rather than about visibility.
Wall-mounted panels are measured the same way, from the plane of the wall.
The ridge height limit and walls fronting a highway
The highest part of the equipment must not be higher than the highest part of the roof, and chimneys are excluded from that comparison. On a pitched roof with panels laid parallel to the slope this is automatic. On a low-pitched or flat roof with a tilted frame near the ridge, it is not, and a frame that peaks above a parapet or a shallow ridge takes the installation outside the class.
The separate restriction applies on land in a conservation area or a World Heritage Site: equipment must not be installed on a wall that fronts a highway. Note that this catches walls rather than roofs, and it uses "fronts a highway" rather than "is visible from the street". A side wall facing a public footpath that is a highway is caught. A roof slope facing the road is not caught by this particular restriction, although the siting condition below still applies to it.
Siting to minimise the effect on appearance and amenity
Two conditions attach to Class A and they are worded as obligations rather than as tests the council applies:
- The equipment must, so far as practicable, be sited so as to minimise its effect on the external appearance of the building.
- The equipment must, so far as practicable, be sited so as to minimise its effect on the amenity of the area.
"So far as practicable" is doing a lot of work. It does not require you to put panels on a shaded north slope for the sake of appearance, because that would not be practicable for generation. It does require you to think about the arrangement: keeping the array as a single rectangle rather than scattered around obstructions, setting panels back from eaves and verges by a tile or two, aligning rows with the roof geometry, and using black frames and dark backsheets on a slate roof rather than silver frames on white.
Councils rarely enforce these conditions, and that is not a reason to ignore them. A breach means the installation was never permitted development, which becomes a problem at the point of sale when a buyer's solicitor asks for evidence.
Listed buildings, conservation areas and Article 4
A listed building needs listed building consent for the installation, whatever the permitted development position says about planning permission. The two consents are separate regimes and the presence of one does not remove the need for the other. Conservation officers usually resist panels on a principal roof slope and are much more receptive to a rear slope, an outbuilding, or a ground-mounted array screened from public view. Where the case needs making, a short Heritage Statement explaining the significance of the roof and why the chosen slope causes least harm is what moves it forward, and PlanScope drafts one from the answers you give about the building.
In a conservation area without listing, the wall restriction applies and the siting condition applies, but roof panels on a dwellinghouse are otherwise permitted. That catches people out in both directions: some assume a conservation area bans panels outright, and others assume it changes nothing.
Article 4 directions are the real trap, because they are local and they are not obvious from the street. A direction can remove Part 14 rights across a whole area or a single terrace. The way an Article 4 direction takes away a permitted development right is the same mechanism whichever class it targets, and the only reliable check is the authority's own list of directions.
Removal when no longer needed
The third condition on Class A requires that equipment which is no longer needed for microgeneration be removed as soon as reasonably practicable. It applies to the panels, the mounting and the associated equipment.
In practice this bites on failed or abandoned installations, on inverters that were never replaced, and on panels left in place after a roof covering was changed. It also matters on sale: an array that has not generated for years, with a dead inverter, is equipment no longer needed for microgeneration, and leaving it there is a breach of the condition rather than merely untidy.
Keep the commissioning paperwork and any repair records. They are the evidence that the equipment is still in use.
Batteries, inverters and what to record
Battery storage is not part of Part 14. A battery installed inside the house, in a garage or in a loft involves no development at all, because internal works to a dwellinghouse are outside the definition of development for these purposes.
An external battery enclosure in the garden is different. It is a structure, and whether it is permitted depends on the outbuilding rights in Part 1 rather than on the solar rights in Part 14, with their own limits on height, area and position relative to the boundary. A cabinet against a rear wall usually falls within those limits. One in the front garden usually does not.
Inverters mounted inside need nothing. Inverters mounted outside are part of the associated equipment and are measured against the same 0.2 metre limit as the panels.
Before installation, record the following and keep it with the deeds:
- Dated photographs of the roof or wall before work starts, from the street and from the garden.
- A written statement from the installer of the total protrusion from the roof plane, in millimetres.
- Confirmation from the council's website that the property is not listed and that no Article 4 direction removes Part 14 rights.
- The conservation area or World Heritage Site position, if either applies.
- The installer's certification and the commissioning certificate.
That file takes 20 minutes to assemble and answers every question a conveyancer will ask in ten years. Where the installation falls outside Class A, or where you want certainty, a lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful, and a short Planning Statement setting out the limits and how the proposal meets them does the work on either route.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which documents a solar or retrofit proposal at your property is likely to need.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
How far can solar panels stick out from the roof?
No more than 0.2 metres measured perpendicular to the plane of the roof slope or the wall, from that surface to the outermost part of the equipment. In-roof systems pass easily and standard on-roof rails usually do, but the total build-up depends on the mounting the installer chooses, so get the dimension in writing.
Do solar panels need planning permission in a conservation area?
Roof panels on a dwellinghouse are generally still permitted development, but equipment must not be installed on a wall that fronts a highway. The siting condition about appearance and amenity also applies. A listed building needs listed building consent regardless of the permitted development position.
Are panels on a flat roof permitted development?
Often not. A ballasted frame tilting panels to 10 or 15 degrees usually exceeds 0.2 metres above the roof surface at the high edge, which takes the installation outside Class A even where it cannot be seen from the street. The limit is measured from the plane of the roof, not by visibility.
Do I have to remove solar panels that no longer work?
Yes. A condition on Class A requires equipment no longer needed for microgeneration to be removed as soon as reasonably practicable. An array with a dead inverter that has not generated for years is caught, and leaving it in place is a breach of the condition rather than just untidiness.
Does battery storage need planning permission?
A battery inside the house, garage or loft involves no development. An external enclosure in the garden is a structure and falls to be assessed against the outbuilding rights in Part 1, with their own limits on height, area and position. A cabinet against a rear wall usually complies; one in a front garden usually does not.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.