Last reviewed: 4 September 2026. Figures and legal points checked against primary sources (legislation.gov.uk, gov.uk, Ofgem and the relevant network operator).
Last reviewed: 3 September 2026. The English rules below are
quoted from the amending order itself, SI 2026/896, which came into force on 27 August 2026. Scotland
and Wales have separate regimes and we say what we could and could not verify for each.
In England, usually no — plug-in solar was written into permitted
development rights on the same day it became lawful to use. But the same order added restrictions that
did not exist before, and one of them catches a very common case: you cannot rely on permitted
development if any part of the kit goes on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure, or on a timber-clad
part of the building. A listed building needs consent whatever you do, and a conservation area
frontage is restricted.
What changed on 27 August 2026
The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2026 did
four things to Part 14 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO. It defined “plug-in solar” in planning law for the
first time — “solar photovoltaics that are intended for connection to the relevant domestic premises’
electricity installation by means of a standard plug and socket” — and folded that definition into the
existing definition of “solar PV”. It split the limits for dwellinghouses from those for blocks of
flats, which had previously been run together. It added new plug-in-specific exclusions. And it added a
prior approval step for some stand-alone installations.
The net effect for a house with a normal masonry wall and a metal balcony rail is that nothing has
got harder. For a timber balcony, a timber-clad flat or a wooden garden fence, something has.
Your case, in one table
| Where you want to put it | Which class | Permitted development? | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masonry wall of a house, not facing a highway | A | Yes | Must not protrude more than 0.4 m beyond the plane of the wall |
| Wall of a house that abuts a highway | A | Yes | Tighter limit: 0.2 m protrusion |
| Metal or masonry balcony railing | A | Yes | 0.2 m if the enclosure abuts a highway, 0.4 m otherwise |
| Timber balcony, wooden wall or enclosure, timber-clad exterior | A | No | Excluded outright for plug-in solar, house or block of flats. The product specification bans it on fire-safety grounds too |
| Pitched roof of a house or outbuilding | A | Yes | 0.2 m protrusion and never above the ridge — but a roof job is not a plug-in job |
| Free-standing frame in the garden | B | Yes, within limits | 4 m high generally; 2 m within 5 m of the boundary; 1 m if it is also forward of the principal elevation; 9 m² of panel maximum |
| Fixed to a wooden fence, gate or other wooden enclosure | B | No | Added expressly for plug-in solar by the 2026 order |
| Conservation area or World Heritage Site, on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure fronting a highway |
A | No | Apply for planning permission |
| Listed building, or a building in its curtilage | A / B | No | Planning permission and listed building consent |
| Scheduled monument | A / B | No | Excluded |
The new prior approval step
Stand-alone solar in a garden now needs a prior approval determination from the local planning
authority in two situations: where any part of it would be in a conservation area and nearer to a
highway bounding the curtilage than the nearest part of the house, or where any part of it would be on
article 2(3) land (conservation areas, National Parks, the Broads, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
and World Heritage Sites) and within 5 metres of the curtilage boundary. Prior approval is narrower
than a planning application — the authority is deciding only whether the appearance of the installation
needs its approval — but you must apply before beginning development.
The transitional year, and why it may not help you
Article 6 of the order contains a transitional provision: where development was permitted
immediately before 27 August 2026 and is no longer permitted because of the amendments, a developer may
still carry it out until the end of 26 August 2027. Read that carefully before relying
on it. It protects development that was previously permitted — so if your case is a plug-in
kit on a timber balcony, which was not something anyone could lawfully be operating before 27 August
2026 anyway, the transitional provision is unlikely to be doing anything for you. If you think it
applies to your situation, that is a question for your local planning authority, in writing.
Listed buildings and conservation areas
Two different regimes with two different consequences, and people conflate them constantly.
- Listed building. Permitted development is switched off, and separately you need
listed building consent for works affecting the building’s special interest. Consent is a criminal
matter, not just a planning one, so do not treat a reversible clamp as self-evidently outside it —
ask the conservation officer. The product specification is explicit that users are responsible for
obtaining any necessary planning permission and listed building consents. - Conservation area or World Heritage Site. The listing exclusion does not apply,
but you lose permitted development for a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a
highway. A rear elevation, a side elevation not fronting a highway, or a garden frame away from
the road are all still capable of being permitted development. - Article 4 direction. Any local planning authority can withdraw permitted
development rights for a defined area. It will not show up in the national order, so check the
authority’s own map before you buy.
More on both in listed buildings and
conservation areas.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The 2026 order amends the English GPDO only. As at the review date of this page we have found
no equivalent plug-in-solar amendment in Scotland or Wales, so the general domestic
solar permitted development rights apply unchanged and there is no explicit treatment of a plugged-in
panel:
- Scotland. Solar on a dwelling falls under the domestic classes in the Town and
Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992, with a 1 m protrusion limit
on a dwelling, no rights on a listed building or in its curtilage, and, in a conservation area,
rights limited to rear elevations or side elevations not fronting a road. - Wales. The Welsh rules run to a 200 mm projection from roof or wall, no
installation above the ridge, and consent required where panels on a principal or side elevation are
visible from a highway in a conservation area or World Heritage Site. The 2026 Welsh amendment order
we checked deals with temporary buildings, air source heat pumps and wind turbines, not plug-in
solar. - Northern Ireland. A separate planning system, and separate electricity rules
— see plug-in solar in Northern Ireland.
[VERIFICAR: confirmar antes de cada revisión trimestral si Escocia o Gales han publicado una
enmienda específica de plug-in solar a sus respectivos GPDO]
Frequently asked questions
Is putting up a panel “development” at all?
Parliament has now answered that by regulating it: plug-in solar is named in Part 14 and given its
own limits, so it is treated as development for which permitted development rights may or may not be
available. Arguing that a clamp-on panel is too trivial to be development is not a safe position.
Does it matter that the mounting is reversible?
The specification requires the attachment method to be reversible and non-permanent, which helps
with a landlord and with reinstatement. It does not, by itself, take the installation outside planning
control.
I live in a flat. Is it different?
Yes. The 2026 order separated blocks of flats from dwellinghouses, and a block of flats keeps the
tighter 0.2 m protrusion limit everywhere plus the same timber exclusion. Consent from the freeholder
or managing agent is a separate matter again — see
plug-in solar in a leasehold flat.
How do I get certainty?
Apply to your local planning authority for a lawful development certificate. It is the only way to
convert “we think this is permitted development” into a document you can show a buyer, an insurer or a
managing agent.
Does planning permission replace the DNO notification?
No — they are unconnected. You still notify your network operator: see
telling your DNO about plug-in solar.
Primary sources.
Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order
2026 ·
GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 14 ·
MHCLG, permitted development rights for householders: technical
guidance ·
Scottish Government, Circular 1/2024 ·
GOV.WALES, planning permission for solar panels.
General information, not planning advice. Your local planning authority is the only body that can tell
you what applies to your address — see legal notice.