Updates in December to permitted development rights for solar panels
The government’s latest amendments to permitted development rights in England see more scope for solar panel installations on buildings (or in the curtilage of a building) without needing full or householder planning permission.
These changes were announced on 30 November and took effect on 21 December 2023.
This article was updated on 31 January 2024 to reflect the changes made on the Planning Portal and provide links to the PDF prior approval application forms.
What are the changes?
Full details of the changes can be found in the amending legislation and its explanatory memorandum, but in summary:
Domestic installations are now:
- possible on a flat roof (in addition to existing rights for walls and pitched roofs), but subject to prior approval on Article 2(3) land.
- possible in front gardens in conservation areas up to 2m in height, subject to prior approval
Non-domestic installations are now, subject to prior approval:
- allowed to exceed 1 megawatt in capacity (where this was previously the total limit)
- possible on roof slopes fronting highways on Article 2(3) land
- possible in front of buildings, up to 2m in height, on Article 2(3) land
Finally, there are new rights for solar canopies to be installed on non-domestic off-street parking.
All the above are subject to meeting the specific eligibility criteria in the relevant permitted development rights. Otherwise, planning permission will be needed.
What has been done on Planning Portal?
Existing prior approval application type
We have now updated the ‘Eligibility’ question on our existing prior approval type for non-domestic solar photovoltaic to comply with the updated rules.
This removes the question that limits applications to a total generating capacity of 1 megawatt and update the question on designated areas to remove the restrictions for roof slopes fronting highways.
This was not completed by 21 December 2023, but was implemented on 11 January 2024.
Prior to this, we advised users to answer ‘No’ to the questions referred to above to allow their applications to proceed.
We also recommended adding a covering letter to the application to ensure the Local Authority were aware of the workaround they had undertaken, and that this article could be used to evidence our instruction.
We also updated our ‘offline’ printable PDF application form with the updated question content.
New prior approval application types
Where the new rights require a prior approval application to be made, we have produced an initial set of fillable PDF forms and will subsequently look to implement them on the online application service.
Application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed:
- Installation or alteration of solar equipment on domestic premises – PDF Form; Help text
- Installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on domestic premises – PDF Form; Help text
- Installation or alteration etc of stand-alone solar equipment on non-domestic premises – PDF Form; Help text
- Installation etc of a solar canopy on non-domestic, off-street parking – PDF Form; Help text
Common project guidance
Our common project sections about solar panels was updated in line with the amended permitted development rights so that users can gain an understanding of the criteria that needs to be met to be eligible for permitted development (or where a planning application would be needed).
Planning Portal Blog 
A Fire Safety Strategy has been a standard requirement on all planning applications for some time. Will the Portal be adding a Fire Strategy as a separate document type?
Hi Andrew. We have a specific ‘Fire Statement’ supporting document type that can be used for this purpose on full and outline applications to meet the requirements set out in Article 9A of the DMPO: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/595/article/9A
In this update -does permitted development now also apply to grade 1 and grade 2 listed buildings e.g: Church Roofs ??
Hi John, it depends on the specifics of the proposal and building. In your example (a non-domestic building) it would not be allowed under permitted development. Some work on listed buildings is now covered in PD rights, but you still generally need to obtain Listed Building Consent even if the work does not require an application for Planning Permission.