Do You Need Planning Permission for Plug-in Solar?

For the vast majority of homes, no. Domestic solar sits inside permitted development, set out in Part 14 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 - Class A for equipment on the building, Class B for anything free-standing in the garden. Permitted development means you do not apply for anything, provided you stay inside the limits.

Until recently it was unclear whether a plug-in kit was covered at all, and the common answer - that it is temporary and reversible, so planning does not bite - was reasoning rather than law. That gap is now closed. the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2026 amended the definition of solar PV to include plug-in solar with effect from 27 August 2026, so a plug-in kit is now squarely inside the same regime as any other domestic panel, with the same limits and the same exclusions.

In practice the limits are generous for the kind of kit this site covers: a panel on a wall may project up to 0.4m from it (0.2m where the wall abuts a highway), and a free-standing array in the garden may be up to 4m tall and 9 square metres of panel, dropping to 2m within 5 metres of the boundary and 1m if it also sits in front of the house. We set out the full Class A and Class B limits on the main legality page. These are England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own planning regimes.

The exclusions matter more than the measurements, because they are absolute rather than a matter of degree:

Yes - this is the step people miss. Any grid-connected generator, however small, must be notified to your Distribution Network Operator (DNO) - the company that runs the local electricity network - under the G98 "Connect and Notify" process. It is a form, not an approval you wait on: you install and then notify, so the network knows what small generation is connected in your area.

Until the G98 recommendation is updated for plug-in solar, the effective limit is 800W per household, which matches the inverter cap in the new rules. Your DNO can be found from your postcode, and the notification is free.

In practice, yes - you will need your landlord's or freeholder's consent, even though plug-in solar is reversible and leaves no permanent mark. It is a courtesy and usually a tenancy requirement to clear any external fixture on a balcony or wall, and it protects you if there is ever a dispute about the property.

Renters are the audience the new rules are aimed at, so a clear, reversible setup is an easy ask. Our guide for renters and flats covers how to frame the request and what tenants can realistically install.

Two separate rulebooks restrict the mounting surface, and they have to be satisfied together.

The fire-safety rules in the product specification say a compliant kit must not be installed on ACM or metal-composite cladding, high-pressure laminate cladding, timber cladding, or timber balconies. The factory-fitted cable also must not be extended with an extension lead, multi-way adaptor or RCD adaptor; the plug goes directly into a suitable socket.

The planning rules do the same job independently. Since 27 August 2026 plug-in solar falls outside permitted development if any part of it is installed on a wooden wall, balcony or enclosure, or on any timber-clad part of the exterior - and, for free-standing kit, on a wooden fence, gate, wall or other means of enclosure. That last one is worth reading twice, because a garden fence is not on the fire-safety list at all, and hanging a panel from one is an obvious thing to try.

So the practical constraint is less "will the council allow it" and more "is there a safe, approved surface to mount it on". Check your balcony, wall or fence material before ordering. Wood fails both tests, so there is no route around it.

Sources

The planning rules on this page trace to the legislation itself rather than to a summary of it. If a detail decides your installation, read the original or ask your planning authority.

• SI 2026/896 - The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2026. Made 29 July 2026, in force 27 August 2026. Rewrites the Class A and Class B limits and folds plug-in solar into the definition of solar PV.
• Part 14 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015 - the permitted development regime for domestic renewable energy that the order above amends.
• SI 2026/848 - the product-safety instrument that creates the plug-in microgenerator category. In force the same day.
• Plug-in solar: regulatory amendment and interim product specification (DESNZ) - the source of the mounting-surface restrictions.
• Engineering Recommendation G98 (Energy Networks Association) - the connect-and-notify rule and the 800W per-household ceiling.