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Planning permission for solar panels?

 

Solar panels are generally considered ‘permitted development’ in England and Wales as long as they do not protrude more than 200mm from the wall or above the roof slope; and are not higher than the highest part of the roof.

 

They are permitted in conservation areas, however, we recommend that you contact your Local Authority for further advice and guidance on this matter.

 

Stand alone solar is permitted development as long as it is less than 4m high, more than five meters from the boundary, and the surface area of the panels does not exceed nine square meters; or any dimension of its array does not exceed three meters. In a conservation area, it must not be nearer to the highway than it is to the dwelling. If it is in the grounds of a listed building you will need to apply for planning permission.

 

Click to see the full text of the most recent changes to permitted development.

 

For those of you living in Wales, from the beginning of September 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government announced new planning rules to encourage householders to install renewable energy equipment. .

 

Planning permission for heat pumps?

 

Ground and water source heat pumps are permitted developments.

 

Air source heat pumps are also permitted development as long as they meet a long list of additional criteria. Noise is one of the main issues. To meet the MCS020 planning standards, noise from ASHPs must be below 42dB at a position one meter external to the center point of any door or window to a habitable room of a neighboring property as measured perpendicular to the plane of the door or window. Most ASHP cannot currently meet this standard (December 2011), and so would require planning permission unless you don't have neighbors.

It is a condition of permitted development that the ASHP can only be used for heating purposes.

 

Other exclusion criteria include:

  • there's not another ASHP already installed on the building

  • there's not a wind turbine installed

  • the volume of the pump's outdoor compressor is not bigger than 0.6 cubic metres

  • any part of the pump is installed within one metre of the boundary

  • listed buildings and scheduled monuments

 

And there are additional criteria if you are in a conservation area or World Heritage Site.

Up-to-date advice is available on the government’s planning portal.

 

For those of you living in Wales, from the beginning of September 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government announced new planning rules to encourage householders to install renewable energy equipment.

 

Information sourced from  www.yougen.co.uk 

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