Planning permission for solar panels in South West London

Do you need planning permission for solar panels in South West London? For most houses, no. The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames puts the point plainly in its conservation-area guidance: the solar works that need permission in a conservation area are those on a wall facing a highway. Roof-mounted solar is not on that list. The real exceptions in this part of London are narrow and local: one Croydon conservation area whose Article 4 direction names solar outright, roof-slope directions in Merton and Wandsworth that need careful reading, listed houses, flat roofs, and blocks of flats. This guide covers the six councils of our solar panels South West London area: Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Croydon and Wandsworth.

The national rule, and what can change it

Solar on a house is governed by Schedule 2, Part 14, Class A of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, as amended by S.I. 2026/896, in force from 27 August 2026. If the installation meets the Class A conditions it is permitted development and no application is made. The text is identical for a semi in North Cheam and a terrace in Earlsfield; what differs is the designations each council has made.

Five designations matter here: being in a conservation area (or the Kew World Heritage Site), having a flat roof on that kind of land, putting the panels in the garden, living in a listed house, and an Article 4 direction. Two can take the right away altogether. A listed house falls outside Class A, and an Article 4 direction can withdraw the solar right on the streets it names. The other three add a condition or an extra step. In South West London the second category is small, which is why most of this guide is about reading the exceptions accurately.

The conditions for a pitched roof

The Order sets four conditions for a roof-slope array on a house. The panels must not stand more than 0.2 m beyond the plane of the slope. They must not rise above the highest part of the roof, chimneys excluded. They must be sited, so far as practicable, to minimise their effect on the building’s appearance. And they must be removed once they are no longer needed. Panels on a wall have their own limits: 0.2 m from a wall that abuts a highway, 0.4 m otherwise.

The houses those conditions apply to vary sharply across the region. Sutton’s largest group is semi-detached, 27.9% of households at the 2021 Census, while in Merton it is terraced houses, at 35.7%, with detached houses at only 5.7%. Surbiton’s St Andrew’s Square is three-storey Victorian Gothic terraces, and Carshalton village is brick under slate. None of that changes the four conditions. A Merton terrace whose best slope faces the street is judged on the same 0.2 m and roof-height limits as one whose best slope faces the garden, unless one of the exceptions below applies.

Conservation areas across the six boroughs

Kingston has 26 conservation areas, designated between 1971 and 2004 and covering about 9.4% of the borough, roughly 10,000 addresses. Richmond upon Thames has 85, from former villages such as Hampton to Richmond Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Croydon has 21. Merton’s list runs from Bathgate Road to Wool Road and includes Wimbledon Village, Wimbledon North, Wimbledon West, Mitcham Cricket Green and the two John Innes areas. Sutton’s council has consulted on appraisals for the Cheam Village and Carshalton Village conservation areas, and Wandsworth’s Article 4 page names eight conservation areas with directions, from the Dover House Estate to Wandsworth Common.

Being inside one does not, on its own, stop a roof array. Under Class A as amended, the conservation-area exclusion covers only equipment on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure that fronts a highway. Kingston’s 2025 guidance says the same for walls, asks for fixtures such as solar panels to go at the rear where possible, and says photovoltaic slates “can offer a sustainable energy solution, if considered appropriate”. Croydon’s conservation-area page says permission “may also be required” for solar panels. That guidance shapes how a council would view a design; it does not by itself remove the Class A right on a roof slope.

Article 4 directions, borough by borough

An Article 4 direction is the tool that can remove permitted development rights on particular streets. Two points govern how to read one: it applies only to the land and the classes of development it names, and a direction that removes roof-alteration rights is not automatically a direction about solar, which has its own class. These are the directions we read, or checked against the council’s own pages, on 19 October 2026.

Croydon. The Chatsworth Road direction, in force since 21 January 2016 and covering the whole conservation area, lists the installation of solar PV or solar thermal equipment among the works that now need planning permission. It is the clearest solar restriction in the region. The Waldrons direction from the same date applies to numbers 5 to 23 only and covers hard surfaces and gates, fences and walls. The Kenley Aerodrome direction, which Croydon lists under green belt and open space, covers gates, fences, walls and other means of enclosure. Our post on Croydon’s conservation-area rules goes into the appraisals.

Merton. The John Innes Merton Park and Wilton Crescent conservation areas carry four directions, from 1986, 1990 and two from July 2007. The second 2007 direction withdraws the right to alter a roof slope that fronts a public highway or other public space, and to change external finishes such as roof slates or tiles, where that would affect the building’s appearance. It does not name solar. Merton’s other directions are about converting homes to small houses in multiple occupation, now borough-wide following a second direction dated 24 March 2026, and offices to homes; neither touches solar.

Wandsworth. Eight conservation areas carry directions: the Dover House Estate, Heaver Estate, Latchmere Estate, Putney Lower Common, Roehampton Village, Shaftesbury Park Estate, Totterdown Fields Estate and Wandsworth Common. The council’s Heaver Estate summary says changes to the roofs of houses, including re-roofing in a different material, need permission. Neither the Heaver nor the Totterdown Fields direction names solar, but with summaries that close to a street-facing array, ask the duty planner first.

Richmond upon Thames. Richmond uses Article 4 directions street by street: its list, updated on 18 June 2026, has 119 entries across 42 conservation areas (our count), from Archway Street in Mortlake to York Villas in Kew. The council’s summary of what they control is extensions, new doors and windows, painting and rendering, removing chimneys and front gardens and walls. We read the Cole Park Road direction in Twickenham, made in November 2020: as confirmed, it withdraws Part 1 Classes A, C, D, F and H and Part 2 Classes A and C where the work fronts a highway, and does not include Part 14. Others on the list have to be read one by one.

Sutton. Sutton’s page lists a borough-wide direction on small houses in multiple occupation, confirmed on 26 November 2024, a 2014 Sutton Town Centre direction on offices to homes, the 2007 Sutton Garden Suburb direction covering certain alterations to houses on Meadow Close, Woodend, Hawthorne Close, Horse Shoe Green, Oaks Close and Greenhill, and a 1984 direction withdrawing roof-alteration rights, such as dormers and extensions, from certain properties across the borough. None of the summaries mentions solar.

Kingston upon Thames. Kingston’s three directions cover the Seething Wells Filter Beds, changes from commercial, business and service use to homes, and the demolition of North Lodge and South Lodge on Kingston Hill. None concerns solar on a house.

Flat roofs, garden panels, Kew and the green belt

On a flat roof the equipment may sit no more than 0.6 m above the highest part of the roof. On article 2(3) land, which the Order defines to include conservation areas and World Heritage Sites, a flat-roof array also needs an application to the council for a determination on whether prior approval of its appearance is required, made before work begins. A flat-roofed rear extension in the Wimbledon West or Twickenham Green conservation area therefore means an application to Merton or Richmond first. It is an extra step rather than a refusal. Richmond notes that the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a World Heritage Site, so the same steps apply to any house inside it.

Garden arrays are Class B, not Class A. Under the 2026 Order a prior-approval determination is needed where any part of the array would be in a conservation area and closer to a highway bounding the garden than the nearest part of the house, or on article 2(3) land within 5 metres of the garden boundary. On a long Carshalton Beeches or Coombe garden, the position of the frame decides whether that step applies. Green belt is not article 2(3) land and adds nothing to roof solar on a house, though Croydon’s Kenley Lane and Hawkhirst Road direction does control fences, accesses and temporary uses on open land there.

Listed buildings

Listed buildings are the firm exception. Class A does not cover a listed house, or a building within its curtilage, so there is no permitted development route at all, and Historic England says consent is required for any type of PV installation on a listed building. The region has plenty of them, from the Grade I Strawberry Hill House and Marble Hill House in Twickenham to the Grade II Surbiton station and the six Grade II* buildings in Carshalton village. If your home is listed, the first conversation is with the council’s conservation officer.

Flats, and homes you rent

Flats make up more of the housing here than almost anywhere we cover. Wandsworth has 68.5% of households in flats, Kingston 36.3%, and about 41% of Croydon’s dwellings are flats (Census 2021; Croydon Local Housing Needs Assessment, December 2023). In Tooting Broadway ward 27.8% of households live in a flat within a converted or shared house. Part 14 has separate conditions for blocks of flats, but the practical first question is ownership: the roof usually belongs to the freeholder, and a roof shared between several flats seldom divides into a useful array for one. If you rent, privately or from a social landlord, the decision is your landlord’s.

Building regulations, MCS and UK Power Networks

Even with planning settled, two more sets of rules apply. Historic England notes that PV installations must meet Building Regulations Parts A (structure), B (fire safety) and P (electrical safety), with Building Control notified at whichever of the six councils covers your home. We are NAPIT members (73495), the government-approved scheme that registers the electrical work, MCS-certified for solar PV and battery storage through NAPIT, and HIES Consumer Code members (HCE/A/1392). The MCS certificate, which Smart Export Guarantee payments require, arrives with the electrical certificate once the installation is registered.

The second is the electricity network. UK Power Networks runs it everywhere in the region, but in two licence areas: its boundary data puts the town centres of Wimbledon, Mitcham and Tooting in London Power Networks and those of Kingston, Surbiton, Richmond, Twickenham, Sutton, Carshalton and Croydon in South Eastern Power Networks. Richmond’s and Twickenham’s centres are also within about 1.2 km of SSEN’s Southern Electric area, so use UKPN’s area checker for your postcode. Under the G98 rule a system up to 16 A per phase, 3.68 kW, is notified before commissioning or within 28 days after; anything larger needs G99 approval before work starts, and a 4 kW inverter, at 17.39 A, is just over the line. UKPN approves automatically where the maximum export is under 5 kW, and there is nothing to pay it where the supply needs no upgrade. The installer handles the application.

Once planning is clear: the roof matters more than the borough

PVGIS 5.3, the European Commission’s solar calculator, gives a 4 kWp array facing due south at 35° about 3,995 kWh a year in Wimbledon and about 3,977 kWh in Croydon, the ends of the six South West London town pages that print a figure: a gap of about 18 kWh (our arithmetic on PVGIS-SARAH3 2005–2023 runs, 14% system losses, September 2026). A direction or a design choice that moves the array to an east- or west-facing rear slope costs far more output than the choice of borough. How that feeds into a price is on solar panel cost in South West London, with the national figures on solar panel installation cost. The income-linked schemes, a separate question from planning, are on solar panel grants in South West London, and battery storage covers sizing a battery alongside the panels, including where one can go in a Richmond conservation area in our post on Richmond conservation areas and batteries.

Where to check with your council

What to check before you ask for a quote

Check three things, in this order. First, the designation: whether the house is in a conservation area or the Kew World Heritage Site, whether it is listed, and whether it sits in the curtilage of a listed building. Second, the Article 4 position if you live in Chatsworth Road, the John Innes Merton Park or Wilton Crescent areas, the Heaver Estate or Totterdown Fields, Sutton Garden Suburb, or one of the Richmond streets on the council’s list. Third, the roof itself: pitched or flat, front or rear, house or shared block, because each falls under a different rule above. Our town pages for Wimbledon, Twickenham, Kingston upon Thames, Tooting and Croydon list each area’s own designations.

After that, expect any installer to check the address against those designations before pricing it. Ours is a survey-stage check: if the house is listed, has a flat roof in a conservation area, needs a highway-facing wall or balcony, or is on one of the directed streets above, we tell you before the quote, so you can speak to the council first. The application itself, if one is needed, is yours to make; we do not submit planning or prior-approval applications for customers. For what a quote should list once planning is settled, see what is in a solar quote, line by line, and for the payback arithmetic, solar panel payback time.

Sources: legislation.gov.uk, Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2 Part 14 Classes A and B, as amended by S.I. 2026/896, in force 27 August 2026; Historic England, Consents and Permissions for PV Systems; Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Conservation areas, Conservation Area General Guidance (2025) and Article 4 Directions; Merton Council, Conservation areas, Article 4 directions removing permitted development rights, and John Innes Merton Park and Wilton Crescent Article 4(2) Direction (No 2), July 2007; Richmond Council, About conservation areas, Conservation areas FAQ, Article 4 Directions: conservation areas (updated 18 June 2026) and Cole Park Road Conservation Area Article 4 Direction 2020; London Borough of Sutton, Article 4 Directions, and Cheam Village and Carshalton Village conservation-area consultations; Croydon Council, Conservation areas, Article 4 directions, and the Chatsworth Road, The Waldrons and Kenley Lane and Hawkhirst Road direction pages; Wandsworth Council, Article 4 Directions and Heaver Estate Conservation Area (all council pages read 19 October 2026); Wandsworth Council, Totterdown Fields Estate Article 4 Direction (read 17 September 2026); ONS Census 2021, TS044 Accommodation type (Nomis), as cited on our town pages; Croydon Local Housing Needs Assessment (Iceni Projects, December 2023); Historic England list entries for Strawberry Hill House, Marble Hill House, Surbiton Station and Carshalton village, as cited on our town pages; UK Power Networks licence boundaries and NESO DNO boundaries; UK Power Networks, Solar and storage: cost, time and what’s involved; Energy Networks Association, EREC G98 Issue 2 (10 March 2025); PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), PVGIS-SARAH3 2005–2023, town runs 8–17 September 2026.