Solar · Battery · EV — Greater London
Solar Panels Tooting
Solar panels, battery storage and EV chargers for homes in and around Tooting — designed from your actual usage, installed by an MCS-certified team, and explained in plain English before you commit to anything.
Two of Tooting's conservation areas began as planned estates. Totterdown Fields was the first of the London County Council's cottage estates, built between 1901 and 1911, and nearby the developer Alfred Heaver built a Queen Anne-style estate between about 1890 and 1910, with its highest-status houses fronting Tooting Bec Common. The area is also home to St George's Hospital, one of London's four major trauma centres, and to Tooting Bec Lido, which first opened in 1906 and which Wandsworth Council describes as the UK's largest outdoor freshwater swimming pool. Census 2021 counted 52,299 residents across the Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Furzedown wards. We quote for homes in and around Tooting, across SW17 and the parts of Furzedown in SW16.
Whether solar is realistic here depends as much on tenure and building type as on sunshine. In those three wards, 54.2% of households live in a flat, maisonette or apartment and 54.9% rent from a private or social landlord, so for many residents the roof above them is shared, owned by someone else, or both. For the 33.7% of households in terraced houses, the practical questions are how much unshaded roof there is, which way it faces, and whether the house is covered by the Article 4 directions in Totterdown Fields or on the Heaver Estate. A solar panel survey should answer those questions plainly, including saying so when a roof is not worth covering.
Solar on Tooting's housing
Tooting is more house-based than Wandsworth as a whole. Census 2021 puts 45.8% of households in the Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Furzedown wards in whole houses (33.7% terraced, 9.8% semi-detached and 2.3% detached), against 31.4% across the borough, where purpose-built flats alone house 48.1% of households compared with 31.1% here. Flats in converted or shared houses are more common in Tooting, at 20.4% of households against 17.7% borough-wide, and reach 27.8% in Tooting Broadway ward, where 46.3% of households rent privately; Tooting Bec is the most house-heavy ward, with 47.3% of its households in terraces. Across the three wards 43.8% of households own their home (18.6% outright and 25.2% with a mortgage or loan), close to Wandsworth's 42.5%, while 38.3% rent privately and 16.6% rent from a council or other social landlord. That gives three quite different starting points: a terrace owner deciding about their own roof, a flat owner in a converted house who shares the roof with neighbours and a freeholder, and a tenant whose landlord makes the call.
The council's conservation appraisals add roof-level detail. The Totterdown Fields appraisal gives slate as the estate's main roofing material and describes three basic roof shapes, including conventional hipped roofs and cottages with eaves at first-floor level and dormer windows at the side. It also records that the estate's 'fourth class' cottages were a separate ground-floor and first-floor flat, so one roof there can cover two homes. The Heaver Estate appraisal gives natural Welsh slate as the houses' roof material, apart from a few properties in Bushnell Road where the original covering is plain clay tiles, and records the original avenue of London plane trees retained in Streathbourne Road. Both appraisals name rear roof slopes, back gardens and shed roofs as discreet places for equipment such as solar panels, the Heaver Estate guidance adding valley roof slopes concealed by a parapet, and the Totterdown Fields guidance advises preventing excessive heat loss before installing micro-generation at all. Mellison Road, a conservation area just off Tooting High Street, takes its character from knapped flint on its house fronts and boundary walls, which its appraisal calls unique within the borough. Efficiency is worth a look too: the Local Intelligence Hub shows 55.5% of households in the Tooting parliamentary constituency with an EPC rating of D or worse, against a national average of 54.1%.
What London Borough of Wandsworth is doing
Wandsworth Council resolved unanimously on 17 July 2019 to declare a climate emergency, at a meeting where a petition signed by 10,000 people calling for that step was also presented, and set aims of net carbon neutrality by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050. It now aims for the council to be carbon neutral by 2030 and for the whole borough to be net zero by 2043, and it reports that domestic buildings produce 42% of the borough's emissions and transport 21%. Among its own building projects it lists Fircroft Primary School on Fircroft Road in Tooting: an air source heat pump, new lighting controls and a replacement roof with added insulation, costing £436,254 and funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. For households, the council says it applies for funding such as the Warm Homes: Local Grant on residents' behalf, and its retrofit grants page lists solar panels among the upgrades that grant can provide; eligibility is set by the scheme, so check the current criteria before relying on it.
For planning, the national rules were last amended on 27 August 2026, when S.I. 2026/896 came into force. Panels on a house roof remain permitted development within the Class A limits; in a conservation area the extra exclusion is for equipment on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure which fronts a highway, not for roof slopes; a flat-roof array on conservation-area land needs a prior approval application; and listed buildings fall outside Class A. The local complication is Wandsworth's Article 4 directions. The Totterdown Fields direction, which the appraisal dates to 14 June 1990, covers 'any other alteration to the roof of a dwelling house' at the properties it lists, and the 1996 Heaver Estate direction covers alterations to a roof slope which fronts a highway. Neither mentions solar panels, but the council's summaries say changes to the roofs of houses on both estates need planning permission, so ask its duty planner at planning@wandsworth.gov.uk before committing to a design. Group buying is not available here at present: the council's 2021/22 progress report says direct letters and targeted social media increased sign-ups to the Solar Together offer, but when we checked on 17 September 2026 the scheme's Wandsworth page, now under the Switch Together name, said it was not active in the area yet and invited residents to leave their details.
What solar costs on a Tooting home
The honest national anchor is the Energy Saving Trust's: a typical domestic system is around 4.5 kWp — roughly around 12 panels over 20 to 30m² of roof — and costs around £7,600 installed. On their payback table, with export payments and fuel prices as of July 2026, London homes sit at about 9 years. With 33.7% of households in the Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Furzedown wards living in terraced houses and 54.2% in flats (Census 2021), the typical twelve-panel system is a benchmark for comparing quotes rather than a likely fit for every Tooting home.
Two things move that number for everyone. Residential installations carry 0% VAT until 31 March 2027, reverting to 5% from 1 April 2027. And export payments under the Smart Export Guarantee are set by each supplier and must be above zero — they change on short notice, which is why we never print one. A quote should itemise the panels, inverter, mounting, scaffolding, labour, commissioning, warranties and the DNO notification, so you can see what the total is made of — ours does, and it comes from a survey of your actual roof and usage, not from a table.
Sources: Energy Saving Trust — Solar panels: costs, savings and benefits explained (updated 27 August 2026) · HMRC — VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (VAT Notice 708/6) · Ofgem — Smart Export Guarantee.
When we'd tell you not to fit solar in Tooting
A persistently shaded roof, a slope that faces mostly north, a listed building where consent will not carry the fixings, or a home whose daytime usage is so low that almost everything would be exported at a supplier-set rate — in those cases we will say so at the survey rather than sell you a system that under-delivers. Fabric-first improvements sometimes beat panels as the first spend, and we would rather tell you that than not.
Whoever you use, check the registers yourself: HCE is NAPIT member 73495 and an HIES Consumer Code member (HCE/A/1392), with MCS certification for solar PV via NAPIT — the certification an MCS-certified install needs for Smart Export Guarantee payments.
What a Tooting roof actually generates
Rather than quote a generic yield, we ran the European Commission's PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre) for Tooting itself. A 4 kWp array at 35° facing due south, with 14% system losses, is estimated at about 3,984 kWh a year — around 996 kWh per kWp — with a year-to-year variation of roughly ±159 kWh (PVGIS-SARAH3, 2005–2023). East- or west-facing slopes generate less, and shading changes the answer more than the town does; that is exactly what the survey measures.
Method: PVGIS 5.3 (European Commission Joint Research Centre), 4 kWp, 35° tilt, due south, 14% system losses, building-mounted, run 2026-09-17.
Local facts, sourced
Tooting in numbers
Every figure below comes from a named public source — the same standard we hold our savings estimates to.
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Census 2021 counted 52,299 usual residents in the Tooting Bec (17,028), Tooting Broadway (17,218) and Furzedown (18,053) wards, out of 327,506 in the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS001 Usual residents — 2022 wards E05014023, E05014024 and E05014013 and Wandsworth E09000032, via the Nomis API (read 17 September 2026)
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Of 20,452 households in the three wards, 45.8% live in a whole house (33.7% terraced, 9.8% semi-detached, 2.3% detached) and 54.2% in a flat, maisonette or apartment: 31.1% in purpose-built blocks, 20.4% in converted or shared houses, 0.7% in other converted buildings and 1.9% in commercial buildings. Across Wandsworth the shares are 31.4% in houses and 68.5% in flats, 48.1% of households in purpose-built blocks and 17.7% in converted or shared houses.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS044 Accommodation type — the same wards and borough via the Nomis API; ward counts summed and percentages calculated by us (read 17 September 2026)
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The three wards differ sharply. Tooting Bec is the most house-based, with 47.3% of its households (3,142 of 6,644) in terraced houses. In Tooting Broadway 27.8% of households (1,934 of 6,959) live in flats within converted or shared houses and 46.3% rent privately, against 37.0% in Tooting Bec and 31.6% in Furzedown.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS044 Accommodation type and TS054 Tenure — ward-level counts via the Nomis API (read 17 September 2026)
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Of 20,454 households in the three wards, 43.8% own their home (18.6% outright, 25.2% with a mortgage or loan), 1.1% are in shared ownership, 38.3% rent privately and 16.6% rent from a council or other social landlord. Wandsworth-wide, 42.5% own, 1.8% are in shared ownership, 36.3% rent privately and 19.3% rent socially.
Source: ONS Census 2021, TS054 Tenure — 2022 wards E05014023, E05014024 and E05014013 and Wandsworth E09000032, via the Nomis API; percentages calculated by us (read 17 September 2026)
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Totterdown Fields was the first of the London County Council's cottage estates, built between 1901 and 1911; on completion 1,261 cottages stood on 38 acres, and its 'fourth class' cottages consisted of a separate ground-floor and first-floor flat. It was designated a conservation area on 19 September 1978, and its appraisal notes that Tooting Bec and Graveney Common and the Heaver Estate Conservation Area are within easy reach.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Totterdown Fields Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy (read 17 September 2026)
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The Totterdown Fields appraisal gives slate as the estate's main roofing material and describes three basic roof shapes, including conventional hipped roofs and cottages with eaves at first-floor level and dormer windows at the side. Its energy guidance says it is sensible to prevent excessive heat loss before considering micro-generators such as solar panels, and names rear roof slopes, back gardens and shed roofs as discreet locations for them.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Totterdown Fields Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy, roof types and energy guidance (read 17 September 2026)
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Schedule I of the Totterdown Fields Estate Article 4 Direction lists 'any other alteration to the roof of a dwelling house' (Part 1, Class C) among the development affected, alongside front hard surfaces and front gates, fences and walls. The scanned direction does not mention solar panels. The council's summary page says changes to the roofs of houses, including re-roofing in a different material, need planning permission, and the conservation area appraisal dates the direction to 14 June 1990.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Totterdown Fields Estate Article 4 Direction (scanned schedules) and 'Totterdown Fields Estate Conservation Area' summary; date from the Totterdown Fields appraisal (read 17 September 2026)
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The Heaver Estate was built by the developer Alfred Heaver between about 1890 and 1910 in a Queen Anne style, on a grid of streets with the houses in long rows and the highest-status houses fronting Tooting Bec Common. It was designated a conservation area on 19 September 1978 and extended on 2 January 1986 and 24 May 1989.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Heaver Estate Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy, Part 1 (read 17 September 2026)
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The Heaver Estate appraisal gives natural Welsh slate as the roof material for the houses, except a few properties in Bushnell Road where the original covering is plain clay tiles, and records the original avenue of London plane trees retained in Streathbourne Road. Its energy guidance names rear roof slopes, back gardens, shed roofs or valley roof slopes concealed by a parapet as discreet locations for equipment.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Heaver Estate Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy, Part 2 (read 17 September 2026)
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Wandsworth's 1996 Article 4 directions for the Heaver Estate remove permitted development for 'any other alteration to the roof of a dwellinghouse where the alteration would be to a roof slope which fronts a highway', together with front-facing alterations, front porches, hard surfaces, front boundaries and painting. A second direction applies the front boundary and painting controls to listed house numbers in 13 streets, whether the properties are houses, flats or in other use. Neither direction mentions solar panels.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Heaver Estate Article 4 Directions (scanned 1996 directions and annexe) and 'Heaver Estate Conservation Area' summary (read 17 September 2026)
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Mellison Road Conservation Area, designated in 1989 and located just off Tooting High Street, takes its special character from knapped flint used as a facing material on the houses and in boundary walls, which its appraisal says is unique within the borough.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Mellison Road Conservation Area Appraisal (read 17 September 2026)
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Streatham Park Conservation Area in SW16 was designated on 30 June 1987 and extended in May 1989. Its listed buildings include Dixcote at 8 North Drive, a grade II* house by C.F.A. Voysey.
Source: Wandsworth Council, Streatham Park Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy (read 17 September 2026)
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At its meeting on 17 July 2019 Wandsworth Council resolved unanimously to declare a climate emergency, aiming to be net carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050, and a petition signed by 10,000 people urging that declaration was presented at the same meeting. The council now aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 and for Wandsworth to be a net zero borough by 2043, and says domestic buildings produce 42% of the borough's emissions and transport 21%.
Source: Wandsworth Council, minutes of Council, 17 July 2019; 'Decarbonising buildings across the borough' (read 17 September 2026)
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Wandsworth Council lists Fircroft Primary School, on Fircroft Road in Tooting (SW17 7PP), among its building decarbonisation projects: an air source heat pump, new lighting controls and a replacement roof with added insulation, costing £436,254 and funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Source: Wandsworth Council, 'Decarbonising buildings across the borough' and schools list entry for Fircroft Primary School (read 17 September 2026)
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Wandsworth's retrofit grants page describes the Warm Homes: Local Grant, starting in 2025, as providing energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating including insulation, solar panels and air source heat pumps, and the council says it applies for such funding on behalf of residents. Its retrofit planning guidance adds that people in a conservation area or a listed building may need planning permission first, with free duty-planner advice at planning@wandsworth.gov.uk.
Source: Wandsworth Council, 'Retrofit grants and funding', 'Decarbonising buildings across the borough' and 'Retrofit planning and regulation' (read 17 September 2026)
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Wandsworth Council's Key Issues 2021/22 progress report records that direct letters and a targeted social media campaign for the Solar Together offer increased the number of residents signed up. When we checked on 17 September 2026, the scheme's Wandsworth solar page, now under the Switch Together name, read: 'Sorry, we're not active in your area yet. Leave your details, and we'll let you know when we're open in your area.'
Source: Wandsworth Council, Wandsworth Key Issues 2021/22; Switch Together, Wandsworth solar panels page (read 17 September 2026)
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For the Tooting parliamentary constituency, the Local Intelligence Hub shows 55.5% of households with an EPC rating of D or worse (national average 54.1%), 16.6% of households estimated to be in fuel poverty (17.9%) and 86% support for solar power (87.6%).
Source: mySociety Local Intelligence Hub, Tooting constituency page — EPC data from DLUHC aggregated by Friends of the Earth; End Fuel Poverty Coalition; Survation MRP polling for RenewableUK (read 17 September 2026)
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Tooting's network is run by UK Power Networks, which says: 'We own and maintain the electricity network across London, the South East and the East of England.' MCS guidance says a fully type-tested system of up to 16 A per phase is notified to the network operator within 28 days of commissioning under G98, while a larger one falls under G99, where permission to connect must be granted first.
Source: UK Power Networks, 'Areas we cover'; MCS, 'Notifying DNOs' installer guidance (read 17 September 2026)
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Tooting Bec Lido on Tooting Bec Road, SW16, first opened in 1906 and is described by Wandsworth Council as the UK's largest outdoor freshwater swimming pool; the unheated 90-metre pool is managed by Places for People Leisure on the council's behalf.
Source: Wandsworth Council news, 'Tooting Bec Lido re-opens for summer on 1 May' (17 April 2026) and 'Tooting Bec Lido' page (read 17 September 2026)
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St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust describes St George's as one of London's four major trauma centres and reports more than 10,000 staff.
Source: St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, 'About us' (read 17 September 2026)
Data last reviewed: September 2026
Where we work around Tooting
We quote for homes in and around Tooting, including Tooting Broadway, Tooting Bec, Furzedown, Totterdown Fields, Heaver Estate and Streatham Park, across the SW17, SW16 postcode districts. Every quote starts with a free survey of your actual roof and usage — if solar wouldn't pay its way on your home, we'll say so plainly. Try the numbers first on our savings calculator, or read how we approach installations across South West London.
Tooting solar questions
Will I need planning permission for panels in Totterdown Fields, the Heaver Estate or Tooting's other conservation areas?
Not usually for a house roof, but check the Article 4 position first. Under Class A of the permitted development rules, as amended by S.I. 2026/896 from 27 August 2026, panels on a house need no application provided, among other conditions, they sit no more than 0.2 metres proud of a pitched roof slope and no higher than the highest part of the roof, excluding chimneys. In conservation areas such as Totterdown Fields, the Heaver Estate, Mellison Road and Streatham Park, the extra exclusion applies to equipment on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure which fronts a highway, and a flat-roof array needs a prior approval application; listed buildings, such as Dixcote on North Drive in Streatham Park, fall outside permitted development and need consent. Separately, Wandsworth's Article 4 directions take roof alterations out of permitted development at the properties listed in Totterdown Fields and, on the Heaver Estate, for roof slopes that front a highway. Neither direction mentions solar panels, but the council says roof changes there need planning permission, so email its duty planner at planning@wandsworth.gov.uk before settling on a design.
Which network operator connects solar panels in Tooting, and what paperwork is involved?
UK Power Networks, which describes itself as owning and maintaining the electricity network across London, the South East and the East of England. The rules depend on size. If all the generation and battery storage at your home adds up to 16 A per phase or less — 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply — a type-tested system can be connected first, and your installer must notify UK Power Networks within 28 days of commissioning under G98. Anything larger falls under G99: the application goes to UK Power Networks before installation starts, and connection waits for its approval. Your installer should handle either route, and it is reasonable to ask for a copy of the notification or approval for your records.
Can I have solar panels if I rent or own a flat in Tooting?
Sometimes, but the decision is rarely yours alone. Across the Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Furzedown wards, 54.2% of households live in a flat, maisonette or apartment, including 20.4% in converted or shared houses (27.8% in Tooting Broadway ward), and 38.3% of households rent privately while 16.6% rent from a council or other social landlord (Census 2021). If you rent, your landlord owns the roof and makes the decision. If you own a flat in a converted house, the roof is usually shared and held by the freeholder, so expect to need the freeholder's permission and an agreement with the other flats; the same question arises in Totterdown Fields cottages that were built as a separate ground-floor and first-floor flat. Permitted development covers blocks of flats as well as houses, within its limits, but planning rules do not give anyone the right to use a roof they do not own.
How much do solar panels cost for a Tooting home?
The Energy Saving Trust's national guide, updated on 27 August 2026, puts a typical home system at about 4.5 kWp, around 12 panels covering 20 to 30 m² of roof, costing about £7,600 installed. Residential installations are zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027, and 5% VAT applies from 1 April 2027 (HMRC VAT Notice 708/6). Tooting's housing is the main reason a local quote may differ: 33.7% of households in the Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Furzedown wards live in terraced houses, where one rear slope may not offer that much unshaded space, and 54.2% live in flats, where landlord or freeholder agreement has to come before any price. Use the national figure as a benchmark for comparing quotes rather than as the price for your roof.
How much electricity could solar panels generate on a Tooting roof?
We ran the European Commission's PVGIS 5.3 tool for Tooting itself: a 4 kWp array at 35° facing due south, with 14% system losses and building-mounted, is estimated at about 3,984 kWh a year — around 996 kWh per kWp — with a year-to-year variation of roughly ±159 kWh (PVGIS-SARAH3 data, 2005–2023, run 17 September 2026). Treat that as a reference for a well-placed, unshaded roof. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that east- or west-facing panels produce around 15 to 20% less energy than panels facing directly south, does not recommend north-facing roofs, and notes that nearby buildings, trees or chimneys can reduce performance. Trees matter on some local streets — the Heaver Estate appraisal records an original avenue of London plane trees in Streathbourne Road — so a survey should check how shade falls on your roof rather than assume the PVGIS figure applies.
Nearby
We also cover solar panels in Wimbledon, solar installation Mitcham, Carshalton solar and battery installers and solar panels in Croydon.
Also for Tooting homes
Solar is usually the first step, not the last. If you are charging a car at home, we can talk you through a home EV charge point; if you are comparing battery brands, we can talk you through Sigenergy storage systems; if you are set on a particular battery, we can talk you through Tesla Powerwall; and if you are wondering whether a battery would pay its way, we can talk you through home battery storage. Every one of them starts the same way — a free survey of your actual roof, usage and property, and a straight answer about whether it is worth doing.