As a part of the ‘Future Homes Standard’ that the UK Government will be publishing in Autumn this year, developers will need to fit solar panels to the vast majority of new build homes in England. This was announced recently on 6th June 2025 by the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who said the move was “just common sense”.
Solar panel systems on a house roof. [2]
What Will the New Standard Involve?
The Future Homes Standard will include a wide-ranging plan for building more energy-efficient new homes in the UK. It will aim to decrease carbon emissions through things like low-carbon heating, more energy efficient windows and doors, better insulation etc. Although it will be published in Autumn this year, there will be a transitional period for developers to be able to adjust to the changes in regulations.
Currently new build homes that propose rooftop solar panels may be looked upon favourably by local planning authorities; however, there is no national level policy or building regulations that compels developers to incorporate rooftop solar as a requirement. This would change as part of the new standard, unless the buildings fall under certain exemptions. One such exemption , for example, could be being covered by shade.
What About the 40% Rule?
The last Conservative government consulted on new regulations including a proposal that new build homes should have rooftop solar panels covering the equivalent of 40% of the building’s ground area. When asked if the government would stick to the 40% figure proposed by the previous government, Ed Miliband said “The problem about the previous system was that it said you would had to have a certain percentage of coverage of solar panels but if you couldn’t achieve that percentage you didn’t have to do anything at all. Under our plans, we are not going to say that. We are going to say even if you can’t hit 40% you will still have to have some solar panels, except in rare exceptional cases.”
It’s interesting how this sits alongside the government target to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029, concerns have already been raised by the Home Builders Foundation.
About Pager Power
Pager Power has strong experience in assessing glint and glare generated by solar power plants and can help developers to determine the impact upon nearby receptors such as: nearby road users, residential amenity, aviation activity and railway infrastructure.
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References
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0j728gvp94o
[2 ] Ajeet Panesar (2022) from Unsplash.com. Last accessed on June 13 2025. Available at: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-house-with-solar-panels-Ja8t8nJN2I4
