Solar on the roof on a house in Birmingham
Image: Elliott Brown, Flickr, CC by 2.0
Solar panels are required on almost all new houses built in England under new regulations set for publication in the autumn of 2025.
UK Government Energy Secretary Ed Miliband confirmed on 6 June that the upcoming Future Homes Standard will make the installation of solar panels on new houses “almost universal” in England, outside of “rare exceptions”, where a PV installation would make no difference to energy -efficiency. The building regulations for Scotland, Wales and Noord -Ireland have been established locally.
Solar Energy UK estimates that the solar mandate will apply to 90% of the new houses in England, which described the trade association as a “huge victory” for the solar industry, households and the environment. The British government has claimed that installing solar energy could save a typical household around GBP 530 ($ 715) per year based on current energy prices.
The majority of the British solar installations are domestic, but are good for only 31% of the total PV capacity, according to provisional government deployment statistics for the end of April 2025. The share of the domestic solar energy in the installed capacity fell soon after the first years of the British Feed-in.
Requiring solar energy on new -build homes in England, in combination with the dedication of the British government to speed up housing, has the potential to considerably increase the capacity on the roof. The British government has previously promised to build 1.5 million new houses by 2029, although the British office has planned for budget responsibility (OBR) that it will not be missing from this goal. However, the OBR said in March 2025 that planning reform will bring British housing to the highest level for 40 years.
In a statement, energy secretary Ed Miliband described the new home stand as a “monumental step” to release a “revolution on the roof”.
Other provisions that are expected in the future housing standard include new requirements with regard to low carbon heating such as heat pumps and heat networks.
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