Class 6HA: houses and flats
Scottish permitted development is set by the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992. An amending order, SSI 2024/102, added two new classes for solar from 24 May 2024 (SSI 2024/102). Class 6HA covers solar PV or solar thermal equipment on a "dwelling", which the order defines as a house, a building containing one or more flats, or a single flat (Part 1A).
Panels are permitted unless one of these applies:
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| Protrusion | More than 1 metre from the outer surface of an external wall, roof plane, roof ridge or chimney |
| Conservation area | On the principal elevation, or on a side elevation that fronts a road |
| Listed building | The dwelling is listed or within the curtilage of a listed building |
| World Heritage Site | The dwelling is within a World Heritage Site |
One condition applies throughout: equipment that is no longer needed must be removed as soon as reasonably practicable. The 1 metre limit is more generous than England's 0.2 metres for a pitched roof; panels fitted flat to a slope sit well within it.
Conservation areas
In a conservation area, Class 6HA still allows panels, but not on the principal elevation (usually the front) or on a side elevation facing a road. Rear roof slopes and walls not facing a road remain permitted development. For panels on the front of a house in a conservation area you need to apply for planning permission. Because 17% of Scottish homes were built before 1919 (SHCS 2024), many older streets fall in conservation areas; your council publishes their boundaries.
Listed buildings and World Heritage Sites
Class 6HA does not apply to a listed building or anything within its curtilage, or to a dwelling inside a World Heritage Site. That second exclusion matters in Scotland because several sites include homes. The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh form one World Heritage Site (UNESCO), and New Lanark is another (UNESCO). Homes in those areas need planning permission for solar, and many also need listed building consent.
Listing is decided by Historic Environment Scotland, which designates buildings of special architectural or historic interest. There are around 47,000 listed buildings in Scotland, in three categories, A, B and C, and Historic Environment Scotland's online records let you check an address before anyone designs a system (Historic Environment Scotland).
Consent is often possible for panels hidden from public view, for example in the valley of an M-shaped tenement roof, but each application is judged on its own merits by the council.
Outbuildings and free-standing panels
- Outbuildings (Class 6HB): panels on a garage, shed or similar within the garden may protrude up to 500 millimetres, but not on a building in the front garden, and not where the building is listed, within a listed building's curtilage or in a World Heritage Site (Part 1A).
- Free-standing panels (Class 3B): the Scottish Government's Circular 1/2024 says free-standing solar panels in a house's grounds fall under Class 3B (Circular 1/2024). That class does not allow anything forward of the principal elevation or a side elevation fronting a road, any structure over 3 metres high, ground cover over half of the front or rear garden, or development in a conservation area or the curtilage of a listed building (Part 1).
Building warrants
Planning and building standards are separate systems. A building warrant covers structural safety. West Lothian Council's guidance says a warrant is not required for panels on the roof of a single or two-storey house provided the existing roof can take the extra load, but if the roof needs strengthening a warrant is required (West Lothian Council). Taller buildings and tenements may be treated differently, so ask your council's building standards team. Our building warrants guide goes further.
If you do need to apply
Applications go to your council, and you can make them online through ePlanning.scot, Scotland's national planning service, run by the Scottish Government with the planning authorities. The application needs drawings showing where the panels will sit, which the installer should supply; it is one of the items in our checklist for choosing an installer.
Householder applications move faster than other local applications. In 2024/25 they had the shortest average decision time of the local categories, 8.3 weeks (gov.scot), and across every type of application 92.2% were approved (gov.scot).
If an officer refuses permission, the decision may be open to review by the council's Local Review Body, a panel of three or more councillors. A review must be requested within three months of the decision, and ePlanning.scot takes those requests too. In 2024/25 Local Review Bodies dealt with 629 cases and upheld the original decision in 60% of them (gov.scot). Before asking for a review, read the reasons on the decision notice: if the objection is to panels on the street-facing slope, a revised application with them moved to the rear may answer it.
How to check
- Find out whether your home is listed, in a conservation area or in a World Heritage Site; councils publish this.
- Ask the installer to confirm in writing that the design meets Class 6HA.
- If unsure, apply to the council for a certificate of lawfulness, which gives a formal answer.
- For tenements, settle ownership and agreement first; see tenements and flats.
For prices, see what solar costs in Scotland.