As the government considers various proposals to make rooftop solar mandatory for new homes, Mark Greatholder and Aliki Zeri examine the legal, practical, and financial issues surrounding this kind of legislation.
“Rooftop solar for new builds to save people money” is the strapline that accompanies the proposed changes to the Future Homes Standard, intended to be issued in Autumn 2025. Under the Government’s proposals, developers of new-built properties would need to achieve at least 40% solar photovoltaic (pv) coverage (or where this is not possible, achieve a ‘reasonable amount’ of coverage), in a move that is intended to deliver considerable cost savings for end-consumers.
Shortly after this announcement, the Government launched a consultation on 2 July 2025 looking at introducing minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) for socially rented homes. If the proposals go ahead, socially rented properties will be required to meet an EPC rating of C (or equivalent) by 2030. This consultation builds upon the “Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime” consultation launched in 2024, which considered introducing four new metrics to assess the energy performance of domestic buildings.
These combined initiatives indicate the government’s intention to provide landlords and occupiers of properties with a more precise understanding of the performance of residential buildings, and require landlords and developers to identify the improvements that need to be made to existing properties or to design new properties that will be ‘fit for purpose’ for the future.
The mandated installation of solar pv is therefore a further welcome addition to this package of measures, in so far as it demonstrates the Government’s continuous commitment to the Net Zero agenda and the efforts to reduce consumer’s electricity prices in a volatile geopolitical environment. However, more intervention ought to be considered if meaningful change is to happen. Heating is one of the areas where Government intervention could make a significant difference. Homeowners who use gas boilers as their main source of heating have, in recent years, been exposed to the volatility of gas prices and the replacement of gas boilers is considered by the Government a key aspect of the decarbonisation of heat in the UK. Additionally, the Energy Act 2023 grants the Secretary of State powers to introduce heat network zoning regulations in England. However, such powers are yet to be exercised, thus creating uncertainty of the future of district heat networks (and their associated benefits).
Additionally, the installation of solar pv panels needs to be viewed holistically and more thought needs to be given to any obligations or liabilities that the end consumer will need to assume in exchange of their property benefiting from on-site solar pv generation.
The expectation is that the upfront expenditure will be funded by the residential developer and that this will then be ‘built’ into the purchase price of the property. Where properties are let and subject to ‘a right to buy’, consideration needs to be given on how the presence of the solar pv installation will affect the valuation of the property and therefore the purchase price.
Once the panels have been installed, these will need to be maintained. Depending on the residential developer’s preferred approach, the cost of maintenance may either be included as part of the service charge or could be borne directly by the owner of the property. The former approach would appear to be preferable, as it would most likely ensure that the same entity that installed the panels, is also responsible for the maintenance of the same (being best placed to deal with equipment they are intimately familiar with). Care needs to be taken such that the service charge is apportioned correctly across the estate, such that properties that do not benefit from a solar pv installation are not burdened with this additional cost.
Any maintenance and repair of the equipment will likely require the homeowner to grant rights of access to the third party undertaking such activities. In most instances, such activities are likely to cause limited interference with the homeowner’s activities and disturbance given the majority of the equipment is external to the property. However, equipment may fail and may need to be removed to be repaired. In such instances, efforts need to be made to minimise any disturbance and to ensure that any damage, which may occur when removing the panels from the roof, is repaired as soon as reasonably practicable. During any period when the equipment is being repaired or replaced there may be reduction in energy generation, which will then temporarily increase the cost of electricity for the end-user. It is arguable that tenants should not be worse off than others where these circumstances occur. Documenting the terms of any maintenance schedule and the parties’ associated responsibilities (homeowner and service provider) is key. How these are documented depends on the contracting structure and whether the maintenance is being offered as a package of wider services on the estate or the homeowner has arranged the same directly.
It is currently unclear whether there is any expectation from the Government for any installed pv installation to be replaced at the end of the panels’ useful life. Whilst the projected ‘life’ of the new-generation solar pv panels is circa 30 plus years, like all equipment the performance of panels degrades over time. A degradation in their performance will have a direct result in the energy savings that are to be achieved. Will residential developers be required to replace the installed panels at regular intervals or will this be the prerogative of individual homeowners? In the latter case, we anticipate homeowners weighing the cost of removal of the pv panels and installation of new panels, against the then current electricity prices, prior to making a decision. If the panels were to fall into disrepair, this could impact on the condition of the roof, thus creating bigger issues for homeowners.
It would be unlikely for the Government to impose a continuous obligation on residential developers to ensure that the panels installed on residential properties remain operational whilst that property remains in situ. That being the case, sophisticated homeowners will need to properly consider the implications of purchasing a property with solar pv panels on the roof. Specifically, they are advised to consider: where the responsibility for maintenance of the same rests; what rights (if any) need to be granted to third parties to facilitate such maintenance; and, what would happen at the end of the equipment’s useful life? These are complex questions that not all homeowner or occupiers will feel equipped or fully informed to answer, so we would suggest that, in due course, further Government intervention will be required to address the end-of-life next steps.
