Heat pumps, solar and charge points: what changed in 2025
Permitted development for domestic energy work was widened on 29 May 2025, and a certification rule changes again in May 2026.
Applies to England. Facts last checked 5 Aug 2026. Guides describe England; other UK nations run separate planning systems.
Air source heat pumps got substantially easier
The volume limit for an air source heat pump on a house rose from 0.6 cubic metres to 1.5 cubic metres, which takes most domestic units out of the application process altogether. For blocks of flats it stays at 0.6.
A detached house may now have up to two heat pumps under permitted development. Anything not detached — terraced, semi-detached, flats — is the first installation only.
The date that catches installers
The changes came into force on 29 May 2025, and the requirement to comply with "equivalent standards" was removed. From 28 May 2026, MCS 020a becomes the only permitted certification scheme, with a transitional period until then.
If you install heat pumps, that second date is the one to diary. A unit certified under the old arrangement and fitted after it is not covered by the permitted development right, and the fallback is a planning application on a job that was quoted without one.
Solar and charge points
Solar panels on a house remain permitted development within the usual limits, and the government has legislated to widen rights around electric vehicle charging, including cross-pavement solutions for houses with no driveway.
As ever, designated land is the exception that undoes the rule: conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty restrict what is permitted, and an Article 4 direction can remove it entirely.
Why none of this shows up in a lead feed
Widening permitted development means fewer applications, not fewer jobs. Every heat pump that no longer needs permission is a job that leaves no trace in any planning tool, including this one — which is worth knowing if energy work is your trade, because the register will systematically under-represent it.
What it does still show is the larger work these often accompany: extensions, conversions and refurbishments where the plant is part of a bigger scheme.
Sources
- The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) (Amendment) Order 2025
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 14 (renewable energy)
- Planning Portal: air source heat pumps
General explanation, not legal or planning advice. Anything that turns on the detail of a particular site is worth a free phone call to the council’s planning department. Something here wrong or out of date? Tell us.