Solar panels in Greenwich: what is different here

The Royal Borough of Greenwich runs from Greenwich Peninsula and the historic town centre east through Charlton, Woolwich and Plumstead, and south through Blackheath and Kidbrooke to Eltham. That mix of Georgian streets, Victorian terraces, early twentieth-century estates and new blocks of flats means the solar questions vary a lot from one postcode to the next. Here is what matters locally.

Conservation areas and the World Heritage Site

Greenwich has 23 conservation areas, including West Greenwich, East Greenwich, Blackheath, Ashburnham Triangle, Charlton Village, Royal Arsenal Woolwich and the Progress Estate in Eltham. At its centre is Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site since 1997, with a buffer zone made up of the East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Blackheath conservation areas. The council treats alterations within the World Heritage Site in the same way as alterations in a conservation area.

Being in one of these areas does not usually rule solar out. Under the national rules, the restriction in a conservation area or World Heritage Site applies to panels on a wall fronting a highway, not to a roof slope. Panels on a pitched roof, including a front roof slope, are normally permitted development as long as they sit no more than 0.2 m proud of the roof and below the ridge. Since 27 August 2026, a flat roof in a conservation area needs a short prior approval application to the council first. Our guide to planning permission for solar panels in London explains the rules in full.

Article 4 directions in Greenwich

Six Greenwich conservation areas have Article 4 directions, which remove some permitted development rights: Ashburnham Triangle, East Greenwich, Progress Estate, Rectory Field, Shrewsbury Park Estate and West Greenwich. In the council's published guidance for these areas, the controls cover things like windows, doors, porches, roof alterations, satellite dishes, boundary walls and painting. None of the directions we checked withdraws the right to fit solar panels, and the council's Ashburnham Triangle guidance says solar equipment is generally permitted development there.

The detail that catches people out is the roof itself. Several of these directions bring re-roofing under planning control, including in Rectory Field, Shrewsbury Park Estate, the Progress Estate and the Trenchard Street area of East Greenwich. If your roof needs re-covering before panels go on, which is common on older houses, that roofing work may need planning permission even though the solar does not. Our article on whether you need a new roof before solar covers when that is worth doing.

Listed buildings are the real exception. Greenwich has many, and a listed home needs planning permission and listed building consent for solar. We check the designations for your address before we quote, not after.

Flats on the Peninsula and in Woolwich

Much of the borough's newer housing is in blocks of flats, around Greenwich Peninsula, Woolwich and Kidbrooke. Since 27 August 2026, blocks of flats have permitted development rights for solar for the first time. The right belongs to the block rather than to an individual flat owner, so the starting point is the freeholder or management company and what your lease says about the roof.

Connecting to the grid

UK Power Networks is the electricity network operator for Greenwich. Every solar and battery system has to be notified to them, or approved in advance if it is large enough, under the G98 and G99 rules. We handle that for you, and our guide to solar export limits, G98 and G99 explains how it works.

If you live in Greenwich and want to know where you stand, request a solar and battery quotation and we will check your roof, your address and the rules that apply to it.

Local planning information checked against Royal Borough of Greenwich sources on 21 October 2026. Planning designations change, so this is general guidance rather than advice for a specific property.