In brief
Solar on a block of flats is the building owner’s decision, not a single leaseholder’s, because the roof is rarely part of any one flat. From 27 August 2026 permitted development covers blocks of flats, within the usual height limits. Panels most easily feed the communal supply; reaching each flat’s meter is harder. Plug-in solar needs written permission first.
How many Crewe households live in flats
In Crewe Central, 38.6% of households live in a flat, against 10.5% across Cheshire East. That is roughly 1,260 households in one ward. Crewe South follows at 22.7%, or about 1,180 households, and the other four Crewe wards are close to or below the borough level (Census 2021 via Nomis).
| Ward | Flats | Private rent | Social rent | Electric-only heating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crewe Central | 38.6% | 40.2% | 31.7% | 16.6% |
| Crewe South | 22.7% | 42.4% | 12.8% | 9.8% |
| Crewe West | 10.3% | 21.0% | 18.1% | 4.6% |
| Crewe St Barnabas | 9.6% | 25.0% | 32.0% | 4.3% |
| Crewe East | 6.0% | 18.1% | 15.7% | 3.5% |
| Crewe North | 3.2% | 17.1% | 15.4% | 4.6% |
| Cheshire East (borough) | 10.5% | 15.5% | 11.6% | 5.6% |
The census tables used here do not link one household’s type of home to its tenure or heating, so the table cannot say how many Crewe flats are rented or electrically heated. What it does show is that the ward with the most flats is also the ward with the most renting and the most electric-only heating. A flat can be in a purpose-built block, a converted house or above a shop, and each of those raises a slightly different set of questions.
What the 2026 planning rules say about blocks
The amendment made by SI 2026/896, in force from 27 August 2026, brought blocks of flats within Class A of Part 14 of the permitted development order. The usual limits apply. Panels on a pitched roof must sit within 0.2 m of the slope and below its highest part, and on a flat roof they may stand no more than 0.6 m above it.
Conservation areas work slightly differently for blocks. For a house in a conservation area, walls, balconies and roof enclosures fronting a highway are excluded; for a block of flats, the exclusion is walls. A flat roof on land in a conservation area needs the council’s prior approval decision before panels go up. Cheshire East has 76 conservation areas, listed on the council’s conservation areas page; this guide found Crewe Green at Crewe and none in the town centre, so check with the council for any particular block.
A listed building needs planning permission and Listed Building Consent whatever its use, and an Article 4 direction can take away permitted development rights within a defined area. The whole picture is on planning rules for Crewe.
Who decides: the building owner
A long leaseholder generally owns the space inside the flat; the roof overhead and the outer walls are a different matter. Those normally stay with the building owner, who may manage the block directly, through a managing agent or through a company the residents control. Panels on the roof therefore need that owner’s consent, and in practice they are a project for the building rather than for one flat.
Read the lease before raising it. It will say who is responsible for the roof, what may be fixed to the outside and how shared costs are recovered through the service charge. A proposal that sets out who pays, who benefits and who maintains the panels is easier for a building owner to consider than a general request.
A house divided into two or three flats can work differently. There, the roof may be shared between the flat owners rather than held by a separate building owner, and the lease or the title should say which. Panels then need the agreement of everyone who shares the roof, plus a clear arrangement for who pays for them and who benefits.
Many Crewe Central flats are rented. Social tenants should raise solar with the housing association or council landlord that manages the home. Private tenants need their landlord’s agreement, and the landlord may in turn need the building owner’s; renting in Crewe covers how to ask, and landlords can read landlords and solar.
Communal supply or each flat’s own meter
The simplest way to put solar on a block is to connect it to the landlord’s supply, the one that runs stair and corridor lighting, door entry, fire alarms and any lift or pumps. The building owner uses the electricity directly, and residents feel the effect through the running costs of the shared areas. One inverter and one connection keep the wiring straightforward.
Supplying individual flats is harder. One approach gives each participating flat its own small array and inverter, wired down through the building to that flat’s consumer unit and meter. That needs enough roof for several separate arrays and a cable route for each. Another uses specialist equipment to divide one array’s output between flats. Both need careful design, and each connection has to be handled with the network operator, which can be found through the ENA postcode search. A large array on a big roof can also take the connection past the G98 limit, in which case a G99 application has to be approved first. See grid connection in Crewe for both routes.
Exported electricity can earn a payment under the SEG scheme, paid to whoever holds the export arrangement for the meter the panels feed. On a communal system that is normally the building owner.
Plug-in solar
The amended rules treat plug-in solar as solar PV for planning purposes. They do not allow it on timber walls, balconies or enclosures, or on timber-clad parts of a building. Planning is only the first hurdle for a flat. A lease or tenancy will almost always restrict what can be attached to the outside, so get the building owner’s, and if relevant the landlord’s, permission in writing before buying anything.
This guide covers the planning side only. Check that any plug-in kit is sold for use in the UK, follow its instructions, and ask a qualified electrician about the socket and circuit it will use. Fix it so wind cannot move it, and think about who could be hurt if it fell.
Electric heating and the grant route
Crewe Central’s electric-only heating share, 16.6%, is 3.0 times the borough’s 5.6%. Storage heaters and solar fit together less neatly than people expect, because one charges at night and the other works by day; electric heating in Crewe explains the mismatch and what helps.
Cheshire East’s Warm Homes: Local Grant runs until 31 March 2028. It covers owner-occupiers and private tenants in homes rated EPC D to G who meet an income test, and its list of measures includes solar PV and high heat retention storage heaters where a heat pump is not suitable. For a flat, panels would still need the building owner’s consent, so other measures may be the practical choice. The details are on grants and schemes.
Before anything goes on a block
- Find out who owns and manages the roof, from the lease or the managing agent.
- Check the block’s listing status, whether it lies in a conservation area and whether any Article 4 direction applies.
- Decide whether the panels will feed the landlord’s supply or individual flats.
- Agree in writing who pays, who receives any export payment and who maintains the panels.
- Ask how the roof’s condition and remaining life have been checked, since panels may need lifting for any later roof work.
- Tell the building’s insurer before work starts and confirm the panels will be covered.
- Ask how the panels will be reached for inspection and cleaning on a tall building.
Anyone buying a flat where panels are already in place should read buying a Crewe home with solar. Ward figures for flats and tenure are on Crewe homes by ward, and a question about a particular block can go through the question form.