Do solar panels count towards a rented home’s EPC?

Yes. The energy assessment behind an EPC takes account of electricity generated on site, so panels can lift a rating, sometimes alongside insulation or heating changes. How far depends on the home. Ask an assessor to model the options before choosing, and get a new certificate once the work is finished.

Can my tenant refuse access for the installation?

Work on an occupied home needs the tenant’s cooperation, and the tenancy agreement and notice rules apply to visits. Explain the work, agree dates in writing and say how long scaffold will stand. Most of the friction comes from surprise, so share the survey date and the plan early.

Who gets the export payment on a rented home?

Whoever registers with an export tariff supplier and meets its terms, usually the account holder at the meter. Decide this with the tenant before the panels go live and write it down. Without an agreement, the tenant gets the benefit of the electricity used in the home in any case.

Does the grant pay for the whole job on a rented home?

Not after your first property. Under the Cheshire East Warm Homes: Local Grant, landlords are expected to contribute at least 50% of the cost from the second property on. The tenant must meet the income test, and the home must be rated EPC D to G.

What if the cottage I let is listed?

Then panels need planning permission and Listed Building Consent before anything else, whatever the EPC deadline. Start with the council’s planning team and allow for the time an application takes. The cost cap and exemptions in the rented-homes rules are worth checking with the guidance at the same time.

Crewe Landlords: Solar Panels and the EPC C Deadline

Solar panels for Crewe landlords

In Crewe Central and Crewe South about four in ten households rent from a private landlord, far more than the borough’s 15.5%. For those homes the decision about panels sits with the landlord, and the reason most landlords are looking at it now is the energy rating rule for rented homes.

Sources read 3 November 2026 · How we checked

In brief

Privately rented homes must reach EPC C by 1 October 2030, subject to the cost cap and exemptions. Solar panels are one of the measures that can lift a rating. In Cheshire East, low-income private tenants can qualify for the Warm Homes: Local Grant, with the landlord paying at least half after their first property. Agree access and the export payment with the tenant in writing.

How much of Crewe is let privately

The 2021 Census counts households by tenure for each ward (ONS via Nomis). Multiplying each ward’s share by its households gives a rough count of homes let by private landlords, about 6,582 across the six Crewe wards.

Census 2021, % of households renting privately; household counts computed from the ward totals.
Ward	Households	Private rent	About
Crewe South	5,188	42.4%	2,200
Crewe Central	3,255	40.2%	1,309
Crewe St Barnabas	2,197	25.0%	549
Crewe West	4,524	21.0%	950
Crewe East	6,726	18.1%	1,217
Crewe North	2,090	17.1%	357
Cheshire East	174,854	15.5%	–

The centre of town and the streets south of it are where letting is concentrated. Those are also the wards with the most terraced houses and flats, which shapes what solar can do: see homes by ward.

The rule that sets the timetable

Government has confirmed that privately rented homes in England must reach EPC band C by 1 October 2030, subject to the cost cap and exemptions (GOV.UK). The detail on how the cap and exemptions work is in that guidance, and it is worth reading in full before committing to any measure.

Solar panels are one way to lift a rating, because the assessment behind an EPC counts electricity generated on site. They are rarely the only measure worth considering. Insulation, heating controls and the heating system itself all move the score, and on some homes they move it further for the money. An assessor can model combinations before you decide.

The Cheshire East grant and the landlord’s share

Cheshire East Council runs the Warm Homes: Local Grant until 31 March 2028. It covers homes rated EPC D, E, F or G, and private tenants can apply if they meet the income test: an income-related benefit, or household income of no more than £36,000 before tax, or no more than £20,000 after housing costs. The aim is to raise the home by at least two EPC bands.

For landlords the key line is the contribution: after the first property, the landlord is expected to pay at least 50% of the cost. Solar PV is on the list of measures, as are insulation and, where a heat pump is not suitable, high heat retention storage heaters. The grant is applied for through the council, and there is a national GOV.UK page for the scheme.

Planning the job with a tenant in the home

Access. A survey visit, a scaffold that may stand for several days, and a fitting day. Agree dates in writing and give the notice the tenancy requires.
Electricity use. The tenant pays the bill and uses the daytime units. Panels help most where someone is home in the day or where the hot water can take the surplus.
The export payment. Whoever registers with an export tariff supplier under the SEG rules receives it. Decide who that is and record it.
Maintenance. Say who reports faults, who arranges repairs and how the monitoring login is shared.
Paperwork. Keep the MCS certificate, the electrical certificate and the new EPC with the property file.

Flats, listed cottages and electric heating

Flats make up 38.6% of Crewe Central’s homes. Panels on a block depend on whoever controls the roof and on the leases, so a landlord of a single flat often cannot act alone: flats and solar explains. If the home is one of the listed railway cottages, consent comes before anything else; see railway cottages and solar. And where the home is heated by electricity alone, the planning of solar changes again, because most of the heating load falls at night: electric heating and solar.

Before you sign with a firm

Check the firm on the MCS directory, ask for an MCS performance estimate, and ask them to state how the work is expected to change the EPC, in writing and with the assumptions shown. Installed solar carries 0% VAT until 31 March 2027 (HMRC), and costs are set out in the costs guide. If you let several homes, compare the grant share with paying outright for each one.

If your tenant has asked about solar, renting and solar is the page to send them. Questions about a particular property can go through the question form.

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