In brief
A terraced roof is narrow, so its width decides how many panels fit, and stacks, dormers and nearby roofs decide how much shade they get. A rear outrigger facing east or west still gives around 80% of a south roof’s output. Scaffold over a pavement may need a council licence, and the cable route should be agreed before work starts.
How much of Crewe is terraced
Census 2021 records the type of home each household lives in. Across Cheshire East, 20.0% of households are in a terraced house. In Crewe Central the figure is 37.8% and in Crewe South 38.0%, close to double the borough level, and 5 of the 6 Crewe wards in this guide sit above the borough share (ONS Census 2021 via Nomis).
| Area | Households | Terraced | Semi-detached | Flats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crewe South | 5,188 | 38.0% | 25.5% | 22.7% |
| Crewe Central | 3,255 | 37.8% | 19.8% | 38.6% |
| Crewe St Barnabas | 2,197 | 32.7% | 50.5% | 9.6% |
| Crewe West | 4,524 | 27.8% | 50.9% | 10.3% |
| Crewe East | 6,726 | 24.8% | 53.1% | 6.0% |
| Crewe North | 2,090 | 12.4% | 73.7% | 3.2% |
| Cheshire East (borough) | 174,854 | 20.0% | 32.5% | 10.5% |
Crewe grew up around the railway. The Grand Junction Railway opened its line through the town in 1837, moved its works there in 1843 and built housing for the people it employed (Britannica). Three short rows of those company cottages, on Betley, Tollitt and Dorfold Streets, are now listed at Grade II, which changes the planning position completely; they have their own page on the listed railway cottages. Everything below is about the ordinary, unlisted terrace. The census does not record when a house was built, and this guide makes no guess about the age or condition of any particular street.
A main roof squeezed between party walls
The main roof of a terraced house runs from one party wall to the other, so the space for panels is the width of the house less a margin at each side. A typical domestic panel is a little over a metre wide and somewhere between one and a half and two metres long. On a narrow slope it is usually the width, not the total area, that sets the number of panels, and a row of three or four can be the practical limit once edges, the ridge and any roof window are allowed for.
Ask to see a layout drawing with the margins marked. It should show how far the array stops short of each party wall and of the eaves and ridge, and the reason for each distance. Two firms quoting the same roof sometimes arrive at different panel counts simply because one has left more room at the edges, and the drawing is the quickest way to see why.
Many terraces face the street on one side and a yard on the other. An unlisted house outside a conservation area can usually take panels on either slope under Class A of the permitted development order, as amended by SI 2026/896, provided they sit within 0.2 m of the roof surface and below its highest part. The detail, including Crewe Green and flat roofs, is on planning rules for Crewe.
Chimney stacks and the shade they cast
On many terraces the chimney stacks rise along the party walls, so a single stack can throw a shadow over the end of two neighbouring roofs at different times of day. Low winter sun stretches those shadows a long way, and taller buildings, dormers, satellite dishes and trees all add to them. Shade matters more than its size suggests because of the way panels are usually wired.
In a plain series string, current flows through every panel in turn, so one shaded panel can drag down the output of the rest. Panel-level electronics, either an optimiser on each panel or a small inverter behind each one, let the unshaded panels carry on at full output. They add cost, and on an open roof they may not be needed. On a roof with stacks at both ends they are often worth pricing, and the firm should explain its choice either way.
If a stack needs repointing or a new flashing, the time to do it is before the panels go on, while the scaffold is shared. Ask whether the quote covers any work to the stack, or only the panels.
Rear outriggers that face east or west
Many terraced houses have a narrower projection at the back, two storeys or one, with its own pitched roof. That roof usually runs at right angles to the main one, so where the main slopes face north and south the outrigger slopes face east and west. Those are smaller and lower, and the main house and the neighbour’s outrigger may shade them for part of the day.
They are still useful. For a roof pitched at 35°, PVGIS 5.3 gives about 951 kWh per kWp a year near Crewe for a due-south slope, 761 for an east-facing one and 751 for a west-facing one: about 80% and 79% of the south figure. A north-facing slope at the same pitch manages about 519, or 55%, which is why the north half of a terraced roof is rarely the first choice. The month-by-month figures for every direction are on output on a Crewe roof.
Using an outrigger as well as the main roof means panels facing two or three ways. Each group should go on its own input to the inverter, so the panels in morning sun are not held back by the ones still in shade. Ask how many inputs the proposed inverter has and which panels go on each.
Scaffold on a narrow street
Front scaffolding on a terrace normally stands on the pavement. Putting scaffold on the highway generally needs the council’s permission, given as a licence by Cheshire East Council in its role as highway authority, and that licence can set conditions on lighting, signs and how long the scaffold may stay. The scaffolding firm normally applies, but ask who is responsible and whether the fee is in the price.
Working from the back can avoid the pavement but brings other questions. Materials may have to come through the house or along a shared passage, and the scaffold may need to stand in a neighbour’s yard, which needs their agreement. A quote that simply says “access equipment” tells you very little; ask for a sentence on where the scaffold will go and how long it will be there.
The cable route from roof to meter
Electricity from the panels has to reach the inverter, which is often in the loft, and then the consumer unit and meter. In a terraced house those are commonly by the front door or under the stairs, so the cable may need to travel the full height of the house. It can go inside, through cupboards and floor voids, or outside in trunking down a wall. Each route has its own trade-offs between appearance, disruption and fire separation between floors.
Ask for the route in writing before work starts, along with where every isolator will be. An older consumer unit may need replacing or extending to take the solar circuit, and that is better known at quote stage than discovered on the day. If the supply is shared with a neighbour or the cut-out is old, the network operator may need to be involved; grid connection in Crewe explains G98, G99 and how to find yours.
What a survey of a terraced house should cover
- Measurements of both main slopes and any outrigger roof, with the direction and pitch of each.
- Every stack, dormer, dish and neighbouring building that could shade the array, and how that shading is reflected in the output estimate.
- A look at the roof covering and, from the loft, the timbers, with a plain statement on whether repairs should come first.
- Any listing or conservation-area status, and the consent it brings with it.
- The scaffold plan: front or back, who applies for any licence, and whose land it stands on.
- The cable route, the inverter position and any consumer-unit work.
- Whether the system can be connected under G98 or needs a G99 application first.
Prices for systems of different sizes, and the extras a terrace can bring, are set out on solar costs in Crewe. The checks to make on a firm before signing are on choosing an installer. If you rent the house, the decision sits with the landlord, and renting in Crewe explains how to raise it; landlords will find their side on landlords and solar. Ward-by-ward housing figures are on Crewe homes by ward, short answers to common questions are on the FAQ page, and a question about a particular house can be sent through the question form.