Solar panels will be installed on almost every new-build home in England under new green rules
SOLAR panels will be slapped on almost every new build home in England under sweeping green rules due this year.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband called it “just common sense” and claimed it would save families £500 a year.
New regulations will force developers to fit panels unless buildings are in deep shade or another rare exemption applies.
The Home Builders Federation said it backed fitting more panels but cautioned against introducing “burdensome” paperwork which it said could harm government efforts to build 1.5 million new homes by 2029.
The crackdown will be part of the Future Homes Standard, due to be published this autumn with a transition period for builders to adjust.
It goes further than a Tory plan, which let firms off the hook entirely if they couldn’t meet the 40 per cent rooftop coverage target.
The announcement comes days after Labour scrapped planning rules to make installing heat pumps easier as part of its push to hit net zero by 2050.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has slammed the target as “impossible” without “a serious drop in our living standards or by bankrupting us”, while Reform UK want it ditched altogether, warning it’s pushing up energy bills for working families.