Every new home built in Peterborough to have solar panels under proposed Local Plan

Every new home built in and around Peterborough would have solar panels under a proposed new Local Plan for the city.

The Local Plan Review for 2024 to 2044 will replace the current Local Plan adopted in 2019, and will set out how the city and surrounding villages will grow and change over the next 20 years.

It was put on hold last year to incorporate changes to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) made by the incoming Labour government.

For Peterborough, these changes resulted in an increased housing target from 18,720 to 20,120 houses by 2044 (1,006 per year).

Under the current Draft Local Plan, a public consultation for which closed on May 29, each of these homes must have enough solar panels to equate to at least 40 per cent of its ground floor area.

The draft plan’s energy efficiency policy states: “All new residential development will only be considered if the scheme demonstrates its effort towards reducing demand, resource efficiency, and renewable energy production, as per the Future Homes Standard.”

It also notes that there must be no fossil fuels used directly in a development’s operation, including no gas boilers or gas ovens, and heating needs met through low carbon alternatives such as direct electric heating or air source heat pumps.

The Future Homes Standard, set to be implemented in summer 2025, is a government-led initiative that aims to ensure that an average home will produce at least 75 per cent lower carbon emissions than homes built to the current building regulations.

Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, leader of the Conservative group on Peterborough City Council, argued the Draft Local Plan’s solar panel policy would only drive up costs for house builders and potential buyers.

He said: “One is all for being as green as we possibly can be, but not to the extent where it goes beyond reasonable costs.

“If it adds too much to the building costs of new properties then I can’t see that it would be helpful to house builders or indeed future owners because all it’s going to do is push the price on.”

In contrast, leader of the Green Party group on the council, Cllr Heather Skibsted, said she and her colleagues were supportive of the solar panel policy.

She said: “It’s the way forward to sustainable energy isn’t it? We certainly support the climate ambitions that are in the plan.

“I don’t think we should just be looking at the developer’s point of view, we should be looking at what’s good for our community and our environment generally.”

Cllr Skibsted also noted that putting solar panels on new homes now would remove the cost of retrofitting them in the future.

The council’s Draft Local Plans states that the implementation of the Future Homes Standard will ensure new homes are “zero carbon ready”, meaning no further work will be required to retrofit homes in terms of energy efficiency standards.

The solar panel requirement would only apply to those developments granted after either the implication of the Future Homes Standard this summer or the adoption of the Local Plan, which is expected by December 2026.

Councillor Nick Thulbourn, Labour cabinet member for growth and regeneration at Peterborough City Council, said: “It is true: the imperative to mitigate the effects of climate change will define development and direct growth in Peterborough in the period covered by this Local Plan.

“The energy efficiency policy developed for the Draft Local Plan reflects the requirements of the Future Homes Standard, a forthcoming national standard for energy efficiency and heating in new homes.

“The 2023 consultation version of the standard strongly encourages the use of low-carbon technologies, including solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, with a suggestion that in most cases, solar panels should cover at least 40% of a new homes ground area

“Like many local planning authorities, we await the final version of the Future Homes Standard, due to be published this summer.

“As well as reducing carbon emissions, the shift to using solar power provides important benefits for residents.

“Using local renewable energy leads to reduced energy bills, lower levels of fuel poverty and increased energy security.”