Solar panels in Midlothian

You can usually put solar panels on your house without a planning application when they stick out by 1 metre or less from the wall or roof. You need to apply if the house is listed, in the grounds of a listed building, or in a World Heritage Site. In a conservation area, the panels go on the back of the house, or on a side that faces away from the road.

Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026

You can usually fit one air source heat pump on a house, a building that contains flats, or a flat, or in the grounds, without a planning application. You need to apply when it sticks out by more than 1 metre. In a conservation area it sits at ground floor on the back of the building. In the grounds it stays behind the front wall and behind a side wall that faces a road, and within 3 metres high. You need to apply in a World Heritage Site or in the grounds of a listed building. The unit is for heating or hot water at home, and it meets MCS 020 planning standards or an equivalent.

Scottish Government Circular 1/2024 (28 May 2024) · correct as of 3 October 2026

The same national rules cover flats. Solar on a flat follows the solar rules, and a heat pump follows the heat pump rules. In a conservation area, or in the grounds of a listed building, other changes to the outside of a flat need a planning application.

Circular 1/2024, flats · correct as of 3 October 2026

Midlothian's planning advice page publishes householder guidance on dormer windows and on rear extensions to single storey terraces and semi-detached houses. Solar and heat pump siting for a Midlothian home follows the national rules above.

Midlothian planning advice · correct as of 3 October 2026

The workshop in Penicuik is inside Midlothian, at Unit 2b Eastfield Industrial Estate, EH26 8HA. A quote still follows a survey of the property: the roof for solar, or the existing heating system for a heat pump, then the materials and labour in writing. See Penicuik, solar panels, heat pumps, and the grants guide. Home Energy Scotland can pay a grant of up to £7,500 towards a heat pump, and you can add an optional interest-free loan of £7,500. 0% VAT on solar installs until 31 March 2027. The survey is of the Midlothian house itself.

Home Energy Scotland Grant and Loan · VAT Notice 708/6 · correct as of 3 October 2026