Solar Panels in Worthing: Conservation Areas and Flats

Worthing is a good place for solar: the EU's PVGIS model puts a 4kW unshaded, south-facing array here at about 4,618 kWh a year, more than we modelled for inland Horsham. But two questions come up again and again from Worthing homeowners, and neither is about the panels. Is my home in a conservation area, and what if I live in a flat?

Start with conservation areas. Adur & Worthing Councils list 27 of them in Worthing, including Steyne Gardens, Marine Gardens, Marine Parade and Hinterland, Heene, West Tarring, Broadwater, Goring and Goring Hall. If your home is outside all of them, conservation-area rules don't apply to you, although a listed building still would.

If you are inside one, the national rules are more permissive than many people expect. Under Part 14 of the General Permitted Development Order, as amended on 27 August 2026, solar panels on a house in a conservation area lose permitted development only when they go on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure fronting a highway. Panels on a roof slope are not caught by that condition, provided they don't protrude more than 0.2 metres or sit above the highest part of the roof, excluding the chimney.

The catch in Worthing is Article 4. The councils say that in certain conservation areas they have served Article 4 Directions, which remove the normal permitted development rights for alterations such as the removal of walls and the replacement of roof tiles and windows. A direction can change what you are allowed to do on your roof, and each one depends on its wording, so check whether your street is covered before you assume panels are permitted development. We check it for every Worthing address before we design anything.

Flat-roof extensions are the other thing to watch. A flat-roof array in a conservation area needs an application for prior approval before work starts. It isn't full planning permission, but it takes time.

Now flats. In a block, the roof normally belongs to the freeholder or management company, not to the individual flat owners, so you need their written consent before anything goes on it. Some freeholders are happy to discuss a shared system for the building; others will say no. HM Land Registry's July 2026 figures put the average Worthing flat at £180,014, against £297,200 for all property types. If you own a flat, talk to the freeholder early.

The grid side is simpler. Worthing is on UK Power Networks' South Eastern network. Solar-only systems up to 3.68kW per phase are notified under G98 after installation; batteries and larger systems need a G99 application approved before fitting, which we submit. In Octopus's South Eastern region, Flux paid 29.79p per kWh for exports between 4pm and 7pm on 17 September 2026, and Outgoing Octopus pays 12p flat.

If you are in Worthing and want to know where you stand, our page on solar panels Worthing sets out local yields, prices and the UKPN connection. For the wider county, including where the network changes from SSEN to UKPN, see our page on solar panels in West Sussex.