In short
Census 2021 found 12.1% of Frodsham ward households renting privately and 9.5% living in flats. In both cases the roof belongs to someone else, who decides. Private tenants can apply for the Warm Homes: Local Grant with their landlord’s agreement. Plug-in kits now count as solar PV but may never go on balconies or timber walls.
Who rents in Frodsham
The 2021 census counted 4,172 households in the Frodsham ward. Of those, 12.1% rented from a private landlord and 10.5% from a council or housing association, while 76.1% owned their home outright or with a mortgage. Flats and maisonettes housed 9.5% of households. In round numbers that means something like 505 privately renting households and about 396 in flats, though both are estimates made from percentages rather than counts.
Neighbouring Helsby ward looks much the same, with 12.9% renting privately and 9.1% in flats, and both wards sit below the borough-wide figures of 15.7% and 11.9%. The figures come from the ONS Census 2021 tables, and the fuller comparison of house types, tenure and heating is on Frodsham homes by ward.
None of those households can simply decide to put panels up. For a tenant, the roof belongs to a landlord; for a flat owner, it usually belongs to the building as a whole.
Who decides
- Private tenants. The landlord owns the roof and makes the decision. Fixing anything to the building without written permission is likely to breach the tenancy agreement.
- Council and housing association tenants. The provider decides and runs its own improvement programmes. A tenant can ask whether the home is in one.
- Leaseholders in flats. The lease usually reserves the roof and outside walls to the building owner or a management company, and alterations need consent under its terms. Read the lease and speak to the managing agent before anything else.
- Flats above shops. The 2006 appraisal’s summary of planning policy noted that the local plan of the day promoted the use of upper floors in the town centre as homes. A flat over a shop on Main Street is inside the Town conservation area and may be in a listed building, so whoever owns the building would also face the heritage rules described on listed and thatched homes.
Writing to a landlord
A written request gives a landlord something concrete to weigh. Include the home’s current EPC rating, which is on the government’s public register, how it is heated, which roof slope comes closest to facing south, and whether the hill or nearby trees shade it; the hill and winter sun shows how much the ridge takes from homes at its foot. Mention any scheme that could help with the cost. It is also worth noting that roof panels on an unlisted house are usually permitted development, so a landlord may not need planning permission at all, although a listed building, a wall facing the road or a flat roof in a conservation area changes that.
A landlord may reasonably want to know how things would work afterwards: who pays for any repairs, who receives the export payments, and whether the rent would change. Those are matters for landlord and tenant to agree in writing. This guide takes no view on them, but it does suggest getting every point on paper before any work starts.
The Warm Homes: Local Grant for private tenants
In west Cheshire, the Warm Homes: Local Grant is handled through a consortium managed by Cheshire East Council, which deals with enquiries and eligibility for Cheshire West and Chester residents. It can include solar PV and has funding until 31 March 2028. The home must be rated D to G on the EPC scale, and the household qualifies in one of three ways: by receiving an income-related benefit, by having a total income at or under £36,000 before tax (or £20,000 once housing costs are taken off), or by living in an eligible postcode.
Owner-occupiers and private tenants can both apply. For a tenant, the landlord has to agree, and after the first property the landlord contributes at least half the cost. Applications go through the GOV.UK application page, and the council’s support schemes page describes the local arrangements. Grants and schemes sets the Local Grant beside everything else that is open or closed.
What landlords are working towards
Under the government’s plans, a home let privately in England must reach band C on its energy certificate by 1 October 2030, subject to the cost cap and exemptions. Panels can lift a home’s rating, which is one reason a landlord may welcome a well-prepared request. Whether they are the right first step depends on the building, since insulation, heating controls and the heating system itself all count towards the rating too. Landlords should check the current rules before relying on any date.
Plug-in panels under the 2026 rules
Statutory Instrument 2026/896 brought plug-in solar into the planning rules. Plug-in kits count as solar PV for permitted development, but they may never go on a timber wall, a balcony, a roof enclosure, or any part of a building clad in timber. For a flat, that rules out the balcony, which is exactly where such kits tend to be pictured. A masonry wall, a flat roof within its limits or a stand-alone spot in a garden may still be possible, inside the usual conservation-area limits: in a conservation area, walls fronting a highway are excluded for houses, and walls on a block of flats are excluded.
A tenant still needs the landlord’s permission for any kit, fixed or plug-in, and the kit itself needs to suit the home’s wiring and be used as its maker directs. Ask in writing before buying anything, and keep the reply.
Panels on a block of flats
Under Part 14 of the Order as amended, roof panels on blocks of flats are permitted development within the same projection limits as houses. A shared system raises practical questions the rules do not answer: whether it feeds the landlord’s supply for corridors and lighting or individual flats, how its output is shared, and who maintains it. The building owner, managing agent and leaseholders have to settle those between them.
The 2006 appraisal records newer flats at Trinity Gardens, built within the site of a former Methodist church, and larger blocks to the south-west of Main Street and north-east of High Street, all inside the Town conservation area. Blocks there follow the conservation-area limits explained on Frodsham’s conservation areas and solar.
Who keeps what
Panels fixed to a rented home normally stay with the building when a tenant moves out. A tenant who paid towards a system, or helped a landlord through a grant application, should have the arrangement written down. Export payments go to whoever holds the agreement with the electricity supplier, which export and self-use explains, and a battery, covered on batteries, raises the same questions about who owns and maintains it.
Social housing
For 10.5% of Frodsham households, the landlord is a council or housing association. Providers decide which homes go into their programmes and when, sometimes with national funding behind them. A tenant can ask, in writing, whether the property is included. The Local Grant is aimed at owner-occupiers and private tenants, so it is not the route for a socially rented home.
Next steps
Gather the EPC rating and a description of the roof, then write to the landlord, provider or managing agent. Anyone thinking of buying a flat or a rented house that already has panels should read buying a Frodsham home with solar. For a question about a particular home, use the question form, or reach the publisher through the contact page.