In two years’ time nearly all new builds will be fitted with solar panels in plans set to be announced by the Labour Party.
Housebuilders will be mandated to install the panels, with the change adding £3,300 to the cost of building a semi-detached or terraced house, rising to around £4,000 for a detached property.
The positive is it should save the average household more than £440 per year on energy bills.
The solar panel measures could be unveiled as part of The Future Homes Standard regulations.
Becky Lane, chief executive of property maintenance firm Furbnow, said: “Increased demand could drive down prices through scale, particularly if more panels are imported…
“Solar panels can add over 4% to a home’s resale price according to most estimates. That makes it not just a green decision, but a financial one.
“But there’s a catch. The UK’s solar workforce is already stretched. If installers are pulled towards big new-build contracts, there is a risk sidelining existing homeowners, especially those in older homes who urgently need upgrades. We have a trusted network of installers but for those who are wanting to add solar panels without help, finding an installer is hard in many areas and this policy could make it worse.
“Solar on new homes makes headlines, but 80% of the homes we’ll be living in by 2050 already exist today. Most are under-insulated and heated by fossil fuels…
“So yes, put solar on new homes but not at the cost of weakening retrofit capacity. We need to train thousands more installers, support both markets, and prioritise whole-house upgrades. Otherwise, we risk building cleaner new homes while leaving the rest of the country stuck in the past.”
Labour has already promise to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030.
