No. The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 does not give tenants a right to fit plug-in solar, and it does not stop a landlord refusing one. The Act contains no mention of solar, photovoltaic, renewable energy, energy efficiency, alterations or fixtures, and its only “right to request permission” is about keeping a pet.
We are writing this because the opposite claim is now being repeated with confidence. On 28 September 2026 we asked an AI answer engine whether a tenant can put plug-in solar on a rented balcony. It replied that “the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 means a landlord cannot unreasonably refuse a portable, non-structural plug-in system”, and that “most legal analysis suggests renters can install them without requiring landlord approval”. It cited nine web pages. Not one of them was the Act.
So we went to the Act itself.
What we checked, and how
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 is chapter 26 of 2025. Its full text is published on legislation.gov.uk, the government’s official home for UK law. On 28 September 2026 we read the whole of it, not a summary or the contents page, and searched the complete text for every word a solar right would need to use:
- solar
- photovoltaic
- renewable
- energy efficiency
- alteration
- fixture
- microgeneration
None of them appears anywhere in the Act. A right for tenants to fit solar equipment, or a rule that a landlord must not unreasonably refuse it, would have to be written down in words like these. It is not there.
What the Act does say: section 11 is about pets
The claim did not come from nowhere, and it is worth understanding where it probably did come from. The Act does create a new right to ask a landlord for permission, and it does stop the landlord from refusing unreasonably. That right is in section 11, and its heading is:
“Right to request permission to keep a pet”
Renters’ Rights Act 2025, section 11, read on legislation.gov.uk on 28 September 2026
That is the only right of its kind in the Act. It covers animals. It says nothing about panels, inverters, brackets or anything attached to a building. Our best guess is that someone summarised “a new right to request permission that a landlord must not unreasonably refuse” without the words “to keep a pet”, and the shortened version travelled. We cannot prove that, but the shape of the error fits.
It is also worth knowing that the new plug-in solar law, which came into force on 27 August 2026, does not create a tenant’s right either. It changed the electrical safety rules so that a compliant kit may be plugged into a socket. It did not change who is allowed to decide what goes on a building. The government’s own announcement told people to check whether they need “permission from a landlord and/or building owner or freeholder”.
What this means for you
If you rent, the ordinary position applies: your tenancy agreement decides what you may do to the property, and you need your landlord’s permission. The practical steps are simple.
- Ask before you buy, not after. A kit costs from a few hundred pounds. Being told to take it down, and to pay for any damage, is the expensive way round.
- Ask in writing, by email if you like, naming the kit and where it would go.
- Explain what it is. Most refusals come from a landlord picturing a roof installation. A compliant kit plugs into an existing socket, needs no electrician to connect it, and any fixing must be reversible. A free-standing ground frame touches the building not at all.
- Offer conditions: it stays your property, you remove it and make good when you leave, and you register it with the network operator as the law requires.
- Keep the reply. A permission nobody can find is a permission you do not have.
If your landlord says no, the Act does not give you a route to overturn that for solar. A ground-mounted kit in a garden you are allowed to use may be an easier conversation than anything fixed to a wall, and it is easier to take with you when you move.
If you are a landlord, nothing here obliges you to agree, and nothing stops you. Our renters and landlords guide sets out a reasonable “yes, with conditions” position, including telling your insurer. If you live in a flat, read flats and balconies too, because a lease or a freeholder may have a say as well.
Most of the Act deals with tenancies in England. Tenants in Wales and Scotland are covered by separate renting law, which we have not reviewed for this article. The advice is the same wherever you are: get permission in writing first.
What we are not saying
We are not saying tenants have no rights, and we are not saying your landlord is entitled to refuse anything for any reason. Your own tenancy agreement may say more than the law does, in either direction. We are saying one specific thing: this Act does not contain this right. This is general information about published legislation, not legal advice on your tenancy. If a lot of money or a dispute is involved, speak to a housing adviser or a solicitor.
Questions people ask
Can my landlord refuse plug-in solar under the Renters’ Rights Act 2025?
The Act does not deal with solar at all, so it neither gives you a right to fit a kit nor limits your landlord’s ability to refuse. We read the full text on legislation.gov.uk on 28 September 2026 and found no mention of solar, photovoltaic, renewable energy, energy efficiency, alterations or fixtures. Your tenancy agreement is what governs it. This is general information, not legal advice.
What is section 11 of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025?
Section 11 is headed “Right to request permission to keep a pet”. It is the only right to request permission in the Act, and it is about animals. It is likely to be the source of the mistaken claim that tenants have a right to fit solar panels.
Sources: Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (2025 c. 26), full text and section 11, legislation.gov.uk, read 28 September 2026 and searched again in full on 7 October 2026; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announcement, 26 August 2026, read 7 October 2026. The AI answer quoted above was recorded on 28 September 2026. If you believe we have this wrong, tell us and we will check again and correct it publicly. We name no retailers and earn no commission from this article.