Solar on New Build Homes in Milton Keynes
From March 2027 every new home in England has to have it. The estates going up in MK now are the last that will not.
Future Homes Standard confirmed 24 March 2026, in force 24 March 2027.
What changes in March 2027
The Future Homes Standard was confirmed in the government response of 24 March 2026.
Solar becomes mandatory
From 24 March 2027, new homes in England must be built with solar. The requirement is set at panels with a combined output equivalent to 40% of the home's ground-floor area.
It cannot be traded away
The requirement is non-tradeable. A developer cannot buy out of it on grounds of cost, roof complexity or how it looks.
A transitional year
Projects that begin construction before the cut-off run under existing rules. Housebuilders starting after 24 March 2028 face the full standard with no transition.
Roughly 90% of new homes
Solar Energy UK's estimate of how many new English homes the regulations will cover.
Sized to pass, not to suit
40% of ground-floor area is a floor, not an optimum. On a three-bed semi that is a modest array — frequently smaller than the roof would take and the household would use.
Storage is not included
The standard mandates generation. It does not mandate a battery, which is where most of the saving on a heat-pump home actually comes from.
If you are buying on a Milton Keynes estate now
The estates going up in MK today are the last that will not have solar as standard. What that means depends on which one.
Eastbrook Village, MK16
Berkeley's St Joseph is building over 4,500 homes here across phases, with the first phase of 194 homes expected to complete between November 2026 and November 2027. Later phases run well past the 2027 standard, so what you get will depend heavily on when your plot started.
Woburn View, Woburn Sands
Redrow, 103 homes on Newport Road across roughly 15 acres, built to their Eco Electric standard with air source heat pumps and underfloor heating. A heat pump with no generation is an expensive combination on a standard tariff — this is the clearest case in MK for adding solar and storage.
Bronze Park, Kents Hill
Taylor Wimpey, red brick, marketed on energy efficiency. Kents Hill is third-wave MK, so surrounding roof pitches are steeper and array sizes are usually capped by roof area rather than budget.
Ask what was fitted, not whether
Most developer arrays are sized to satisfy a calculation. Ask for the kWp, the inverter model and whether there is any storage — not just whether solar is included.
Check the roof you are left with
A developer array often occupies the best slope. What remains for a future expansion is worth knowing before you complete.
Retrofit is not a second-best
Adding to a developer system, or fitting from scratch on a plot that predates the standard, is routine work. It is usually cheaper than people expect because the roof is new and the scaffold is simple.
What we would ask a developer before completing
- What is the array size in kWp, and what is the inverter?
- Is there battery storage, and if not is the system battery-ready?
- Which roof slope is it on, and what usable area is left?
- Has the MCS certificate been issued, and in whose name?
- Has the DNO been notified, and is the export limit set?
- Is there a heat pump, and was the array sized with it in mind?
The last one matters most. A home with a heat pump and a token array will use far more electricity than the array produces, and the gap lands on your bill every winter.
Bought a new build with a token array?
We will tell you what you have got, what the roof would still take, and whether adding storage is worth it on your usage. No obligation.
No obligation • Fixed pricing • MCS & NAPIT certified • Based in Milton Keynes