Do solar panels need planning permission in Bedford?

Usually not on a house's pitched roof. Bedford Borough Council's June 2022 solar advice note said no areas in the borough were then covered by an Article 4 Direction removing permitted development rights for solar panels, and the council's Article 4 page lists only two: small HMOs in urban Bedford and Kempston, in force since November 2020, and one created in 1987 for parts of Stewartby. Roof-slope panels must still project no more than 0.2 metres and sit no higher than the roof's highest part, excluding chimneys. In the Bedford Conservation Area, a wall, balcony or roof enclosure fronting a highway is out, and a flat-roof array needs a prior approval application first. Listed homes are outside these rights.