Do solar panels need planning permission in Letchworth?

Usually not for panels on a house's pitched roof slope. The Letchworth Conservation Area, designated on 17 December 1974 and amended on 5 July 1990, restricts panels on a wall, balcony or roof enclosure fronting a highway, not roof slopes. Roof-slope panels must still project no more than 0.2 metres and sit no higher than the highest part of the roof, excluding chimneys, and a flat-roof array needs an application for a prior approval determination before work starts. Listed houses fall outside these rights. North Herts Council's Article 4 Directions, confirmed on 13 February 2023, cover the town centre shopping frontages and withdraw commercial-to-residential conversion rights, not the right to fit panels.