Solar Panels
Withernsea

Solar panels in Withernsea: the local picture

Withernsea is a built-up area in the East Riding of Yorkshire and, with Bridlington and Hornsea, one of the three major towns that East Riding of Yorkshire Council defends against the sea. Census 2021 recorded 6,028 usual residents and 2,770 households in Withernsea parish. For YEERS, an MCS-certified installer based on Blanket Row in Hull, the questions that decide whether solar suits a Withernsea home are local ones: who lives in the house, whether it sits under a planning constraint, how its stretch of coast is managed, and which grants genuinely apply.

Who lives in Withernsea, and why it matters

Census 2021 parish figures show Withernsea differs from England as a whole in ways that affect what a system should include.

Almost a third of Withernsea residents (30.5%) are 65 or over, against fewer than one in five across England (18.4%). That has a bearing on whether a battery is worth adding, which is covered in the battery section below.

More than a quarter of Withernsea households (26.6%) rent privately or live rent free, compared with 20.6% across England. In a rented home the conversation about panels starts with the landlord, and leaseholders may need permission from their landlord, freeholder or management company.

Planning permission in Withernsea

Withernsea does not appear in East Riding of Yorkshire Council's directory of conservation area appraisals, although Patrington, Easington, Holmpton and Roos do. The council says you can find out whether a property is in a conservation area by searching for it on its Planning Constraints Interactive Map, so check the exact address there first. For a house outside a conservation area, the starting point is the standard permitted development conditions for rooftop solar: on a pitched roof, panels should not go above the highest part of the roof (excluding the chimney) or project more than 200mm from the roof slope; equipment should be sited, so far as is practicable, to minimise its effect on the building's external appearance and the amenity of the area; and it should be removed as soon as reasonably practicable when no longer needed. These rules were updated on 27 August 2026, with a transitional period to 27 August 2027 in which either the earlier or the new rules can be followed. Planning checks are part of our service.

Listed buildings are an exception to look out for. Withernsea Lighthouse and the adjoining pair of lighthouse keepers' houses on Hull Road are Grade II listed, first listed in October 1985. Permitted development does not cover panels on a building within the grounds of a listed building, so if your home is listed or stands in the grounds of one, speak to the council before anything is fixed to the roof.

Living with the Withernsea coastline

Shoreline management plan records place the town in the Owthorne to Hollym (Withernsea) unit, within the Holderness Cliffs section. The policy for all three periods covered, running to 2105, is to hold the line, maintaining and replacing the defences so that the current defence line is held throughout. If monitoring supports it, defence works may need to be considered to manage outflanking and protect the town.

The picture changes either side of the town. The neighbouring units, Rolston to Waxholme and Hollym to Dimlington Cliffs, are both assigned no active intervention for all three periods, although the Rolston to Waxholme plan allows for some local works. The council says recent records suggest parts of the East Riding coastline are eroding at an average rate of up to 4.5 metres a year, and that locations which are not defended can see individual cliff losses of 20 metres or more. If your property is beyond Withernsea's defences, check the government's coastal erosion risk map, which shows estimated risk to 2055 and to 2105, before paying for panels that carry a 25-year manufacturer performance warranty. If the map shows the property at risk within that period, solar is unlikely to be worth it. Inside the defences, salt air and wind still shape the specification: our guide to solar on the East Yorkshire coast sets out what YEERS uses for coastal installs, including A4 (316) marine-grade stainless steel fixings rather than standard A2 (304), panels with IEC 61701 salt-mist corrosion testing, and a wind-rated mounting design.

Batteries, export and the grid connection

With 30.5% of Withernsea residents aged 65 or over, it is worth asking whether someone is at home in the daytime before adding a battery. If they are, more of the output is used as it is generated and less is left over to store, so panels alone may be the better value; a household that is out all day usually has more surplus to shift into the evening. Whatever is not used or stored is exported. Under the Smart Export Guarantee, some electricity suppliers are required to pay small-scale generators for the low-carbon electricity they export, provided certain criteria are met. Rates vary and change. As one example, Outgoing Octopus pays a flat 12p per kWh on a variable tariff, while Prime Outgoing Octopus, a 12-month fixed-term tariff, pays 16p per kWh from 4pm to 7pm and 9p per kWh the rest of the day. Octopus requires a smart meter that can send it half-hourly export data. Our battery storage installation page compares battery brands, including the Sigenergy, Solax and Fox ESS systems we install.

Withernsea's electricity network operator is Northern Powergrid, which delivers and maintains supplies across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire; its published substation list shows local substations in Withernsea, serving HU19 postcodes, within its Yorkshire area. Smaller household systems connect under Engineering Recommendation G98, which covers micro-generating plant with an aggregate capacity of no more than 16 A per phase: 3.68 kW on a single-phase supply, or 11.04 kW on a three-phase supply. G98's definition of micro-generators includes electricity storage devices when they operate in export mode, and storage counts towards that aggregate alongside the panels. The network operator must be made aware no later than 28 days after commissioning; if the total goes above 16 A per phase, the G99 process applies and the operator must be consulted before installation. We handle the G98 or G99 applications and the notification for you.

Grants, VAT and heat pumps

• 0% VAT. Installing energy-saving materials in homes, including solar panels and heat pumps, is zero-rated until 31 March 2027, reverting to the reduced rate of 5% from 1 April 2027. Batteries for storing energy were added to the zero rate from 1 February 2024.
• Boiler Upgrade Scheme. It gives upfront grants towards low-carbon heating, such as a heat pump, in England and Wales; it does not cover solar panels or batteries. The grant for an air-to-water or ground source heat pump is £7,500, applied as an upfront discount on your installation. Social housing is not eligible, including shared ownership properties; in Withernsea, 14.3% of households rent socially.
• The £9,000 off-gas rate. For applications properly made from 21 July 2026 until 31 March 2027, an air-to-water or ground source heat pump replacing oil or LPG heating in an off-gas-grid property attracts £9,000. Off-gas grid means the property is not fuelled by mains gas (a capped or clamped supply meter point still counts as mains gas), has no record of an existing gas meter point, is not attached to a heat network and is not a new build. An off-gas home replacing electric heating gets the standard £7,500, because the uplift only applies where oil or LPG is being replaced.
• ECO4. Extended by nine months to 31 December 2026. The Great British Insulation Scheme was not extended and ended as planned on 31 March 2026.

Hornsea, Hull and Cleethorpes

Hornsea is another town the council defends, but unlike Withernsea it does appear in the council's directory of conservation area appraisals, so the planning answer there can differ: see solar panels in Hornsea. For homes in the city, solar panels in Hull covers the same service from our Blanket Row office, and there is a separate page for solar panels in Cleethorpes. The national schemes above are explained in more detail on our grants and funding page and, for heating, our heat pumps page. When you are ready, request a free quote.

Frequently asked questions

Updated September 2026.