The 2021 Census found 28% of Manchester households living in a terraced house, against 23% across England (ONS Census 2021). In some wards terraces are the norm: 56.3% of households in Moss Side, 51.1% in Levenshulme and 47.3% in Gorton & Abbey Hey. Many date from before the First World War: the Valuation Office counts 21.8% of the city's properties as built before 1919 (VOA 2026).
Which slope to use
A terraced house usually has two main slopes, front and back, and the street decides which way they face. On a street running east to west, one slope faces south and is ideal; the other faces north and is poor. On a street running north to south, both slopes face east or west, and both are workable.
| Slope faces | kWh per kW | Compared with the best roof |
|---|---|---|
| South | 886 | 100% |
| South-east or south-west | 842 / 830 | 95% / 93% |
| East or west | 717 / 702 | 81% / 79% |
| North | 494 | 56% |
Source: PVGIS 5.3, satellite data 2005-2023. A north slope is rarely worth using on its own. If your front faces north, look at the rear and at any outrigger roof. The roof yield explorer gives the figure for your own slope and pitch.
How much a terrace can take
Space, not budget, usually sets the size. A typical Victorian or Edwardian terrace slope, once you leave clear margins at the edges and keep away from the chimney, fits somewhere between six and ten standard panels, so roughly 2.5 to 4 kW with 400-watt panels. Measure your own slope rather than relying on that range: house widths vary from street to street.
Staying at or below 3.68 kW has a practical advantage. Systems with an inverter of up to 16 amps per phase, which is 3.68 kW on the single-phase supply most terraces have, use the G98 route: the installer connects first and then notifies SP Electricity North West (ENWL). Bigger systems need the operator's agreement before connection. See connecting to the grid in Manchester for the detail.
At the 2025/26 North West average of £2,021 per kW, a 3.5 kW system came to about £7,050 by our arithmetic (DESNZ). Small systems cost more per kW than large ones, because scaffold and electrical work cost much the same either way; our Manchester cost guide shows the full table.
Chimneys, outriggers and shade
Terraced roofs are rarely clean rectangles. The things that most often cut the usable area are these.
- Chimney stacks. Most older terraces have a stack on the party wall line, often shared with the neighbour. It casts a shadow that moves across the slope through the day. Panels should keep clear of it, and an installer may use optimisers or a different string layout where shade is unavoidable.
- Outriggers. Many terraces have a narrower two-storey back extension, the outrigger, with its own small roof. If it faces the right way it can carry a few panels, but the main roof may shade it in winter when the sun is low.
- Dormers and roof windows. Loft conversions take space from the slope and add shade at their edges.
- The street opposite. On a narrow street a taller building can shade a south-facing front slope for part of the year.
Ask any installer to show the shade assessment behind their generation estimate. If the slope is old slate, ask too about its condition: our guide to Victorian and Edwardian homes covers what to check before fixings go in.
Scaffold on a terraced street
Front walls on most terraced streets open straight onto the pavement, so scaffold at the front stands on the public highway. Manchester City Council requires a permit for any scaffold that encroaches onto or over the highway. The fee is an administration charge of £175, then £90 for every four weeks for a structure up to 25 m² and £132 up to 50 m². Permits last at least 28 days, the council aims to respond within 20 working days, and the scaffold firm must carry at least £10 million of public liability insurance (Manchester City Council).
The scaffold firm normally applies and passes the cost on, so check that the quote includes it and allows for the time the permit takes. Two things can avoid a permit: putting the panels on the rear slope and reaching it from the yard or the back alley, or a scaffold that stays entirely on your own land. In the city centre the council also runs an embargo period when no scaffolding can go up on the highway, and gives the dates when you apply.
Planning and the neighbours
Panels on a terraced house roof are normally permitted development: no planning application, provided they stand no more than 0.2 m proud of the slope and no higher than the ridge, chimneys aside (SI 2026/896). The exceptions are a listed house, and in a conservation area any panel on a wall, balcony or enclosure that fronts a highway. Our guide to planning and conservation areas in Manchester lists the residential areas, including Rushford Park in Levenshulme.
Your roof is yours, so you do not need a neighbour's permission for panels fixed to it. But on a terrace the work happens close to two other homes. Tell the neighbours before the scaffold goes up, agree access in writing if anything has to stand on their land or a shared alley, and ask the installer to check that nothing will overhang the party wall line.
If you rent your terrace, the decision sits with the landlord. Our guide for renters explains what you can ask for.