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Do I need permission for a domestic wind turbine?

A small domestic wind turbine can be exempted development, but the conditions are tight — limits on total height, rotor diameter, distance from the boundary and from any dwelling, noise levels and a restriction to one turbine per house.

In practice most sites fail one of the setback conditions, because the turbine must be sited a distance greater than its total height from the nearest party boundary and from any dwelling. Small urban gardens rarely satisfy that.

Even where exemption applies, the turbine must not be erected on the front of a house or on a protected structure, and noise at the nearest inhabited dwelling is limited.

Feasibility questions first

  • Measured wind resource at hub height, not a regional average
  • Turbulence from buildings and trees
  • Setback distances available on the site
  • Grid connection and export arrangements

Sources

Last reviewed 28 August 2026. General information only — not legal or planning advice.

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