Discuss the free solar panel company: A Shade Greener

Smiley_Dan

Can the lease not be ended at the vendors' expense?

Glevum_Owl

huntiodo wrote: »

I'm a first time buyer and we've just been informed that the house we were hoping to complete on has these ASG solar panels. Aside from whether our mortgage lender will agree to a mortgage with a 25year lease, we are very apprehensive as to whether or not to go ahead with the purchase.
Surely over 25 years these panels will be so out of date! In fact the rate renewable energy is moving, they'll be out of date in a few years. In my opinion, as we'd probably want to sell and move on in about 6-8 years, this could be a major problem with selling as they'll be very dated. By that time, solar panels may be so cheap to buy, that having this lease will be a total disadvantage.
Any thoughts?
I'm absolutely gutted, this has totally put a dampener on the sale... In fact, I can't actually believe that this has never been mentioned by the seller or estate agent and had to be brought up by the solicitor. Surely this lease etc should have been mentioned on the sales particulars?

Welcome to the forum! MSE can be a source of great information. Unfortunately it can also be misleading if you're not careful.

Buying your first house is a daunting experience so you need advice on which you can rely. Therefore approach all comments in this forum with extreme caution (and, yes, I do appreciate the irony of me giving that advice!).

For instance the links given above. The one regarding weight of panels leads to a site for a solicitor's trying to sell you their services. It's therefore in their interest to scaremonger a little. Interestingly the services they offer should be covered by your solicitor during conveyancing (buying the house).

The link regarding 'risk to existing mortgage arrangements' is written by a journalist, not someone with financial qualifications, and, more importantly, it's well over two years old. I am not aware of any reliable, empirical study detailing the effect of solar panels on house sales.

Yes, solar panels will age but that won't make them obsolete. As they continue to generate power then the householder continues to save money.

As you're finding out, house buying is a challenging process. House sellers are looking after their own interests, *not* yours, so it's vital you take control. Start with a solicitor you can trust to get the answers on your behalf.

Talk to your solicitor about your concerns. If they're any good they'll obtain a copy of the solar panel lease agreement, review it and advise you. Also contact your prospective mortgage lender and ask their policy on solar panels specifically those fitted by ASG.

In short
- take the initiative for as much of the house purchase process as you can,
- talk only to the people who have or can give the answers: your solicitor and your mortgage lender.

Don't let unqualified opinions and your own fears stop you getting the house you want.

Pearl2

We have just ben approached by A Shade Greener and they have said our property is suitable for solar panels, but it seems too good to be true and wondered if there is a catch, as if it's too good to be true there usually is one! I noticed that there are few recent posts for this company.

Richie-from-the-Boro

In short
- take the initiative for as much of the house purchase process as you can,
- talk only to the people who have or can give the answers: your solicitor and your mortgage lender.

Don't let unqualified opinions and your own fears stop you getting the house you want

Glevum_Owl

Pearl2 wrote: »

We have just ben approached by A Shade Greener and they have said our property is suitable for solar panels, but it seems too good to be true and wondered if there is a catch, as if it's too good to be true there usually is one! I noticed that there are few recent posts for this company.

The company fitting the panels makes money by being paid the FIT.

You save money by using the electricity generated by the panels.

The catches are
- everybody in the country pays extra on their bills to fund the scheme,
- you have to use the electricity from the panels as it's generated. It you're out all day you might not make much of a saving. If you're in all or most of the day then with a little planning you can save a lot.

There's an excellent page here that explains everything clearly as well as giving advice on what to look for and do if considering free solar panels.

The page is a bit long so I suggest you make a cup of something before settling down to read it.

foster777

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the process of buying a house with solar panels installed by A Shade Greener in 2012 and my mortgage lender ( major high street bank ) has rejected to lend on the house due to the lease not meeting CML conditions.

The sellers solicitor now has to have the lease changed to meet the CML guidelines before the property is mortgageable, This has been a nightmare as the property is empty and were not in a chain and was supposed to be a quick sale ( now 3 months on ).

The sellers are elderly and i think they have not understood to what they have signed up to and have just thought of getting free energy and cheaper bills.

Im now seriously considering pulling out of the sale as there maybe serious problems in the future for remortgaging or selling the property.:mad:

Has anybody else had a similar problem ?

Cardew

foster777 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the process of buying a house with solar panels installed by A Shade Greener in 2012 and my mortgage lender ( major high street bank ) has rejected to lend on the house due to the lease not meeting CML conditions.

The sellers solicitor now has to have the lease changed to meet the CML guidelines before the property is mortgageable, This has been a nightmare as the property is empty and were not in a chain and was supposed to be a quick sale ( now 3 months on ).

The sellers are elderly and i think they have not understood to what they have signed up to and have just thought of getting free energy and cheaper bills.

Im now seriously considering pulling out of the sale as there maybe serious problems in the future for remortgaging or selling the property.:mad:

Has anybody else had a similar problem ?

There have been loads of posts about people having similar problems with solar panels supplied by Rent a Roof firms. There is one currently running from a vendor who has run into difficulty and it looks like his sale has fallen through.


However I believe none of those cases were for A Shade Greener and they have posted on MSE and on their website that their customers have no problems in selling their house.


I suggest you contact the firm and see if they will help, I believe they have an in-house solicitor.

Glevum_Owl

Foster777, any idea which part of the CML ASG fails on, please? We cleared everything through our existing lender (Nationwide) and gained assurances from ASG before installation but I'd like to check our contract just in case!

The_disappointed

Here are my experiences of ASG. I'm sure, when things go smoothly, all is fine. Sadly, as a new company, it seems they have set up a “process” (And having worked for a company as a planner using a process, I know what it can be like when things go wrong, fortunately, our company was older and wiser....!)


A cold caller came in early January. He explained the deal, and said we were ideal for the installation, a gable ended semi facing due south with no trees etc restricting the sunlight. I said lets proceed, but pointed out one problem. Next door and ourselves both have conservatories, with around an 18 inch gap between them. Scaffolding MIGHT be a problem. He said the survey would address this.


The survey took place on 14 January and included looking ni the loft, the meter cupboard, and measuring the house externally. Again, I mentioned the scaffolding issue, and he said they used independent scaffolders who would no doubt have a solution.


We then had the visit from the contracts manager, to go through all the paperwork, including giving the name/account no. of our mortgage provider, who they would write to, along with the Land Registry, to notify both of their interest in property. We agreed an appointment for fitting as February 4th, the scaffolders would be on-site a few days before. Again, during this meeting, I mentioned the conservatory issue.


I received a text from the scaffolders to say they would be here on February 2nd, we didn't need to be in but leave the drive clear and unlock the rear gate. I was in anyway when they called, 3 men in a flat-bed transit. They looked at the rear of the house, and said they could not proceed without walking on the roof of both conservatories, which neither they, nor my neighbour or myself were agreeable to. They took some photos and left.


And that, it turned out, was the last time I would hear from them without instigating contact myself!


That evening, my neighbour (a bulding company director) and I chatted about the problem, and in just a couple of minutes, we came up with 2 solutions, a cherry picker to assist with erecting the scaffold, or to actually access the roof, or a six man scaffold team to erect the lower level scaffold down the garden and walk it into place. I expected ASG to have similar ideas.


On February 10th, I decided to try and find out what was happening. Te contact page on their website does not quote an email address, instead it is a web form on which you fill in all the fields and hit “submit”. It does not work, it tells you to fill in all the fields! It does not submit the message. So, as they had a twitter account, I tweeted them: “your contact page doesn't work! Please advise situation: Ref: xxxx00979X - have heard nothing since scaffolding was aborted.” They replied later that same day: “HI Ian, sorry about this. Someone from our office will contact you shortly ”


On February 20th, having heard nothing, I tweeted again: “ Ref: xxxx00979X please send a contact address to (my email address) - 140 char is not enough.” I had an email reply later that day saying “Hi,
Our contact address is;
Sterling House
Maple Court
Maple Road
Tankersley
S75 3DP”



I already knew that, it's on their website. I meant an email address, so I sent the following to the originator of their email:
“Hi

I meant an email address, so yours will do! If it's not you, you can forward it.

Before I go on, can I just point out that the "contact us" page on your website does not work. After filling in all the boxes, you get a response saying "all boxes must be filled in" and it does not send the message. Perhaps publishing a contact email address would be a better idea?

On Feb 4th, your company was supposed to be coming to fit the panels etc. and on Feb 2nd, the scaffolders turned up. They could not erect the scaffolding due to issues with ours and next doors conservatory, (which I pointed out to your cold caller, your surveyor and the contracts man). They took some photos and left.

Since then, apart from some people turning up just over a week later to remove the scaffolding, I have heard nothing, except a reply to a tweet I sent on Feb 10th asking for an update, which said someone would contact me shortly!

What is happening with this? There are at least 2 ways I can think of for getting round the scaffolding issue, both involving extra expense. Are you planning to go ahead, or are you aborting the installation, in which case I assume you will be contacting the Land Registry and our mortgage company to cancel the registration of the agreement.”
I've heard nothing since! My wife and I spent 2 days clearing the rear loftspace to allow them to work there, and I guess I'm going to have to contact the Land Registry and my mortgage company to remove their details.



As I said, I guess if all goes well, they are very good, but it seems that, if it does not....................!

Ashadegreener_representative

The_disappointed wrote: »

Here are my experiences of ASG. I'm sure, when things go smoothly, all is fine. Sadly, as a new company, it seems they have set up a “process” (And having worked for a company as a planner using a process, I know what it can be like when things go wrong, fortunately, our company was older and wiser....!)


A cold caller came in early January. He explained the deal, and said we were ideal for the installation, a gable ended semi facing due south with no trees etc restricting the sunlight. I said lets proceed, but pointed out one problem. Next door and ourselves both have conservatories, with around an 18 inch gap between them. Scaffolding MIGHT be a problem. He said the survey would address this.


The survey took place on 14 January and included looking ni the loft, the meter cupboard, and measuring the house externally. Again, I mentioned the scaffolding issue, and he said they used independent scaffolders who would no doubt have a solution.


We then had the visit from the contracts manager, to go through all the paperwork, including giving the name/account no. of our mortgage provider, who they would write to, along with the Land Registry, to notify both of their interest in property. We agreed an appointment for fitting as February 4th, the scaffolders would be on-site a few days before. Again, during this meeting, I mentioned the conservatory issue.


I received a text from the scaffolders to say they would be here on February 2nd, we didn't need to be in but leave the drive clear and unlock the rear gate. I was in anyway when they called, 3 men in a flat-bed transit. They looked at the rear of the house, and said they could not proceed without walking on the roof of both conservatories, which neither they, nor my neighbour or myself were agreeable to. They took some photos and left.


And that, it turned out, was the last time I would hear from them without instigating contact myself!


That evening, my neighbour (a bulding company director) and I chatted about the problem, and in just a couple of minutes, we came up with 2 solutions, a cherry picker to assist with erecting the scaffold, or to actually access the roof, or a six man scaffold team to erect the lower level scaffold down the garden and walk it into place. I expected ASG to have similar ideas.


On February 10th, I decided to try and find out what was happening. Te contact page on their website does not quote an email address, instead it is a web form on which you fill in all the fields and hit “submit”. It does not work, it tells you to fill in all the fields! It does not submit the message. So, as they had a twitter account, I tweeted them: “your contact page doesn't work! Please advise situation: Ref: xxxx00979X - have heard nothing since scaffolding was aborted.” They replied later that same day: “HI Ian, sorry about this. Someone from our office will contact you shortly ”


On February 20th, having heard nothing, I tweeted again: “ Ref: xxxx00979X please send a contact address to (my email address) - 140 char is not enough.” I had an email reply later that day saying “Hi,
Our contact address is;
Sterling House
Maple Court
Maple Road
Tankersley
S75 3DP”



I already knew that, it's on their website. I meant an email address, so I sent the following to the originator of their email:
“Hi

I meant an email address, so yours will do! If it's not you, you can forward it.

Before I go on, can I just point out that the "contact us" page on your website does not work. After filling in all the boxes, you get a response saying "all boxes must be filled in" and it does not send the message. Perhaps publishing a contact email address would be a better idea?

On Feb 4th, your company was supposed to be coming to fit the panels etc. and on Feb 2nd, the scaffolders turned up. They could not erect the scaffolding due to issues with ours and next doors conservatory, (which I pointed out to your cold caller, your surveyor and the contracts man). They took some photos and left.

Since then, apart from some people turning up just over a week later to remove the scaffolding, I have heard nothing, except a reply to a tweet I sent on Feb 10th asking for an update, which said someone would contact me shortly!

What is happening with this? There are at least 2 ways I can think of for getting round the scaffolding issue, both involving extra expense. Are you planning to go ahead, or are you aborting the installation, in which case I assume you will be contacting the Land Registry and our mortgage company to cancel the registration of the agreement.”
I've heard nothing since! My wife and I spent 2 days clearing the rear loftspace to allow them to work there, and I guess I'm going to have to contact the Land Registry and my mortgage company to remove their details.



As I said, I guess if all goes well, they are very good, but it seems that, if it does not....................!

Good Morning,

I apologise for the poor communication. I do not know why this has occurred but please can you email enquiries@ashadegreener.co.uk with your customer reference and I'll get one of the team to contact you ASAP.

Thanks,