Search results...how much should we be panicking......

pops5588

Came home today to a huge pack of paper from our solicitors. I don't have a bl***y clue what half of it even means...

1) they mention Chancel Indemnity Insurance? We can pay £14.95 for indemnity cover for us and successors in title as opposed to putting in hand a Chancel Search at a cost of nearer £20?

2) He says he is "somewhat concerned" about the information in respect of the solar panels that a Lease has been granted relating to the airspace above the property for a term of 25 years from June 2012. He says that he says this because he is aware that many mortgage lenders are not happy about lending where such an agreement has been put in place.

We had our valuation and everything seemed fine, and we also received our mortgage offer with no problems?

Would anyone like to take pity on my naivety and confusion and explain what any of this means in one syllable words. Should we be freaking out and if so, how much?

Mr_Moo_2

Chancel Insurance - have a read here -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4301487

Solar Panels - a lot of lenders don't like them so if you have an offer you've done well. Your Vendors have effectively sold off part of their house to a third party for a period of time. Are you happy with this? Any guarantees on the installation / was it done by a cowboy? Any ongoing maintenance payments needed from you? How much saving do they provide? All questions to consider / ask your vendors. Bear in mind they may well put future buyers off.

pops5588

We did try to find out from them if there were any negatives attached to them. All they told us what that they don't pay any maintenance towards them, all maintenance is done by the company that installed them and it saves them about £250-300 a year on bills.

If it looks like it will be a major issue we will probably buy them off the company in a few years. Just this airspace comment from the solicitors has me concerned, I feel I should be even though I don't 100% understand...

Thanks very much for the Chancel Insurance link!

eddddy

pops5588 wrote: »

We did try to find out from them if there were any negatives attached to them. All they told us what that they don't pay any maintenance towards them, all maintenance is done by the company that installed them and it saves them about £250-300 a year on bills.

If it looks like it will be a major issue we will probably buy them off the company in a few years. Just this airspace comment from the solicitors has me concerned, I feel I should be even though I don't 100% understand...

Thanks very much for the Chancel Insurance link!

I'm not overly familiar with solar panel contracts, but in simple terms it seems you are obligated to keep the panels on the roof for 25 years (and the obligation will continue to whoever you sell the house to).

Here's some things that would worry me:

If you plan to buy out the lease, you should find out the terms for this before buying the house. (Is there a contractually agreed formula for calculating the cost, or can the company pick any figure they like - e.g. £50k or £100k)

Who insures/covers the cost of damage to the panels? e.g. a lightning strike, or you accidentally smash one with a cricket ball, or they are damaged by a fire that starts in your roof?

What if the roof underneath the panels needs repairing (e.g. due to a leak)? Do you have to pay the panel company to remove and replace the panels? How much would they charge?

Finally, you would probably save the £250 to £300 a year because of the govt subsidy for this scheme. You should check whether this subsidy is guaranteed to continue, or whether the govt have the power to discontinue it.

pops5588

eddddy wrote: »

I'm not overly familiar with solar panel contracts, but in simple terms it seems you are obligated to keep the panels on the roof for 25 years (and the obligation will continue to whoever you sell the house to).

Here's some things that would worry me:

If you plan to buy out the lease, you should find out the terms for this before buying the house. (Is there a contractually agreed formula for calculating the cost, or can the company pick any figure they like - e.g. £50k or £100k)

Who insures/covers the cost of damage to the panels? e.g. a lightning strike, or you accidentally smash one with a cricket ball, or they are damaged by a fire that starts in your roof?

What if the roof underneath the panels needs repairing (e.g. due to a leak)? Do you have to pay the panel company to remove and replace the panels? How much would they charge?

Finally, you would probably save the £250 to £300 a year because of the govt subsidy for this scheme. You should check whether this subsidy is guaranteed to continue, or whether the govt have the power to discontinue it.

That's a good point, will check where the savings come from and if they are going to continue.
The lease agreement was included in the huge pile of paper from the solicitor. I haven't got it on me and I haven't yet gone through it with a fine tooth comb but from what I can remember off the top of my head there is a chart in there that outlines the cost that we would have to pay if we decided to buy the panels from the company, so that is already in writing. I think if we bought them this year it's £2,400 or something and goes down every year.

I'm 99.9% sure that it says that any damage to the panels has to be maintained and paid for by them. All it says is that we would have to grant them reasonable access to the property to get that done.

As far as I can remember the only stipulation is that we cannot go to them and demand money for repairs, they don't give us cash. They have to organise it and get it done. It also says in the contract that they have to carry out such work in a professional, thorough manner so if I get so much as a whiff of a cowboy doing the work I will be on to them.

It is a bit frustrating because there is no other property in the area that we are looking at ticks all the boxes on our list. We would always have to compromise on something, and we do love this house. I would rather compromise on the solar panels than on anything else we would have to compromise on with the other properties that are for sale currently. I would really like to keep the sale from falling apart if possible!

jackieblack

eddddy wrote: »

Finally, you would probably save the £250 to £300 a year because of the govt subsidy for this scheme. You should check whether this subsidy is guaranteed to continue, or whether the govt have the power to discontinue it.

With these 'rent a roof' schemes, the company keeps the tariff payments - that's the very reason for them wanting to put the solar panels on people's roofs.
The home owner only benefits by the reduction in their electricity bills, but £250-£300 a year sounds like a very 'over-optimistic' figure.

pops5588

Gawd. Wish they'd never done it but I guess we can only deal with the hand we've been given!