problem selling my house with solar panels

stator

Unless they told you specifically that it wouldn't affect the resale of your house or that it was compatible with CML guidelines then I don't think you have grounds to demand they do it for free.

kiddakidda

k3v1973 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. From what I gather the clause should have been there as the panels were fitted after the cml guide lines came out. It's a good point regarding the solicitors costs for the letter, I will check. The whole thing is turning into a bit of a mess. There is no way I'm paying them thousands to buy the kit, I'd rather take it off the market.
Does anyone know if I'm right in saying the clause should have been there legally as I think and therefore because it's not I can use that as a means of breaking the lease?

I'm sorry to hear this but it's something that will become more of an issue to buyers and sellers alike over the coming years.

I am (hopefully) exchanging on a house in the next month or so that had solar panels that fortunately were paid for by the vendors. My Solicitor did explain to me what an issue it would have been if they had not.

Good Luck and keep us posted:):

ian103

We walked away from a purchase with rent a roof solar panels due to the cost of buying the company out, resolving the legals and the potential problems reselling later, the property did sell to others later and at a good price so it maybe a case of finding the right buyer

D00gie72

Hi There. I sold a house earlier this year that we'd had leased solar panels installed on. I know exactly the clause you are on about. We also had to get our lease changed as it was not CML compliant.
In our case our solar panel company (Ecovision) were pretty helpful and after a bit of faffing about changed our lease.
As i see it your problem is that you can't get hold of your comany. With these leases - you are effectively the landlord - and the solar panel company are the tennant. From what happened with our lease I think you can get your solicitor to amend your lease to make it CML compliant (excluidng the 1954 tennants act) then you give your "tennants" (the solar panel company) due notice that you are changing the lease (2 weeks I think) then I beleive as long as you can prove you've given them notice you can register the new lease with the land registry even if they haven't signed the amended lease. This is as I understand it anyway. In our case it wasn't a problem as Ecovision were doing everything for us and all we needed to do was send the revised lease (it's called a Deed of Variation) to land registry. I hope that helps. Good luck.
Personally I really believe the leased panels are a great idea (we saved a tonne on our electricity bill) and I really wish we could have them again on our new house as we're really feeling the pinch of full electricity costs again!

AdrianC

Remember, they're making a profit on your install. So... why not put your own panels on? Yes, there's a capital cost, but no ongoing lease problems, and what would have been the profit goes into your pocket instead of theirs.

k3v1973

D00gie72 wrote: »

Hi There. I sold a house earlier this year that we'd had leased solar panels installed on. I know exactly the clause you are on about. We also had to get our lease changed as it was not CML compliant.
In our case our solar panel company (Ecovision) were pretty helpful and after a bit of faffing about changed our lease.
As i see it your problem is that you can't get hold of your comany. With these leases - you are effectively the landlord - and the solar panel company are the tennant. From what happened with our lease I think you can get your solicitor to amend your lease to make it CML compliant (excluidng the 1954 tennants act) then you give your "tennants" (the solar panel company) due notice that you are changing the lease (2 weeks I think) then I beleive as long as you can prove you've given them notice you can register the new lease with the land registry even if they haven't signed the amended lease. This is as I understand it anyway. In our case it wasn't a problem as Ecovision were doing everything for us and all we needed to do was send the revised lease (it's called a Deed of Variation) to land registry. I hope that helps. Good luck.
Personally I really believe the leased panels are a great idea (we saved a tonne on our electricity bill) and I really wish we could have them again on our new house as we're really feeling the pinch of full electricity costs again!

Thanks, that's just the kind of information I'm after.. I'll pass on this to my solicitor. As of today I've not had a response from them, so this might be a way forward.

Thanks for all the other replies too

rushandy

A bit late perhaps, and not really of much help to you, but I'm on the other side of the coin...

I'm trying to buy a house with leased solar panels, but the bank won't lend because of the wording of the lease and the fact that the solicitor has confirmed it doesn't comply with current CML guidelines.

The company that installed the panels won't amend the lease as they're stating it was compliant at the time (November 2011), however I suspect the revised guidance provided by the CML in March 2013 has made it non-compliant.

No idea where we go from here with the property I'm trying to buy. So I feel your pain.

Would be good to know how you get on. I'll be updated the thread I have open on this subject shortly. Can't post links (as I'm a newbie) but if you look at the posts I started you should be able to see it.

AdrianC

rushandy wrote: »

I'm trying to buy a house with leased solar panels, but the bank won't lend because of the wording of the lease and the fact that the solicitor has confirmed it doesn't comply with current CML guidelines.

The company that installed the panels won't amend the lease

No idea where we go from here with the property I'm trying to buy.

You have two choices...

- Find another source of money who don't care about the lease.
- Don't buy that property.

It really is that simple.

rushandy

AdrianC wrote: »

You have two choices...

- Find another source of money who don't care about the lease.
- Don't buy that property.

It really is that simple.

There are actually three options.

The third would be to buyout the lease.

AdrianC

rushandy wrote: »

There are actually three options.

The third would be to buyout the lease.

Not that simple.

You can't buy the place leasehold, because you can't raise the money.
Without owning the place leasehold, you can't buy the lease.
You can't just buy the place freehold, because no one person owns it freehold.

You'd need to persuade the vendor to buy the lease then sell it you freehold.