Lender that conforms to CML guidelines for solar?

Jim02

Hi,

We're trying to sell our house, and our buyer's lender has refused to lend to them because of the terms of our solar lease. It complies fully with CML guidelines, but the lender (Coventry BS) has extra requirements which, understandably, the solar company won't add to the lease.

Can anybody suggest any lenders that adhere to the CML guidelines without putting extra requirements in? Or are we stuck in a house we can't sell?

Thanks
Jim

samba

I can't help you but we looked at a house with a solar lease, and it put us off completely. The seller had just had it installed recently (knowing that they wanted to move) and thought it was a positive thing - we considered making an offer, but only if they broke the lease and bought them out/had them removed.

Maybe in the end, it's not that you can't sell it, it's just you need to consider buying out the lease or reducing your asking price?

EDIT: just wanted to add that we're not against solar, as the house we are buying has a 3k system on the original FIT, but it's the rent-a-roof schemes we don't like.

Jim02

samba wrote: »

I can't help you but we looked at a house with a solar lease, and it put us off completely. The seller had just had it installed recently (knowing that they wanted to move) and thought it was a positive thing - we considered making an offer, but only if they broke the lease and bought them out/had them removed.

Maybe in the end, it's not that you can't sell it, it's just you need to consider buying out the lease or reducing your asking price?

EDIT: just wanted to add that we're not against solar, as the house we are buying has a 3k system on the original FIT, but it's the rent-a-roof schemes we don't like.

Yes - strictly speaking, we could sell it. But we can't afford to buy the panels and still afford to move to the house we wanted.

What's frustrating is that we were given all the assurances in the world by the installer, but actually most mortgage providers apparently don't subscribe to the CML guidelines. Strictly speaking both installer and lender are within their rights, but the installer was definitely disingenuous in claiming there would be no problem selling the house.

ACG

This might be of some use http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1407

stator

Also this one too:
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/handbook/englandandwales/question-list/1409

Thrugelmir

Jim02 wrote: »

Can anybody suggest any lenders that adhere to the CML guidelines without putting extra requirements in?

The CML guidelines are just that, guidelines. As they provide a basic framework on which lenders apply there own specific conditions. Depending on their own view of a particular topic. So you are approaching this from the wrong direction.

samba

Jim02 wrote: »

the installer was definitely disingenuous in claiming there would be no problem selling the house.

Did you really expect him to say anything else? When we looked into it recently, it was clear that the only websites that said it would all be ok at sale time were those operated by the solar companies - everything else I read advised to proceed with caution, as it was not yet known how things would pan out in reality.

Sorry that you are finding out the hard way - we liked the house (good location, fantastic garden), but it the rent-a-roof solar panels made it a no go.

Jim02

Thanks for all the replies.

I just don't know what to do next. HomeSun, the solar company, are playing hard ball and refusing to vary the terms of the lease. The buyers' lender are refusing to vary their requirements.

HomeSun claim that "many" houses have sold with their leased panels on the roof. They don't say who the lenders were.

It seems clear to me that HomeSun spun me a bit of a tale saying it would be a piece of cake to sell the house on. Although I appreciate they are complying to basic guidelines, the reality is that their assurances are worth nothing. I'm now stuck in the house for a further 22 years with no way out that I can see.

I'm going to try and find which lenders don't have extra requirements; but I strongly suspect we're going to lose our sale, and we probably won't get such a good offer again. It's completely screwed our onward chain.

It's impractical to expect potential buyers to restrict their choice of lender to the few that don't have additional requirements. Can anybody advise whether I have any legal options?

Better still, has anybody successfully sold a house with rent-a-roof panels on, and has any advice for me?

At my wits' end.
J

stator

If you believe they misled you then you could try and sue them, however it would be up to you to prove it. The threat of legal action and/or bad press might change their tune. You could try a local paper, see if they're interested in the story. (but if you do keep it short and sweet, if you ramble on they'll just delete the e-mail)

TrickyDicky101

You could ask HomeSun how much it would cost (you) to get them to vary the terms of the lease. I am sure there would be a price at which they would agree (might not be agreeable to you, however).

BrummyGit

Hi. Sorry to hijack this thread but we are just trying to sell our house with a Homesun rent-a-roof installation.

We had some queries from the buyers solicitors so far, but can't get hold of Homesun to get answers. At the moment it seems that they have been bought by Anesco but the Legal contact number is an answerphone and the email address hasn't as yet received a reply.

How can I get in contact and get things moving?

Additionally our system was installed in 2011 - can you give some information on the types of changes being requested?