Selling House withe Solar Panels

Clare_168

I had Solar Panels installed approximately 4 - 5 years ago and am very pleased with return, however I am having to move (this was not planned) and was wanting some advise from others on what I should do with the panels and the income.


1. I could leave panels as is and the new owner would benefit with the FIT payment - the down side for me is I would lose a large chunk of my investment. The solar panels will not increase the value of the house but will make it more saleable.


2. Sell the FIT payments (Solar Buyback) to a company who would receive the revenue and maintain the Solar panels for the next 20 years, the advantage for me would I would get my investment back, but I have heard that this option may prove problematic for future buyer to obtain mortgage or the buyer would not be keen that they did not own the solar panels but would benefit from reduced electricity bills.


Any advice would be appreciated, not much online that I can gauge what is the best option.


Thanks

stator

Well you're right that it will be a headache for buyers if you lease the roof to another company.
Unfortunately there is no single approval scheme that all lenders will accept even if the lease complies with it. But you would have to make sure that the agreement met as many lenders requirements as possible.

Linton

I am not sure the solar panels would make the house more saleable, especially if they are visually obtrusive and out of keeping with the surroundings. For me add-on solar panels would be pretty much a decisive reason to not even to consider making an offer. However if the house is an an area where solar panels are common perhaps it wont be an issue.

PasturesNew

Personally, as a potential buyer, I'd not touch solar panels with a bargepole unless I owned them and I knew right from the start what income they'd be generating.

Many people are put off by them. Many people would be suspicious and concerned if they didn't own them and the income.

vic_sf49

I bought a property with solar panels that were owned outright, however, I would not have bought if they were part of a rent-a-roof scheme (or similar).

So you might want to weigh up your losses vs the house potentially being on the market for longer.....it might take longer to find a buyer, and if you do, they might be delayed if they need a mortgage.

maxheadroom

Would be a huge negative to me to not own panels, with hassle of reduced pool of lenders, a third parts having access requirements fro maintenance etc - also would prevent me doing what i wanted egloft conversions etc.

Would expect hefty discount on the purchase price to compensate for loss of amenity - (similar to tenanted property really).

Think you may have to take a bit of a loss on the chin

oystercatcher

I would think solar panels were an added bonus to a property if they were owned by myself. However, I wouldn't be interested in a 'renting' type schemes as I believe there could be complications.

Either way I would be wanting to reseach the subject fully .

Missus_Hyde

I am not sure the solar panels would make the house more saleable, especially if they are visually obtrusive and out of keeping with the surroundings. For me add-on solar panels would be pretty much a decisive reason to not even to consider making an offer. However if the house is an an area where solar panels are common perhaps it wont be an issue.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Personally, as a potential buyer, I'd not touch solar panels with a bargepole unless I owned them and I knew right from the start what income they'd be generating.

Many people are put off by them. Many people would be suspicious and concerned if they didn't own them and the income.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother looking at a house that had solar panels; I think they look hideous, particularly on a period property.

There's only one thing I would like less than a house with solar panels and that's a house with solar panels which I had to rent, rather than own outright.

eddddy

It seems the National Association of Estate Agents asked their members' opinions about solar panels, about a year ago:

Of 1,200 NAEA members who responded to the question:

- 70.6 per cent said they believe solar panels make no difference to the value of a property for sale
- 14.7 per cent said they believe solar panels reduce the value of a property for sale
- 14.7 per cent said they believe solar panels add value to a property for sale.


Link: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-3452744/Will-solar-panels-increase-decrease-value-home.html

AdrianC

Clare_168 wrote: »

I had Solar Panels installed approximately 4 - 5 years ago and am very pleased with return, however I am having to move (this was not planned) and was wanting some advise from others on what I should do with the panels and the income.

1. I could leave panels as is and the new owner would benefit with the FIT payment - the down side for me is I would lose a large chunk of my investment.

Oh, well. Them's the breaks.

2. Sell the FIT payments (Solar Buyback) to a company who would receive the revenue and maintain the Solar panels for the next 20 years, the advantage for me would I would get my investment back

The disadvantage is that you'll probably hit the value of your house by much, MUCH more than the "investment" you'll get back in order to sell it, as most potential buyers run a mile from this kind of scam.

So, no, you won't get your "investment" back.

MobileSaver

Clare_168 wrote: »

2. Sell the FIT payments (Solar Buyback) to a company who would receive the revenue and maintain the Solar panels for the next 20 years,

I'd say this is a total non-starter; you will massively reduce the number of people willing and able to buy your property.

Clare_168 wrote: »

1. I could leave panels as is and the new owner would benefit with the FIT payment - the down side for me is I would lose a large chunk of my investment.

This is your only real option; you might try a little kite flying and increase the price of the property by a few thousand to mitigate your loss. You never know you might get lucky, especially if you actively promote the FiT income to potential buyers.