Purchasing a house with solar panels.

Changing

Hi, I posted this in the green energy section but it's really the legalities involved in the house sale that I would like some advice with so have moved it here.
My husband and I are in the middle of purchasing a house with a number of solar panels on the roof. However, the seller hasn't been able to provide any paperwork for the panels and we've been advised by our solicitor that it could cause problems with our lender if no paperwork is able to be produced.
The vendors solicitor has said that the vendor is having problems getting a hold of paperwork due to the company that installed them going in to liquidation. All I know is that there is no lease on them and they are owned by the vendor and are included in the sale.
Oddly they also weren't included in the houses EPC, in fact it was mentioned that they would be a benefit to the property yet the estate agents brochure states they are producing electricity which heats the hot water. The Home Report (we're in Scotland) only mentioned them briefly in reference to the assumption that the roof had been checked to make sure it could cope with the weight of them but again didn't make any reference to them providing electricity for the house.
Does this sound like it's all going to go horribly wrong or could it just be the vendors incompetent solicitor and estate agent (they're from the same place and were pretty awful during negotiations) or should we be worried?

Davesnave

Changing wrote: »

. All I know is that there is no lease on them and they are owned by the vendor and are included in the sale.

How do you know that?


The lack of paperwork suggests it was a rent-a-roof job. If the seller owned them, they would have documentation and proof of FIT payments. The FIT was the main incentive for of owning them originally.

maisie_cat

Davesnave wrote: »

How do you know that?


The lack of paperwork suggests it was a rent-a-roof job. If the seller owned them, they would have documentation and proof of FIT payments. The FIT was the main incentive for of owning them originally.

Are you sure that they are PV panels rather than thermal? We have thermal hot water panels and have no installation paperwork because the company went bust, we have no fit payments but we do own them and have an invoice.
If they were installed before FIT payments there would be none but they ought to have an invoice. Does a rent a roof scheme come up on a land registry search?

Davesnave

Maisie cat makes a good point. Thermal was there long before PV and FIT and it heats only the water. It all makes sense.

Changing

maisie_cat wrote: »

Are you sure that they are PV panels rather than thermal? We have thermal hot water panels and have no installation paperwork because the company went bust, we have no fit payments but we do own them and have an invoice.
If they were installed before FIT payments there would be none but they ought to have an invoice. Does a rent a roof scheme come up on a land registry search?

I hadn't even considered that they could be thermal hot water panels. The home report does say that there are 16 PV panels but with no other information it would not surprise me if that's wrong, as I said, the EPC doesn't mention them at all. We were told they provide hot water so would that make sense for thermal panels and not PV.

I'm 90% confident it's not rent a roof but I would have thought that would come up in searches. I'll mention it to my solicitor.


The sellers estate agent told us about the lease and that they are owned by the current owner. Then yesterday we got told that the owner can't find any paperwork etc. We wanted a quick sale so I specifically asked before we made the offer if all the paperwork was together for the panels as I didn't want hold ups. Our house has already sold and we complete early July and the estate agent assured me it was all in order.

Changing

Thanks so much for your help. I've passed it on to my solicitor to see if she can check today when she's following up.
If it does turn out to be PV and there's no paperwork do you know if I could get the PV system surveyed by a reputable solar panel company just like I would a normal roof or potential damp if there were concerns about that?

AnotherJoe

If there are 16 panels they are PV for sure. Thermal panels would be 2 or 4. Whilst surveyors can make mistakes I doubt that they can fail to count between 2 or 4 and 16 !

It's very common indeed almost standard for PV to be wired into the immersion heater which fits with what the OP was told.

Which takes us back to the initial point, how to determine if they are rent a roof. I wonder if an indemnity / insurance policy would suffice?

Bimbly

The vendor may just be a bit rubbish about keeping paperwork.

When my solar panels were installed, the installer send a certificate to show they met building regs. This is probably the big thing that you need. If this paperwork doesn't exist, you could ask about the possibility of indemnity insurance to cover you (get vendor to pay!). Or get the vendor to get someone to inspect and sign it off (another solar company?). I think insurance is the standard way to get over this sort of thing, but ask your solicitor.

Thermal solar panels for heating water look different to photovoltaics. Have you seen the panels on his house?

I have photovoltaics that heat my water via the immersion heater. But they only do so when there is spare electric not being used in the house. My system is called iBoost, if you want to look it up, although there are others. I bet this is what he has.

I don't know if the vendor can give you details of his feed in tariff? I send my generation data into Scottish Power and they pay me once a quarter. His feed in company might be able to provide some sort of info? This will show you that the panels are not leased, although won't help you out with building regs.

ProDave

It is important you find out about the FIT as in theory upon the sale the remainder of the FIT contract will transfer to you. but you have to do the transfer properly.

If it is rent a roof then you won't get any FIT payments.

pinklady21

Assuming they are solar PV - if you want to check whether the panels are working, ask to see the generation meter. Ours has a red light that flashes intermittently when it is generating - more frequent flashes on a sunny day.
Alternatively, as others have said, if they are receiving a FiT (Feed in Tariff), they will receive a letter every quarter that they put in a reading to the power company stating what the FiT rate is and how much cash has been transferred to their bank account. Ask to see these. Will give you an indication of how much income you are likely to receive.
If there are no FiT letters, beware, as could be a rent in roof scheme.

hazyjo

Changing wrote: »

The sellers estate agent told us about the lease and that they are owned by the current owner. Then yesterday we got told that the owner can't find any paperwork etc. We wanted a quick sale so I specifically asked before we made the offer if all the paperwork was together for the panels as I didn't want hold ups. Our house has already sold and we complete early July and the estate agent assured me it was all in order.

You should never believe what an EA tells you. If they are insistent, ask them to put it in writing - preferably with them adding they will be liable if wrong lol!