Property misrepresentation solar panel lease

CAMJO

We purchased our house in November 2017 with solar panels. On form TA6 the seller declared that they OWNED the solar panels outright and that there was NO roof/airspace lease agreement which we believed had been confirmed prior to purchase by our conveyancer.
The only documentation we received following completion regarding panels was Building Regs cert and installation confirmation letter (no legal detail)

Last week I contacted A Shade Greener (ASG) regarding removal of the panels and to my horror was advised that the panels were fitted under a 25 year airspace lease with previous owners and are expected to be in place until 2040! ASG emailed me a PDF copy of the lease agreement signed by previous owners in 2015 which is first sight/knowledge I had of it.

I have emailed ASG legal department and the solicitor who dealt with our conveyancing and am awaiting replies. There is no mention of charge on H.M. Land Registry. I suspect that our mortgage provider are unaware of lease agreement because we as buyers were certainly not until last week which probably invalidates our current mortgage and could cause problems with any remortgage.

Does anybody know if we have any grounds to claim compensation either from sellers/solicitors?
Do we have any grounds to challenge lease? (I’m not convinced that previous owners lender had knowledge of installation let alone our mortgage lender)

Thank you in advance for any advice

babyblade41

What paperwork did you see in conveyancing process which showed they were owned outright ?

kirtondm

Is their anything recorded on the title by ASG?

If their is how come your convenyancer did not notice?

kirtondm

Oh just seen no mention of charge recorded. Ok how are they going to enforce this lease on you as a 3rd party if they have not put anything on the property?

Davesnave

If you thought you owned the panels, why did you not question where the FiT payments were, or have you received any?

steampowered

If the Seller made a "misrepresentation" on the TA6 form, and you suffer lost as a result, you may have a claim against the seller.

It sounds unlikely you would have a claim against your solicitors. The solicitors can only work off the information they are given by the seller and what is on the land registry.

I do not see how this has any effect on your mortgage.

Whether you are bound to keep the panels in place by the lease signed by the previous owners with ASG is a more complicated question. At first glance I'd think that as you are not a party to that agreement you are not bound by it, but I could be wrong and the matter warrants further consideration.

CAMJO

None, we thought this was in hand with our solicitor

CAMJO

I have no idea hence contacting their legal team and the solicitor who dealt with our conveyancing. I am hoping that there is a loophole somewhere

CAMJO

Good question but believed that we may be saving small amount and wasn’t overly concerned with saving/panels

CAMJO

Thank you. I have read that mortgage lenders have to agree to lend where airspace lease has been agreed. I doubt our mortgage provider has knowledge of the lease and am worried that it could render our mortgage invalid. There are lots of online article/other forum posts about solar panel leases and problems with mortgages

ProDave

If you believed you owned the panels, why on earth did you contact A Shade Greener? Why did you not just get a contractor to go on the roof and remove them?

The fact you contacted A Shade Greener suggests you KNEW about the lease?