Solar panels roof lease

BabyPear

Hello. I am nearing completion on buying a house with a 20 yr solar panel roof lease. The conveyancing took about 3 weeks longer collecting all the documents for panels, but it went quite smoothly and all is now ready to complete. Mortgage is fine. I started this process completely clueless about solar panels, and have been googling info. I am finding endless horror stories and negative articles on the net and have really scared myself. I was wondering if anyone has had a positive experience of buying and selling with these roof leases. Is it as bad as the articles say? I don't want to be stuck unable to sell on in the future. I'm trying to get a balanced view before I complete. :eek:

AdrianC

Sounds like you already know somebody with a positive experience of buying and selling...

davidmcn

Surely the process of "collecting all the documents for the panels" was to ensure that you do now have enough to be able to sell or remortgage in the future? What advice has your solicitor given you?

BabyPear

Hello. The solicitor just says, it's a mortgage friendly lease so we can proceed. He says I have to decide whether I can accept the terms or not. I can't touch the panels or alter the roof in a way that will hinder them for 20 years. They will remove them only twice for repairs or renovation. This is pretty daunting, but I get free electricity. Yes our purchase has been a little scary, but okay. But I'm worried that most people would be badly put off by the lease meaning I won't be able to sell it in 5 or 6 years time. I was wondering if anyone had bought and then sold on with this issue. And how hard was it? I just need some advice, I'm in turmoil.

Grenage

I bought and sold a house with such a lease; I didn't have any problems. Some people saw them as a bonus (I don't know why), whilst those who didn't like the concept probably didn't bother viewing.

Chrissiep

Hello, sorry to jump on this thread but I kinda need the same answers as you. I was about to put an offer in on a house I really like with solar panels on, however like you I was also completely clueless to how these solar panels work especially if they are leased. Also I would of thought they would mention it on their for sale ad, we only know they were there because we always do a google earth search on houses we like. When we went to view the house I just asked the homeowner who was doing her own viewings, about how much she saves on her electricity bill, it didn’t even occur to me to ask about leases and stuff as I didn’t have a clue, and she certainly didn’t volunteer any other information. Anyway I have now done some research myself after seeing your post, and I am thinking of walking away as too much hassle. I will certainly be asking the EA if they are on a lease, sounds like a potential nightmares and would love to hear from any problems other posters have had.

sevenhills

BabyPear wrote: »

Hello. The solicitor just says, it's a mortgage friendly lease so we can proceed. He says I have to decide whether I can accept the terms or not. I can't touch the panels or alter the roof in a way that will hinder them for 20 years. They will remove them only twice for repairs or renovation.

If you want to put a loft conversion on that side of the roof, then they will be a hindrance. If not, then why worry?


I have solar panels on my roof, I own them. I get a feed-in-tariff, that is the only difference really.

Nobbie1967

BabyPear wrote: »

Hello. The solicitor just says, it's a mortgage friendly lease so we can proceed. He says I have to decide whether I can accept the terms or not. I can't touch the panels or alter the roof in a way that will hinder them for 20 years. They will remove them only twice for repairs or renovation. This is pretty daunting, but I get free electricity. Yes our purchase has been a little scary, but okay. But I'm worried that most people would be badly put off by the lease meaning I won't be able to sell it in 5 or 6 years time. I was wondering if anyone had bought and then sold on with this issue. And how hard was it? I just need some advice, I'm in turmoil.

If you have all the documentation so that your legal process goes through smoothly, then when you come to sell and the issue comes up you can point to the fact that the buying/selling process has already been done without issue once. I suspect most issues come to light on the first sale after installation where the installers were a bit dodgy and haven't used best practise legal agreements etc, so solicitors flag up problems for the mortgage company.

BabyPear

Thanks that really helps. I don't wish to convert the loft so that's not an issue really. I have printed out all the documents from solicitors, so as long as I keep them safe I can produce all the same info if I wish to sell. I drove out to look at the property again and I can see where I could potentially extend without touching the panels. I think I'm going to go ahead and complete. It's just a very scary unknown factor. But I see that it hasn't caused disaster for some of you people. I'm going to have one more chat with the solicitors and go for it.

ptrichardson

Grenage wrote: »

I bought and sold a house with such a lease; I didn't have any problems. Some people saw them as a bonus (I don't know why), whilst those who didn't like the concept probably didn't bother viewing.

You don't know why people would see free electricity during the day as a bonus ????