Buying House with Solar Panels

hil17

Hi all. Hoping I could get some advice here.

I am in the process of buying a house. The sellers solicitors have informed us that they would like to keep the Feed in Tariff (FIT) even after the sale of the house. If not they will remove the solar panels.

Is this allowed? Would it not cause issues with my mortgage/any future sale if someone else is still receiving the FIT?

My initial thought is to call their bluff and allow the panels to be removed.

Alter_ego

Yes I'd do that, then survey the roof.

rik111

They sound like a bunch of idiots. Surely something as major as this should have been mentioned at the time f accepting your offer. Get the agent who sold it involved and tell him one of the attractions was the solar panels, ask him why it has only been mentioned at this late stage and you are considering your options which include pulling out !

ProDave

The solar panels are worth the free electricity they give you AND the  FIT payments.  I would only settle for the house, panels AND FIT, OR the panels removed and the price of the house reduced.

The panels will be virtually worthless removed, if you take them elsewhere you won't get another FIT contract. You don't want the panels with the vendor keeping the FIT or else you will have to give them access for maintenance and keep providing quarterly meter readings.

I would not take any nonsense. I would say panels and FIT or you go and buy a different house.

Because they are being awkward, I would now want it actually written into the contract before you exchange that the FIT will be signed over to you on completion.

Jeepers_Creepers

Can they remove the panels if they want to before sale? Of course - it belongs to them.

Would it make sense for them to do so? No, it would be crazy! It would cost them - ooh - around £1k(?) for scaffolding and labour to remove it all, and then they'd have to make good the roof. Probably more than £1k then. What would they then do with the panels and inverter? Not a lot - they've lost their FIT as soon as they've done this. Would they really pay another ~1k to have it all reinstalled on their new home, so they could bask in the delight of some free leccy? They might, but they'd save only - what? - a couple of £undred per year if they managed it well, whereas they've forked out at least £2k and lost their FIT.

Nuts.

Either they haven't thought this through properly, or else they are the type that's obsessed with their PV panels, perhaps because they haven't even recouped their initial outlay and simply cannot stand the thought of this benefit going to someone else! Either way, these folk are deluded and need treating with caution - make sure that everything to do with this house is 100% nailed down by your solicitor leaving zero grey areas.

What to do? Call their bluff. Tell them - via your solicitor - that the PVs were an added attraction of the property, tho' not a deal breaker for you, so if they really want to remove them, that's fine. You imagined, however, that they would remain part of the property, as the vast majority of such FIT-enabled systems tend to be. So, if they wish to now remove them, that's absolutely fine with you, but you will need to reconsider your offer since you had taken into account the earnings from the FIT when the offer was made/will be made. Suggest a reduction figure based on the FIT rate they are on and how many years there are remaining - oh, and the cost of the house. If, say, the FIT brings in around £1k pa and there's 15 years remaining, then perhaps a reduction of around £5k would be in order, something like that.

Make it absolutely clear that to retain PV panels that are no longer owned by you on the house is a non-starter (for all the reasons you said), so they either need to fully leave them, or fully remove them.

Let them ponder this for a bit.

They are nuts, I tell ya. I would laugh if they were so chagrined as to remove them. 

NameUnavailable

I'd be wary of buying the house at all with sellers like that. They seem to want some hold over you/the property even after selling. Will they suddenly announce they're keeping a portion of the garden, or the garage (if it has one) ?! Perhaps for fun you could suggest they sell you a lease for the house so they keep the freehold and rights over the solar panels.

If they remove the panels could they damage the roof? You will need to get another survey so definitely seek to reduce the offer if you do decide to proceed.

ElephantBoy57

hil17 said:

Is this allowed? Would it not cause issues with my mortgage/any future sale if someone else is still receiving the FIT?
My initial thought is to call their bluff and allow the panels to be removed.

You don't want the sale to fall through, but yes, call their bluff.

For my 2 bed semi, my 8 panels give me a FIT of around £80 four times per year. Surely they will not remove the panels and put them on the roof of their next house, repair your roof; just for £250 per year.

ComicGeek

ElephantBoy57 said:

hil17 said:

Is this allowed? Would it not cause issues with my mortgage/any future sale if someone else is still receiving the FIT?
My initial thought is to call their bluff and allow the panels to be removed.

You don't want the sale to fall through, but yes, call their bluff.

For my 2 bed semi, my 8 panels give me a FIT of around £80 four times per year. Surely they will not remove the panels and put them on the roof of their next house, repair your roof; just for £250 per year.

Depends on when you got the FIT and system size - my FIT is worth about £1500/yr, and with 16 years left that's at least £24k.

Not that I would even consider taking the panels with me when moving, that's just crazy...

AnotherJoe

hil17 said:

Hi all. Hoping I could get some advice here.

I am in the process of buying a house. The sellers solicitors have informed us that they would like to keep the Feed in Tariff (FIT) even after the sale of the house. If not they will remove the solar panels.

Is this allowed? Would it not cause issues with my mortgage/any future sale if someone else is still receiving the FIT?

My initial thought is to call their bluff and allow the panels to be removed.

Another vote to say call their bluff plus that if the panels go then the price you'll pay comes down and there will be a roofer in to check for damage after they have removed the panels and all damage will be mended to your roofers satisfaction before you restart. 

BTW this will delay the process by months because of the time needed to arrange scaffolders and solar company. So it's a "nuclear" option, however I'd still do it, even if this was my dream house because it's ridiculous having such a financial tie to the previous owners. For example, suppose there's some issue with the panels, are you now liable yet aren't getting one of the main benefits ? Plus as you say this could easily be a massive issue for when you come to sell, even worse really because you'd have no leverage, but you have it now so use it !

This would be a complete show stopper for me. Id also start looking for another house now because if they do go ahead, months of delay so their vendors will likely dump them as well. 

P.s hopefully they are just trying it on and you can report back in a few days time all is back on track. 

P.s. great point by ProDave make sure the contract says that the FIT is signed over to you. And check everything else twice re what they are including. 

Jeepers_Creepers

It's obviously hil17's call on this, but he now knows the pros and cons of each outcome.

1) The seller leaves the system but takes the FIT.
Pros: ~£200 leccy saving pa if managed well.
Cons: there is something large stuck to your roof that you don't own.
You cannot do any building work that could interfere with the panels, inverter or wiring without their permission.
The inverter - if it hasn't already done so - will very likely fail in 10-15 years. This will involve guys coming on to your property to replace it even tho' it's not yours. Ditto with any panel or wiring issues.
Our system occasionally trips out in very high winds - there's clearly a small inherent fault there. It's annoying, but manageable. It would be a darned sight more annoying if the trips were caused by something you didn't own and you were expected to reset it largely for someone else's benefit...
If/when you come to sell, try explaining to potential buyers that the system still belongs to the previous owner.

2) Seller sees sense and leaves it all. Pros: FIT & free leccy. (Unless you hate PVs...) Cons: you will take on its maintenance and any repairs. 

3) Seller takes it all and makes good roof. Pros: ugly panels have gorn. No worries about having to maintain or repair the system in future. Cons: You lose FIT and free leccy. 

I would only accept 2 of these 3 options. 

hil17

Thank you everyone for your advice! Good to know I'm not alone in thinking they are being unreasonable.
Talked to both the EA and my solicitor's today. Apparently they never mentioned this to the EA when listing the house with them!

My solicitor thinks the same as you guys. He's going to ask them to remove the panels and pay for the survery/any roof repairs. He's also going to raise the fact that our offer factored in the panels and FITs so if this is removed the price of the house should come down accordingly. Let's see what happens!