Solar Panels holding up exchange/completion

Jrp

Hi, first time post, just hoping someone here might have experience of the situation we are going through and be able to help!
We put our offer down way back in May, and the issue of transferring the lease for the Solar Panels (its one of those 25 year contracts) first came up in June (they could only find an unsigned undated copy). For some reason it apparently took another few months for our seller's solicitors to get in contact with the correct person at the Solar Panel company, and this should have been when alarm bells started ringing, however we were just happy they hadn't pulled out as in the meantime we had been waiting for our original buyer to get a new Mortgage in Principle (his offer before lockdown was no longer valid) and eventually found a new one. 

It then transpired that the original lease could not be found with the land registry because it had never been registered in the first place! We were told that now that the issue had been established, it would be fairly quick for them to draw up and backdate a new lease based upon the original terms. This was (later) sent to our lender and confirmed no issues with the terms. By the time the new lease had been drawn up and signed by our sellers, all other enquiries in the whole chain were finished, so we were just waiting on this being sent to the Solar Panel Company, who had to sign it and send it back to our sellers' solicitors, via their own solicitors. That was in early November.

According to the updates we have had (this all feels very chinese-whispery as we are chasing our Solicitors to chase the Sellers' Solicitors to chase the Solar Panel Company), this signed copy was sent recorded delivery at some point before the end of the month, and was expected next day. It still hasnt arrived and as far as we know, they have used the tracking number to determine it is sitting at a Royal Mail sorting office somewhere, presumably lost. It took them another 2 weeks to send out a new copy (which arrived with them the next day by recorded delivery), which we had insisted on straight away, and this is where our updates hit a brick wall. It sounds like this company are ignoring all contact from our Seller's Solicitors, and are not interested in helping us signing the new copy as they 'have no incentive' to do so.

For us it beggars belief that a company can get away with acting this way, we have repeatedly asked our Solicitors if there is any kind of professional standard or legal requirement they can be held to, as it seems we are hostage to their whims - we don't know if they have even tried to contact Royal Mail directly to find out where exactly the letter is/if it can be found (apparently the last time this happened it took 2 months to eventually find its way out of the system, according to Sellers Solicitors). 

We have since found out that it is the directors of the company that need to sign this physical copy of the document (again I've questioned this as it seems like they wouldn't be able to do this for every single piece of new business they do, and many companies (my own included) use digital signing these days), and it seems that the company we are dealing with is a completely different one to those that installed the Solar Panels in the first place - Sun Save are now dissolved and we are dealing with a company called Freetricity it would appear.

I only got this information from an email thread attached and sent to us between the Sellers Solicitors (who we have been told will not take our call) and the new company. I can't find any link between them, and they don't seem to have any of the same directors. Whats more is that Freetricity appear to have a pretty rotten reputation (don't maintain the panels, ignore all calls and emails, repeatedly dissolve and re-emerge as new company, etc), and we are now worried that even if we do (eventually) complete, this will just cause us issues further down the line.

To exacerbate the issue, our mortgage will move to a variable rate in January, our buyer's Mortgage deal runs out in Feb, and we are worried if this really drags on we could lose the opportunity to benefit from the Stamp Duty break.

Although it seems like we are literally just waiting on one piece of paper to arrive in the post in order to move on to exchange/completion, the absolute uncertainty surrounding the timelines of it all (repeatedly told we will probably exchange in November, then Dec, before Xmas etc) and what we might have to deal with if we do, is beginning to make us question if we should consider pulling out. Are we crazy??

eddddy

Personally, I would tend to steer clear of a house where the roof was leased to a solar panel company.

Have you checked the lease to see what happens if you need to repair the roof (e.g. if there is a leak), who's responsible for maintaining the panels, who's responsibility it is if the panels get damaged, when the lease ends, what happens to the panels when the lease ends?

Also, have you checked that the roof was strong enough (or has been strengthened) to take the weight of the panels?

And some mortgage lenders are nervous about properties with roof leases, and they have 'toughened-up' on roof lease requirements. Lenders might get even more nervous about them in the future.

ProDave

So presumably this is a rent a roof scheme?

So, no lease, = the "owner" of the panels has no right to come on the property EVER.

i.e proceed with no lease, YOU would own the panels and can stop the "owner" of them coming on your property.  i.e. it is the owner of the panels that has a problem, not you.

I wonder if any solicitor would advise you to do that.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

^ probably not.

Now you know why people are put off by rent a roof schemes.

SMR710

We had panels put on by A Shade Greener in Jan 2012 on a 25 year lease. We sold the house in July this year and I could not wait to get rid of it!! Luckily for us I had every bit of paperwork needed and our buyer saw them as a positive (goodness knows why..) and I prayed every day that the house sale went through. 
You'll soon get to know the resident pair of pigeons who wake you up at the crack of dawn when they are nesting under the panels. And when you come to remortgage and the bank arent keen.

If I was you - avoid!!!!

We regretted ever having them on. The company lease the airspace above your property but basically your roof isnt your own!

214dbe

We bought the panels for our home, and when we sold our house last year, were nearly pulling our hair at the number of times we were asked if we owned them or if they were on a lease deal. We had the original installation paperwork, and got a form from our electricity provider (Scottish power) who were great and their transfer of payments to the new owners instead of us went very smoothly. It just felt like the Solicitors had put it on the too difficult pile for some reason. The new owners were and remain delighted at the panels and the payback, an eventually all ended to everyones delight.

ElephantBoy57

I have had solar panels on my roof since 2015, they were installed for free by a section of the council. I havnt had any pigeons, just a small amount off my electric bill. I do have the odd tile which look dislodged, but not leaks.