we had no idea that our solar panels might be a problem

granfran

we are selling our home.

In 2011 we had the free solar panels installed by Ecovision, they are maintenance free and to be honest we have not had anything but positive things to say about them. We have loved the free electricity and we couldnt afford them at the time so it was win:win or so we thought.

We informed our lender at the time, we have added to our mortgage and its changed lenders all with no problem. So we were shocked to hear from a potential buyer that his lender won't entertain them.

we looked and whilst Ecovision are clearly still in business commercially, and with the same CEO we can see that there is a Voluntary agreement on the bit of the company that did the installation. Their email bounces back and their phone line doesnt pick up. I have done a Subject Access Request with the FIT register at Ofgen by email.

My son had an electrical installation [not solar panels] on a house he was selling and his solicitor got him an indemnity policy which he paid for to ensure that there would be no hold ups with his sale.

I am asking here

1. Does anyone know if lenders generally will have a problem with our solar panels ie. we wont be able to sell our house.

2. Does anyone know where i should go for an indemnity policy and if that would solve the issue.

3. Am i doing all I could to contact the company? and what are the likely consiquences if i do manage it. Is our lease void now? someone must be getting the feed in tarrif? its not us.

I just want to be prepared.

thank you

granfran

UPDATE

I cannot see how to delete my post but it would seem just posting it has solved some of the issues. I had left a message on another Ecovision phone number and someone just called back. i now have their website and a contact number

www.ecovisionam.com incase that helps anyone else.

I am now contacting their legal department to see if a deed of Variation will be needed so that my solicitor can add it to the legal pack.

thank you

AdrianC

The problem lies in the subtle detail that they aren't your solar panels. They belong to the firm you've leased your roof out to.

eddddy

Essentially, you have leased your roof to a company (and that company has put their solar panels on the roof that they're leasing from you).

Some mortgage lenders (but not all) will offer mortgages on houses where the roof has been leased out - as long as the lease has acceptable terms. (To use the jargon, the lease must be 'CML compliant'.)

So I guess your potential buyer's situation is one of the following...

• They've chosen a mortgage lender who won't offer mortgages on houses with leased out roofs
• They'e chosen a mortgage lender who will offer mortgages on houses with leased out roofs, but your lease is not 'CML Compliant'
• There's a problem specific to your property or your leaseholder - e.g. Ecovision's voluntary arrangement

It sounds like somebody has told you that the problem is that your lease is not 'CML compliant' - so you need a Deed of Variation to make the lease compliant.

Hopefully, Ecovision will agree to this (because they don't have to). If that was the cause of your buyer's problem, then the buyer could then proceed.

granfran

thank you. nobody had told ua anything and that was the problem i think. we paniced because we couldnt get hold of the company but the name has changed. we have it now.

AnotherJoe

granfran said:

UPDATE

I cannot see how to delete my post but it would seem just posting it has solved some of the issues. I had left a message on another Ecovision phone number and someone just called back. i now have their website and a contact number

www.ecovisionam.com incase that helps anyone else.

I am now contacting their legal department to see if a deed of Variation will be needed so that my solicitor can add it to the legal pack.

thank you

Please don't delete your post, because others with the same issue can Google ecovision, find this post and get some answers. 

Suseka97

Yes, I agree with AJ - also, I've found this very interesting being completely ignorant of the potential issues of having solar panels installed.  I'd always assumed that you effectively bought the panels and paid for installation (albeit sometimes with a government grant) and that was that.  It comes as quite a surprise that it might lead to problems when selling.  

We had a salesperson come by our house a few years ago, offering discounts and advice on how to get grant funding - but we declined due to our then financial commitments.  Obviously the salesperson simply pushed the benefits and said nothing of the potential downside, or perhaps more fairly put - what you need to ensure is captured in the contract / lease agreement if you intend to sell at some point in the future.  Soon after quite a few houses in our street had solar panels fitted, so he clearly managed to sell the product successfully.

All very interesting - but hope you are able to resolve this going forward.

Stubod

granfran said:

we are selling our home.

In 2011 we had the free solar panels installed by Ecovision, they are maintenance free and to be honest we have not had anything but positive things to say about them. We have loved the free electricity and we couldnt afford them at the time so it was win:win or so we thought.

We informed our lender at the time, we have added to our mortgage and its changed lenders all with no problem. So we were shocked to hear from a potential buyer that his lender won't entertain them.

we looked and whilst Ecovision are clearly still in business commercially, and with the same CEO we can see that there is a Voluntary agreement on the bit of the company that did the installation. Their email bounces back and their phone line doesnt pick up. I have done a Subject Access Request with the FIT register at Ofgen by email.

My son had an electrical installation [not solar panels] on a house he was selling and his solicitor got him an indemnity policy which he paid for to ensure that there would be no hold ups with his sale.

I am asking here

1. Does anyone know if lenders generally will have a problem with our solar panels ie. we wont be able to sell our house.

2. Does anyone know where i should go for an indemnity policy and if that would solve the issue.

3. Am i doing all I could to contact the company? and what are the likely consiquences if i do manage it. Is our lease void now? someone must be getting the feed in tarrif? its not us.

I just want to be prepared.

thank you

                                      

AdrianC

Suseka97 said:

I'd always assumed that you effectively bought the panels and paid for installation (albeit sometimes with a government grant) and that was that.  It comes as quite a surprise that it might lead to problems when selling.  

There was always two ways of getting panels...
1. Buy them and pay for them to be installed, with or without grant. You own them, you receive the FiT.
2. Get them installed "for free". You lease the roof to a company who install their panels, they receive some/most/all the FiT.

Your assumptions were correct, based on 1, which does not cause issues on resale.
The OP did 2, which can.

eddddy

Suseka97 said:

Yes, I agree with AJ - also, I've found this very interesting being completely ignorant of the potential issues of having solar panels installed.  I'd always assumed that you effectively bought the panels and paid for installation (albeit sometimes with a government grant) and that was that.  It comes as quite a surprise that it might lead to problems when selling.  

We had a salesperson come by our house a few years ago, offering discounts and advice on how to get grant funding - but we declined due to our then financial commitments.  Obviously the salesperson simply pushed the benefits and said nothing of the potential downside, or perhaps more fairly put - what you need to ensure is captured in the contract / lease agreement if you intend to sell at some point in the future.  Soon after quite a few houses in our street had solar panels fitted, so he clearly managed to sell the product successfully.

All very interesting - but hope you are able to resolve this going forward.

Just to clarify - some people do buy solar panels and have them put on their roof.  In those circumstances, there should be no problems with selling their house.

In simple terms, the problem situation is when people don't buy solar panels - instead they 'sell' their roof on a 20 lease. (And the tenant puts solar panels on the roof.)

Mortgage lenders are nervous about properties where the roof has been 'sold' on a lease to somebody else. If they have to repossess, they want to be able to repossess the whole house. Not just most of the house, excluding the roof.

 

theartfullodger

Hardly a surprise, the solar panel schemes/scams  had quite a number of dodgy deals and cowboys involved (I make no comments regarding this company).

Been in papers, t'internet etc etc etc.  Surprised that this was not known to OP