Selling a house with Solar Panels

happyindebt

Does anyone have any experience of either buying or selling a property with solar panels? We have a 4 year old 3.8kw solar PV system which is generating about £1500 per year. We are looking to move, but opinions seem to vary wildly from it adding value and being a selling point to it being completely worthless and even putting buyers off. Has anyone either bought or sold a house with solar panels and how did it impact on the sale?

neilmcl

Do the purchasers know about the problem with the roof? If you manage to move house with no comeback from the buyers then what losses have you incurred?

koalakoala

That wouldn't be a nice thing to do !

Rosa_Damascena

happyindebt said:

neilmcl said:

Do the purchasers know about the problem with the roof? If you manage to move house with no comeback from the buyers then what losses have you incurred?

No, the purchasers do not know, but sooner or later they will notice the pool of water on the flat roof, which is not draining anywhere. They will easily notice it when they get a window cleaner to go up there and clean the rooflight. When they do, they might sue me? The losses I have incurred are about £1k. The remaining £1,700 I paid the roofer was for another area of the roof. 

Surely this would have been picked up in the survey? Did your buyer not ask?

They would be right to sue if you deliberately withheld the info but proving it is another thing. Do the decent thing by them at least - hiring the cowboy roofer was not their fault, nor should it be their problem.

Rosa_Damascena

happyindebt said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

happyindebt said:

neilmcl said:

Do the purchasers know about the problem with the roof? If you manage to move house with no comeback from the buyers then what losses have you incurred?

No, the purchasers do not know, but sooner or later they will notice the pool of water on the flat roof, which is not draining anywhere. They will easily notice it when they get a window cleaner to go up there and clean the rooflight. When they do, they might sue me? The losses I have incurred are about £1k. The remaining £1,700 I paid the roofer was for another area of the roof. 

Surely this would have been picked up in the survey? Did your buyer not ask?

They would be right to sue if you deliberately withheld the info but proving it is another thing. Do the decent thing by them at least - hiring the cowboy roofer was not their fault, nor should it be their problem.

I spent almost £3k to fix the roof, isn't that trying to do good by my buyer? And I did not have that money, so I had to get a loan. The leak hadn't been picked up by the survey at all. I didn't know he was a cowboy builder; he had great reviews on Checkatrade. This is why I am talking about suing him, to either force him to do his job or to get the money back, in order to hire someone else to fix the roof. 
I asked for advice about whether I can sue the builder once I move house, I didn't ask for moral judgement and no solution.

Yes you could sue the builder based on actual losses but how would you prove it in a civil court without involving your buyer? The property would be theirs by that time so logistically I don't see how it would work without their co-operation?

williamgriffin

Rosa_Damascena said:

happyindebt said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

happyindebt said:

neilmcl said:

Do the purchasers know about the problem with the roof? If you manage to move house with no comeback from the buyers then what losses have you incurred?

No, the purchasers do not know, but sooner or later they will notice the pool of water on the flat roof, which is not draining anywhere. They will easily notice it when they get a window cleaner to go up there and clean the rooflight. When they do, they might sue me? The losses I have incurred are about £1k. The remaining £1,700 I paid the roofer was for another area of the roof. 

Surely this would have been picked up in the survey? Did your buyer not ask?

They would be right to sue if you deliberately withheld the info but proving it is another thing. Do the decent thing by them at least - hiring the cowboy roofer was not their fault, nor should it be their problem.

I spent almost £3k to fix the roof, isn't that trying to do good by my buyer? And I did not have that money, so I had to get a loan. The leak hadn't been picked up by the survey at all. I didn't know he was a cowboy builder; he had great reviews on Checkatrade. This is why I am talking about suing him, to either force him to do his job or to get the money back, in order to hire someone else to fix the roof. 
I asked for advice about whether I can sue the builder once I move house, I didn't ask for moral judgement and no solution.

Yes you could sue the builder based on actual losses but how would you prove it in a civil court without involving your buyer? The property would be theirs by that time so logistically I don't see how it would work without their co-operation?

What if the OP got someone in to fix the roof and sued the roofer? There would be be no need to involve the new owner.