A Shade Greener - Re-mortgage Refused

heavenlyharry01

Hi there
We had A Shade Greener panels fitted in 2014 and are now trying to remortage and encountering some issues.
Clearly we were completely suckered in and thought at the time, these panels were a great idea. After reading multiple horror stories it seems we are left with a complete nightmare.
We have just been refused a mortgage because we simply have them fitted. We have limited options due to a hideous credit report so we cant simply go to another high street lender, as most wont lend to us.
Can anyone share their remortgage experiences, successful or not. Kensington is the lender who has refused, and Aldermore is our only other possible lender. I'm not sure if our Shade Greener panels will be accepted under their conditions. 
Unfortunately we don't seem to have any of the ASG paperwork, and I cant find all the details on the lease agreement. ASG are nearly impossible to contact with only email, or calling and leaving a voicemail, there are no actual phone numbers I can find to speak to anyone.
Would I take this to trading standards if I needed to go further?
Many thanks for your time

AdrianC

The problem isn't that you've fitted panels to your house.
The problem is that you've leased your roof to a company who've fitted panels to it.

It's not insurmountable - some leases are CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) complaint, some aren't. ASG should vary the lease to be complaint when you get in contact with them. They should be able to find your details even though you've lost all your paperwork.

heavenlyharry01

AdrianC said:

The problem isn't that you've fitted panels to your house.
The problem is that you've leased your roof to a company who've fitted panels to it.

It's not insurmountable - some leases are CML (Council of Mortgage Lenders) complaint, some aren't. ASG should vary the lease to be complaint when you get in contact with them. They should be able to find your details even though you've lost all your paperwork.

Thank you. Yes I've read about them varying the lease, but ASG wont agree to the terms Kensington require, so that has come to a standstill.

Sotts

I had a similar issue when selling a property a few years ago.  I had a boiler leased through ASG.   It took a while to sort because buyer couldn't get a mortgage based on the lease.  Eventually ASG agreed to vary the lease and we were able to buy it out from the proceeds of the sale 

eddddy

You could ask ASG how much it would cost to 'buy out' the lease.  If you did that, you would then own the solar panels, so re-mortgaging shouldn't be a problem.

Although other posters on the forum have got ASG to vary their leases to make them acceptable to mortgage lenders. Do you know what variation Kensington is asking for? Is it something non-standard?

SMR710

ASG do not allow you to buy out the lease like some other companies do. You can download the CML handbook and find the solar panel section. In that it gives you every lenders requirement for the lease and any amendments you need. It also tells you which lenders will not lend with the panels on. You can see from the list which lenders you may be able to approach.
Good luck- couldn't wait to sell out house with these awful panels on!