Not getting the most from solar panels..

stewie_griffin

My guess would be that the council are getting the FiT payments and it was a condition of getting free solar panels. 

strongbow1976

It's looking like they were gifted to the previous owner under the conditions that 'someone' gets the fit, and we just get the little bits we can use in daylight when we are home, the solicitors stuff clearly states that we as the home owner own these, just seems a strange set up. If they are mine then I can flog them? I just feel a bit 'cheated' that I can't get the full potential out of the 12 panels I own.. 😡

Tallerdave

That's an interesting point. If they're yours, then surely you can rip them down and install replacements? Perhaps you could sell them to an installer who would then install replacement panels for you, maybe even some secondhand ones they've recently purchased??!!

MWT

The ownership/existance of the FiT rights and any potential transfer should have been resolved as part of the closing docs on the sale, if they were not then that is on you solicitor/conveyancer for not covering all the bases.

Reed_Richards

strongbow1976 said:

It's looking like they were gifted to the previous owner under the conditions that 'someone' gets the fit, and we just get the little bits we can use in daylight when we are home, the solicitors stuff clearly states that we as the home owner own these, just seems a strange set up. If they are mine then I can flog them? I just feel a bit 'cheated' that I can't get the full potential out of the 12 panels I own.. 😡

Somewhere there must be a written agreement between the owner of the property (when the the ownership of the panels were transferred) and Rutland council stating who gets the benefit of the FIT.  Ideally this would state what happens in the event of a change of property ownership.  Ideally any assignment of the FIT in perpetuity should form a covenant in your deeds. It looks like your conveyancer let you down when you bought the house.      

strongbow1976

All I have is a letter from the council to the old owner in 2013 stating the panels are gifted, but the owner does not get fit, just free electric as and when it can be generated and used ( don't really put the tumble dryer on when the sun is out though.) However is does not mention what happens when the house is sold....

MWT

strongbow1976 said:

All I have is a letter from the council to the old owner in 2013 stating the panels are gifted, but the owner does not get fit, just free electric as and when it can be generated and used ( don't really put the tumble dryer on when the sun is out though.) However is does not mention what happens when the house is sold....

The owner of the house cannot pass on to successors more rights than they owned themselves, so the working assumption has to be that the council still retains the FiT payments, but as others have said, this should have been disclosed during the purchase process and not left for you to discover later...

The trigger for that disclosure would have been when your conveyancer asked for a signed 'change of ownership' form for the FIT to confirm that it was being transferred to you... That would have highlighted that the current owners did not own the FIT rights...

Now of course it is a Council involved and they may not have properly protected their rights to the FiT payment so you can always try submitting a request to receive the FiT, but since your proof of ownership also contains confirmation that the FiT rights were being retained, I don't expect you'd be successful, but can always try...

Reed_Richards

Anything on the property would pass to you as the new owner.  The owner of the panels would normally have the right to collect any FIT unless there is an agreement to the contrary.  If there is an agreement to the contrary  it would probably date back to the time when the panels were installed.  If this was before 1st April 2010 then they would not qualify for any FIT.  As you have been told, there is a register you can check to find out who, if anyone, collects the FIT for the panels on your property.