Buying a house with "rent-a-roof" Freetricity panels

Jaybee_16

FOARP said:

As an update on this, if you see the house you're putting an offer on has this kind of encumbrance on them, run a million miles away from putting an offer on that house as the likelihood of getting stuck in conveyancing hell is very, very high.

Took two months for the vendors to find the agreement, another month for our solicitors to come back with feedback that the agreement wasn't acceptable to the lender, and now we've been waiting for another two months for the solar panels company to issue a variation - and are still waiting. Now looking at losing our mortgage and really am sick to the teeth of the whole thing.

Thanks for coming back with an update.

When I was looking at properties last year, I viewed two with roof panels. One was a probate sale and the family selling the property knew nothing about the solar panel agreement, who it was with, contract terms, nothing. Nor could they find any paperwork to answer questions.
Second one only knew they paid the solar panel provider £100 per month and they paid back the balance. Knew nothing more about their own panels.

FOARP

Jaybee_16 said:

FOARP said:

As an update on this, if you see the house you're putting an offer on has this kind of encumbrance on them, run a million miles away from putting an offer on that house as the likelihood of getting stuck in conveyancing hell is very, very high.

Took two months for the vendors to find the agreement, another month for our solicitors to come back with feedback that the agreement wasn't acceptable to the lender, and now we've been waiting for another two months for the solar panels company to issue a variation - and are still waiting. Now looking at losing our mortgage and really am sick to the teeth of the whole thing.

Thanks for coming back with an update.

When I was looking at properties last year, I viewed two with roof panels. One was a probate sale and the family selling the property knew nothing about the solar panel agreement, who it was with, contract terms, nothing. Nor could they find any paperwork to answer questions.
Second one only knew they paid the solar panel provider £100 per month and they paid back the balance. Knew nothing more about their own panels.

It's the constant delays and never getting any closer to a resolution, in spite of it always appearing to be close, that really burns. And yes, they really should have sorted this out before putting it on the market.

At the moment though it is not the vendors, but Freetricity causing the delay. I'm honestly close to just washing my hands of the whole thing.

Spreadsheetman

A relatives house had leased solar and it was an issue when selling after their death, even with a mortage-friendly lease.

A lot of potential buyers were put off by it to start with just based on the perception of trouble.

Then there were people thinking about loft conversions - they would have to pay to have the panels removed and replaced if they needed to get under them and things like velux windows would be problematic. Too much cost and hassle.

Then there were people forced to use non-mainstream mortgage lenders, a lot of them don't lend with leased solar.

They sold it in the end, but for about £10k less than they would have got without the panels (based on the sales that fell through due to the panels).

I'd not go near them personally, anything that makes a house harder to sell is bad news and there are plenty of places without a ball & chain like that.

eddddy

Did you (or the seller) ever get a quote for buying-out the lease?  That would make the mortgage problem go away.

It would cost the seller a chunk of money - but maybe they're starting to realise they've got a bit of a problem, so maybe they'd consider paying.

FOARP

eddddy said:

Did you (or the seller) ever get a quote for buying-out the lease?  That would make the mortgage problem go away.

It would cost the seller a chunk of money - but maybe they're starting to realise they've got a bit of a problem, so maybe they'd consider paying.

No quote but judging by other people who have done this ~£10k wouldn't be crazy. The sellers are a couple who are getting divorced and don't seem to be in a hurry.

Right now Freetricity have finally come back with a variation in the contract which is now with the mortgage lender to see if they will accept it. Since our mortgage offer has expired I've "regenerated" it (their term), but we'll see if the bank is still willing to lend on the same terms. It's been 8 months now since we had our offer accepted and we're still not clear whether we can actually complete. Very frustrating!

Sameer

FOARP said:

eddddy said:

Did you (or the seller) ever get a quote for buying-out the lease?  That would make the mortgage problem go away.

It would cost the seller a chunk of money - but maybe they're starting to realise they've got a bit of a problem, so maybe they'd consider paying.

No quote but judging by other people who have done this ~£10k wouldn't be crazy. The sellers are a couple who are getting divorced and don't seem to be in a hurry.

Right now Freetricity have finally come back with a variation in the contract which is now with the mortgage lender to see if they will accept it. Since our mortgage offer has expired I've "regenerated" it (their term), but we'll see if the bank is still willing to lend on the same terms. It's been 8 months now since we had our offer accepted and we're still not clear whether we can actually complete. Very frustrating!

Hi, sorry to zombie up an old thread - but I am going to be selling a house with Freetricity panels on it. I was wondering if you managed to sort this out or if the difficulties proved to be too much?

Yorkie1

Sameer said:

FOARP said:

eddddy said:

Did you (or the seller) ever get a quote for buying-out the lease?  That would make the mortgage problem go away.

It would cost the seller a chunk of money - but maybe they're starting to realise they've got a bit of a problem, so maybe they'd consider paying.

No quote but judging by other people who have done this ~£10k wouldn't be crazy. The sellers are a couple who are getting divorced and don't seem to be in a hurry.

Right now Freetricity have finally come back with a variation in the contract which is now with the mortgage lender to see if they will accept it. Since our mortgage offer has expired I've "regenerated" it (their term), but we'll see if the bank is still willing to lend on the same terms. It's been 8 months now since we had our offer accepted and we're still not clear whether we can actually complete. Very frustrating!

Hi, sorry to zombie up an old thread - but I am going to be selling a house with Freetricity panels on it. I was wondering if you managed to sort this out or if the difficulties proved to be too much?

OP was last online 3 1/2 years ago, so it might not be worth holding your breath for a reply!

QrizB

Sameer said:

FOARP said:

eddddy said:

Did you (or the seller) ever get a quote for buying-out the lease?  That would make the mortgage problem go away.

It would cost the seller a chunk of money - but maybe they're starting to realise they've got a bit of a problem, so maybe they'd consider paying.

No quote but judging by other people who have done this ~£10k wouldn't be crazy. The sellers are a couple who are getting divorced and don't seem to be in a hurry.

Right now Freetricity have finally come back with a variation in the contract which is now with the mortgage lender to see if they will accept it. Since our mortgage offer has expired I've "regenerated" it (their term), but we'll see if the bank is still willing to lend on the same terms. It's been 8 months now since we had our offer accepted and we're still not clear whether we can actually complete. Very frustrating!

Hi, sorry to zombie up an old thread - but I am going to be selling a house with Freetricity panels on it. I was wondering if you managed to sort this out or if the difficulties proved to be too much?

You probably want to speak with Freetricity ASAP and find out (a) whether your lease is mortgageable and (b) what it'll cost to buy out the remaining term.

Leased solar panels crop up on the forum every couple of months, either in this section or over on "Green & Ethical". These are the two most common questions.