buying a house with solar panels, no roof survey!!

hoir14

we are in the late stages of purchasing a property, it has all been straightforward (aside from an unresponsive solicitor) but an enquiry regarding the solar panels has come up. our solicitor wants to see a roofing survey to ensure the roof can support the weight and is in good enough condition. The seller can't find the roofing survey but claims one was definitley done. this has only come up today but at our wits end due to endless delays for no reason from the sellers solicitor. our buyer has been ready for nearly 2 months now so are keen to avoid delays. Guess I'm just asking (hoping) there is an easy fix to this!?

anselld

The easy fix is you tell your solicitor you are not bothered.  If you have ever compared the weight of a solar panel with the weight of a handful of roof tiles you will realise why.

user1977

What's it got to do with your solicitor? Unless you're buying with a mortgage and the lender has actually asked them to check this?

Your solicitor can of course advise you that it might be a good idea, but it's up to you.

eddddy

As above, it depends why the enquiry has come about.

• It may just be a standard enquiry that your solicitor always asks when he/she finds out there are solar panels. The solicitor would then report back to you that there is no survey report, and it's up to you how you want to move forward.

• Or it may be a question raised by the mortgage lender's valuer. In that case, the solicitor might report back to the lender that there is no survey report - and it's then up to the lender how they want to move forward. They might insist that a survey is done.

hoir14

eddddy said:

As above, it depends why the enquiry has come about.

• It may just be a standard enquiry that your solicitor always asks when he/she finds out there are solar panels. The solicitor would then report back to you that there is no survey report, and it's up to you how you want to move forward.

• Or it may be a question raised by the mortgage lender's valuer. In that case, the solicitor might report back to the lender that there is no survey report - and it's then up to the lender how they want to move forward. They might insist that a survey is done.

our mortgage has been approved and have our offer from them in writing, does that mean any questions raised by the lender have been answered? or are questions able to be raised up until completion?

eddddy

hoir14 said:

our mortgage has been approved and have our offer from them in writing, does that mean any questions raised by the lender have been answered? or are questions able to be raised up until completion?

Yep - it probably means all the lenders questions have been addressed. In theory, they can ask more questions - but I think this is unlikely to be the type of new question they would ask.


Either way, you can ask your solicitor why they asked the question, and/or you can tell your solicitor that you're happy to proceed even though there is no survey report (if that's the case).

Then the solicitor will tell you if it is a mortgage lender's requirement.



Edit to add...

It depends a bit on how much you trust the seller.

• Did they really get a survey (and strengthen the roof, if required)?

• Or did they use a cowboy firm who didn't do a proper survey and didn't check the strength of the roof - and they're telling you fibs...

hannahcolobus

It’s not the weight they’re concerned about (a bit of a misconception with solar panels) it’s the fact that if they’re poorly designed and installed without roof calculations, a strong wind could get under the panels, lift them and then lift what they’re attached to! 

Proper companies have to show roof calculations to get MCS certification. If you ask if the panels are certified and get a copy then you’ll know proper roof calculations have been done and the roof was deemed suitable. 

ProDave

It would be far more important to find out if the vendor owns the panels, if there is a FIT contract, and will that be transferred to you, or are they some rent a roof scheme.

jimjames

ProDave said:

It would be far more important to find out if the vendor owns the panels, if there is a FIT contract, and will that be transferred to you, or are they some rent a roof scheme.

And also ensuring that there is an MCS certificate in place which would be needed for FIT payments anyway

SMR710

Who installed the panels? We sold our house with A Shade Greener panels and we paid for all our documents to be sent which included a roof survey to support the weight.