Seller doens't own Solar Panels

IsaacK

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have sight of the NCS form? If so, does it have the MPAN number on it? Or, have you been shown an electricity bill for this house - the MPAN should be on there.

    I do have the MCS form, which does have the MPAN number. Am I able to use it to my advantage somehow? It also has the phone number of the original owner, but would it be too bold to give him a call? 

mexican_dave said:

My main concern for Isaac isn't the FiT, but whether the uncertainty of the ownership/lease arrangements will be a stumbling-block to the mortgage, thereby hold-up sale. For how long?

I have asked my mortgage advisor what she submitted to the lender, as she told us that the panels were owned by the seller. I can only assume the estate agent told her, but I'm waiting for confirmation. It was marked on Rightmove as a feature of the property and was included in the notes for conveyancing in the home report, although I'm not sure if that counts for much. I believe you're correct that the FIT isn't all that crucial, and it's the proof of ownership that we desperately need.

Where I'm at now is that I've instructed my solicitor that we cannot agree to a completion date until proof of ownership has been established. We did get a response from the seller's solicitor who seemed to completely ignore what we were asking for and was more interested to know if they could leave a couple of bricks behind. Our solicitor still doesn't seem that bothered either. Love it.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's given their advice so far, I've learned a lot about solar panels these last few weeks, and a large part of that info came from this forum. Cheers everyone!

I'll post an update if anything changes for those invested, and those having similar issues in the future.

ThisIsWeird

IsaacK said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have sight of the NCS form? If so, does it have the MPAN number on it? Or, have you been shown an electricity bill for this house - the MPAN should be on there.

    I do have the MCS form, which does have the MPAN number. Am I able to use it to my advantage somehow? It also has the phone number of the original owner, but would it be too bold to give him a call? 

Fire a 'Subject Access Request' email to FITRegister@Ofgem.gov.uk, explaining you need confirmation of the ownership and FIT entitlement of a house you are buying, and giving the MCS, MPAN, and address.

Meanwhile, keep asking your EA and conveyancer to obtain evidence of ownership from the vendor, but don't assume anything about the situation until evidence is provided.

IsaacK

ThisIsWeird said:

Fire a 'Subject Access Request' email to FITRegister@Ofgem.gov.uk, explaining you need confirmation of the ownership and FIT entitlement of a house you are buying, and giving the MCS, MPAN, and address.

Thank you thank you thank you! Consider the email fired

user1977

ThisIsWeird said:

IsaacK said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have sight of the NCS form? If so, does it have the MPAN number on it? Or, have you been shown an electricity bill for this house - the MPAN should be on there.

    I do have the MCS form, which does have the MPAN number. Am I able to use it to my advantage somehow? It also has the phone number of the original owner, but would it be too bold to give him a call? 

Fire a 'Subject Access Request' email to FITRegister@Ofgem.gov.uk, explaining you need confirmation of the ownership and FIT entitlement of a house you are buying, and giving the MCS, MPAN, and address.

How would that work? The OP isn't a data subject. Are you saying it's a public register?

ThisIsWeird

user1977 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

IsaacK said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have sight of the NCS form? If so, does it have the MPAN number on it? Or, have you been shown an electricity bill for this house - the MPAN should be on there.

    I do have the MCS form, which does have the MPAN number. Am I able to use it to my advantage somehow? It also has the phone number of the original owner, but would it be too bold to give him a call? 

Fire a 'Subject Access Request' email to FITRegister@Ofgem.gov.uk, explaining you need confirmation of the ownership and FIT entitlement of a house you are buying, and giving the MCS, MPAN, and address.

How would that work? The OP isn't a data subject. Are you saying it's a public register?

I understand so.
I think it's what I did a year or so ago to see who may have been getting FIT on our local school's system, but no longer have access to the emails.
Thinking back, it may have been 'cos I was a gov' at the time :-(

Hoenir

IsaacK said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Do you have sight of the NCS form? If so, does it have the MPAN number on it? Or, have you been shown an electricity bill for this house - the MPAN should be on there.

    I do have the MCS form, which does have the MPAN number. Am I able to use it to my advantage somehow? It also has the phone number of the original owner, but would it be too bold to give him a call? 

mexican_dave said:

My main concern for Isaac isn't the FiT, but whether the uncertainty of the ownership/lease arrangements will be a stumbling-block to the mortgage, thereby hold-up sale. For how long?

I have asked my mortgage advisor what she submitted to the lender, as she told us that the panels were owned by the seller. I can only assume the estate agent told her, but I'm waiting for confirmation. It was marked on Rightmove as a feature of the property and was included in the notes for conveyancing in the home report, although I'm not sure if that counts for much. I believe you're correct that the FIT isn't all that crucial, and it's the proof of ownership that we desperately need.

Where I'm at now is that I've instructed my solicitor that we cannot agree to a completion date until proof of ownership has been established. We did get a response from the seller's solicitor who seemed to completely ignore what we were asking for and was more interested to know if they could leave a couple of bricks behind. Our solicitor still doesn't seem that bothered either. Love it.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's given their advice so far, I've learned a lot about solar panels these last few weeks, and a large part of that info came from this forum. Cheers everyone!

I'll post an update if anything changes for those invested, and those having similar issues in the future.

The ball is entirely in the sellers court, your solicitor has no influence. The waffle from the vendors solicitor suggests that their client is simply stalling and hoping the matter vanishes into thin air. Remember the solicitor works for their client not you. As frustratating as this maybe.  

IsaacK

Hoenir said:

The ball is entirely in the sellers court, your solicitor has no influence. The waffle from the vendors solicitor suggests that their client is simply stalling and hoping the matter vanishes into thin air. Remember the solicitor works for their client not you. As frustratating as this maybe.  

That's true. It's sometimes hard to look at things objectively when you're right in the middle of it

IsaacK

Just noticed the FIT ID number is written at the top of the MCS. Am I able to use that to my advantage somehow?

ThisIsWeird

Still worth the email to Ofgem, even given User's caveat - and he may well be right. Add that number to your email!

If they reply citing Data Protection, you can confirm that all you wish to know is if the FIT is being claimed.

But, really, the vendor has all this info - they must have, surely. It's for them to sort.

And the vendor definitely can sort it:

Find information about an installation on your property that is, or may be, accredited under the FIT scheme

Types of issue

• whether the installation at the property is registered to receive FIT support
• the identity of the FIT Generator (ie the individual or company registered as the owner of the installation)
• the identity of the FIT Licensee making payments to the FIT Generator

The Process

You can submit an Ownership Register Query (ORQ) to the Ofgem Central FIT Register (CFR) team at FITOwnership@ofgem.gov.uk. You will be required to provide documentary proof of identity or other appropriate documentation, as requested by Ofgem before information can be released.

As User suspects, they may not release such info to anyone who isn't the homeowner. But, the vendor has no excuse not to do this.