Buying a house with owned solar panels - Probate - No proof of ownership of panels

YellowPawPaw

Hi all, 

Wondering if someone have been in the situation before and how they moved forward. 

We are buying a house which went through probate. The seller is the executor and have no access to paperwork about the solar panels. They said the solar panels are owned but there is no proof of ownership available. They provided the British Gas FIT change of ownership form and the paperwork required includes a proof of ownership. I rang British Gas and they found the account by giving address and name. They said an acceptable proof of ownership would be a solicitor letter stamped or land registry including fixtures and fittings (and solar panels obvs)

We have the name of the installer (2015) and our solicitor tried to reach out to them to get the below:

-          Warranty

-          MCS certificate

-          Evidence of REAL accreditation

-          Evidence the solar panels were purchased outright

-          Any other paperwork

They shared this with us for us to try as well but the numbers are not working at all. The company is Platinum Energy Solutions Ltd. 

Have anyone been in that situation before? The seller have said they would review their options if it becomes a problem and are getting anxious about this. 
What is the risk of not having the above documents? 

Keep_pedalling

The company that installed the system no longer seems to be operating and have not filed accounts for the last 3 years, so it should be possible to get a duplicate MSC certificate. One will have been issued otherwise there would be no FIT account. 

https://mcscertified.com/consumers-communities/certificate-queries/

I would not worry about the warrantee as there is little to go wrong and at most it would be a 10 year warranty so it has little time left to run even if the company was still in existence.

Providing the FIT account is in the name of the previous owner that is all the proof you need as far as ownership is concerned. 

If the company were not accredited there would be no MSC certificate and therefore no FIT agreement.

mexican_dave

I gave up buying a property with PV panels on the roof, as the seller didn't seem to understand my mortgage lender in common with other lenders wasn't prepared to lend without details of the lease - these are often "rent-a-roof" schemes. The lease sits with the owner (for the time being) of the PV panels and ownership can get passed about via holding companies etc. It seemed I was doing all the leg-work, but as I didn't own the property, I just couldn't past the "privacy of contract" issue. Hope you do better than me, good luck!

YellowPawPaw

Hi all, 

The mortgage lender (Halifax) have provided the mortgage offer and not asked much about the solar panel aside from if owned which we said yes to based on what was said to us before. 

Could it have a FIT without being fully owned? 

Keep_pedalling

YellowPawPaw said:

Hi all, 

The mortgage lender (Halifax) have provided the mortgage offer and not asked much about the solar panel aside from if owned which we said yes to based on what was said to us before. 

Could it have a FIT without being fully owned? 

Yes, but the FIT would not be in the name of the house owner and from what you have said you have established that it is.

mexican_dave

So far OP you have a mortgage offer, once the conveyancing process starts it seems likely the solicitor might be forced to disclose any issues outstanding on the property that effect the Halifax eg PV panel ownership and any lease details.
Your solicitor will do this a part of the mortgage formalities - this process will have a legal name, but don't know what.

YellowPawPaw

The EA told us in the begining that the solar panels are owned outright. Would they normally get proof of ownership to be able to confirm and declare  this to prospective buyers? Wondering what due diligence is done at EA stage and if the seller could be thinking they own the solar PV while they don't. British Gas didn't tell me that they couldnt find the account based on the info I provided (name and address of current FIT account owner). 
All the paperwork we have is a form filled by the owner in 2015 showing they are applying to FIT, but the bit where the MSC number is asked was left blank.

I am waiting for what my solicitor have to say based on my findings. British gas said proof of ownership could be a solicitor's letter stating the house including the panels are fully owned OR land registry doc including fixtures and fittings showcasing solar panels are included.
My solicitor is asking me about what they mean by land registry document because it wouldn't include that and that fixture and fittings is separate. I have never seen neither document so couldn't say. I asked him to call british gas to clarify this because without knowing what is expected or what I'm talking about I can't get a clarification. And yes I have turn full on detective trying to get to the previous installing company which clearly is not trading anymore. I do feel like I am doing the leg work here. I have been told last week that the seller is getting worried about all the questions on solar panel and will have to consider their options if its becoming an issue.

I feel like the seller should at least call british gas to get a recent statement, request a MCS copy using that (can't do it on their behalf) and request a confirmation of ownership from ofgem (again can't do on their behalf). But really worried about ruining the relationship and what message is getting to them from my solicitor to theirs and from the EA... Has anyone tried to speak directly to the seller in such situations to get on a common ground considering we essentially want the same thing (to buy and sell)?

Hoenir

YellowPawPaw said:

 I have been told last week that the seller is getting worried about all the questions on solar panel and will have to consider their options if its becoming an issue.

The exceutors of the estate unsurprisingly have no personal knowledge. They need to sell the property . Be guided by your solicitor. Might well be the case that there's no outright clarification available. 

user1977

This sounds a bit like trying to prove a negative? If something's screwed to the house then surely it's owned by whoever owns the house, unless there's something to the contrary such as a lease?

mexican_dave

Hi @YellowPawPaw I would be surprised if your solicitor contacted British Gas for information, that's not how I solicitors operate in my experience. As I originally said you are going have to do the leg-work or maybe your solicitor can ask the sellers for an indemnity policy on this? Didn't happen for me though.

ProDave

It does seem a ridiculous situation.  It was always a requirement of the FIT scheme that the person claiming the FIT owns the panels.  That hurdle would have been crossed by the original FIT application.

They fact now the house is changing ownership they require this proof again just seems to be the FIT provider putting deliberate obstacles in the way because they would really rather not continue paying the FIT.

I have just sold a house with PV and FIT and I have provided them all the details of the FIT provider and account numbers and a signed declaration that the panels were included in the sale so the new owner of the house now owns the panels, but the new owner tells me they are having difficulty transferring the FIT to their name.  I am awaiting details from her what it is they are not happy with.

If the panels are only 10 years old the FIT would have been at a low rate, so as long as you have the MCS certificate, you might instead just sign up for one of the export payments, I believe Octopus will pay about 15p per unit exported which is probably similar to the FIT rate you would get if you manage to transfer it.