House with solar panels. What do I need to know?

[Mintchocchipicecream]

What do I need to know or ask when viewing a house with solar panels fitted?

If they are subject to any agreements, I,e did the owner buy them or were they installed by a company with an electricity buy back deal, hoe long it has to run etc.

If they've been correctly commissioned. Ask to see commissioning certificates as part of the buying process. What FIT rate they're on. If you've got storage batteries or they're feeding back to the grid.

Thank you!

Not an expert but what I do know from friends is that is you buy a house with solar panels then it seems a huge issue if you have a mortgage. A friend was doing an application and speaking to an advisor and when asked about solar panels, she said it didn't have any and he replied "right answer"

It seems another well intentioned scheme with unintentional consequences

Your solicitor should know the key questions. It doesn’t necessarily mean a nightmare. Ours belong to the house, no feed in tarrif they just heat the water when the sun’s out.

I'd start with what kind of panels - electric or water?

If the panels are on a lease, your solicitor will check the lease matches current lenders' requirements. If they don't, most companies will happily correct it for free, it just might cause a bit of a delay.

The biggest question is whether they are owned outright or whether they are on a rent a roof scheme (where a 3rd party owns them and you get free energy). Owned outright is better for you, but you need to be able to prove this - they need all the relevant documentation, including the installation certificate and a paid invoice. Just buying the house isn’t enough to transfer ownership of the panels - you might need a separate letter stating that you own them. 3rd party owned may cause an issue with some lenders (because you are effectively subletting the roof). It’s best to know what issues you’re likely to run into beforehand as this can cause big delays. I speak from bitter experience!

And I wouldn’t necessarily expect a conveyancer to be really up to speed on this. Some might be. We had a pretty shit hot conveyancer but there were aspects of solar panel gate that threw her. Luckily all the relevant paperwork was eventually found but I considered pulling out at one point over it

@Hollyhead I know the solicitor would help when/if we offer but I need to know what to ask at viewing in case I don’t want to even bother!

I’m not keen if the roof is leased. I will see what I find out at the viewing.

We've got leased panels, and it's not really a problem- if there's an issue, it's there problem to sort out. The issues were all during the buying process, extra work needed, another company involved in the process.

Hopefully they were fitted at least a few years ago, as you will get a much better FiT rate. But don't expect significant savings, unless you live somewhere particularly sunny.