So today i was approached at my property with the following offer:

A company i will not name will fit solar panels to the back of my property for free. I will then be able to use any energy they produce (the energy is not stored) so i will have to use it there and then. Ie during the day.

Whats the catch...
Well - I am contracted to a 25 year lease of them using my roof. They make their money by selling power back to the grid and getting grants for carbon emissions etc... They will also maintain my roof for the duration of the lease. If i want to cancel it at any point i will have a big fine which covers the cost of removal.

At first it sounded like a good idea, i will save money, why not? After a few phone calls i decided to cancel. This is my reasoning

Im planning of moving in the next two years and im concerned that a prospective buyer will be put off by the fact that they will need to continue with the lease. I phoned three estate agents in my local area, they all complimented me on such a good question They have never sold a property with solar panels, but their gut feeling is the same as mine. A prospective buyer could be put off by the lease and thus lose me the sale of the house, or i will have to foot the bill to remove them.

Has anyone had these fitted? Does anyone work as an estate agent? Have you come across this situation? Would you buy a house with solar panels with the above terms and conditions?

Thanks

Was it a goon with a big red moon-like face ? Mattm is into this stuff, he'll advise you if it's a scam?

You have miss read my post, im not implying by any means its a scam. Im just interested in peoples views when buying a property and if they would be put off by taking on a scheme such as the one above.

No it wasnt MattM

Obviously if you own the solar panels then its a different story as you get money from selling back to the grid and that can only be a positive when selling the property. Unless the prospetive owner doesnt want the upkeep of the maintenance. Its all very new at the moment im sure in 10 years time it will be the norm. . .

I didn't misread it, i didn't read it at all

Sounds fine to me.

If you are prepared to remove them before the sale then why not.

Because it would cost me £5 grand!!!!
Hence why i cancelled it

My father had these fitted and it seems to be a win, win situation,he has noticed his electricity bill drop quite a bit. Also this might be a selling feature, think about it, two houses for sale:

House 1 has solar panels and a roof being maintained free of charge. Cheaper electricity.

House 2 has dearer electricity bills and you have to maintain the roof yourself!

Now which one would you buy?

It is strange watching his electricity meter going backwards though!

because it may be more work to sell/buy legal wise - transfer of the lease/contract/access agreements - more legal fees.
because it may impact buildings insurance (third parties responsible for maintenance - what/when/ are they responsible and to what value)
because it may impact mortgage applications/approvals (again third party involvement)

given that having a water meter can apparently impact the value of a property I dont think its a clear cut. Sure of you buy the panels and get the feed in tariffs then fine but the third party issues add alot of extra unknowns

You are probably at work 5 days a week so your electricity use is likely to be minimal during daylight hours, particularly in winter.

Your highest electricity usage is likely to be after dark in winter, ie when it is not being generated by the panels on your roof, so you have to buy it from the national grid retailer.

In those circumstances I wouldn't touch it, particularly with the 25 year covenant being attached to your house.

Mattm is the solar panel expert.
I think some solar accident is what happened to his face as well???

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/free-solar-panels

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/the-econom...l-print-exposed


Might be worth reading

Free Solar Panels are not a bad thing.

The system works like this:


[*]The installation company install some panels on your roof
[*]They keep the Feed-In-Tariff (FIT), which is a payment based on the amount of power generated by the panels (not selling it back to the grid) and is worth circa £1000pa
[*]You get any electricity which the panels may make

I have no idea how big your roof area is, but to give you some very rough figures - a 4kWp Solar system will generate around 3000kW of electric a year. The average home uses 3300kW a year, so the potential is there to dramatically reduce your electric bill.

As has righlty been pointed out, the majority of electric useage is at night, when the panels are not generating electric. However, there is nothing to stop you putting heavy consuming appliances on a timer. 12pm is prime time for power, so why not set your washing machine to come on then? The trick is to stagger heavy consuming appliances on timers around mid-day (11-12 washer, 12-1 dishwasher, 1-2 dryer, etc etc).

With clever consumption your homes' electric bill could be reduced by 40%-60% - for absolutely free! Even if you only save a few pounds - it's worth it.

The installation company will have a 25yr lease on the properties roof. If you move house, the new owner will have to agree to keep the panels on the roof and transfer the lease to them. The installation company HAVE to maintain the panels too - it is in there interest to make sure they are performing as well as possible (the better they perform the more money they make).

If i was looking for a house and one of them could offer a potential 50% reduction in electric bill - i know which one i would choose. The argument of aesthetics is fair, but 20yrs ago who would have wanted white PVC windows? - now everyone has them.

You will also save over a tonne of carbon every year too (a track day ? )

The better option by a long way is to buy the system out right (give me a call ) , but for people with budget restrictions, free solar panels are not a bad thing.

Seems to me that if you not planning to stay the in property (Moving on in 2 years) the few hundred you could save could easily be wiped out on resale value, extra legal fees etc.

On a long term family/retirement home or second homes etc it makes more sense but those who are planning on moving on/up its alot less clear at the moment.

I think panels would increase resale value. There are no official figures for the UK yet, but in the USA having a Solar system on your roof adds 4% to the houses value

Yep but i guess it depends. Paid for ones I would agree. Those with contracts rights of access etc attached may be not.

<<<< Matt-tards face

I've lost count recently on the number of phone calls I've had regarding this.

The cynic in me tells me this.......Not all companies will make it, & if you're unlucky enough to choose a company that goes bust, the business would be passed on to creditors or what ever, that is if the panels were fitted for free. I would feel things were not in my control if this situation should arise.

Dude you crack me up.

I'm a chartered surveyor but deal with mostly commercial leases so am limited when it comes to residential. In practice the prospective purchaser's solicitor will (or should) crawl all over the terms of the lease. So if there is anything onerous in it then it might dissuade them and jeopardise the sale. I've dealt with lots of telecom operators agreeing to lease towerblock roofs, fire station training towers etc. and from that know to our cost that there is plenty of scope for them to weight things in their favour. Hence just you need to check the terms very carefully and maybe get advice. Things like how quickly do they respond to an emergency roof leak, who's responsible for vandalism to the panels, do you have to insure etc. a just things you want to make sure are covered and their liability not yours.

I've heard a few warning stories about the panel companies not relying on structural engineers to design the loading and instead just running the dims through some off-the-shelf structural calc. software. Hence building control reporting in the tech. press a few (and probably very much in the minority) cases of overloading of joists.

Personally if I was purchasing property with them I'd feel fairly neutral on the leased option, but would think outright purchased option is definitely a seller.

Probably not much help...(sorry)