Anyone sold their solar panel FIT?

Spit

Spit

Spit

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I have had solar panels on my house plus another property since November 2011. Both are 4KW systems and we get the top FIT rate with both properties bringing in about a combined £3300 a year. Recently we have been talking about moving in the next few years and selling both properties. There is just under 20 years left on the FIT.

We paid £11,000 each for the installations which has just about been recovered over the last 5 years with FIT payments, not including any electricity savings. Had a leaflet through from a company offering to buy the remaining FIT payment so I asked for a valuation and for both properties we have been offered £15,300 for one and £17,500 for the other. So a lump sum of approx £33,000 which is tax free I believe. Done some research and all seems legit. They will maintain the panels for the next 20 years and we still benefit from the electricity generated.

Cant really see us being in the house beyond the next 8 years so seems a good deal for us. This wasn't on the radar until the leaflet but its got my interest for a nice lump sum.

Any thoughts?
 
how does it work when you sell it, surly you cant, or at a massively reduced price as the owners will be tied into the contract.
 
Sounds like a minefield for the sale. Who owns the roof? What if the current owners prefer not to have maintenance from a company that provides zero benefit to them?

Surely you include the panels in the sale, substantiate the energy savings generated annually and then benefit from a higher selling price?
 
Well the new owners inherit solar panels that are fully maintained and provide reduced electricity bills. Cant see why they would be unhappy.
 
This does create issues when you sell and has come up on other forums.

You are creating a right for a third party who register this by placing a legal charge on your property. Mortgage companies do not like to lend against properties with charges against them and would usually expect the charge to be cleared as part of a sale. You'll find this reduces the pool of people who can buy your house.
 
Spit said:
Well the new owners inherit solar panels that are fully maintained and provide reduced electricity bills. Cant see why they would be unhappy.
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because solar panels are cheap and getting massively cheaper every year, let alone in 20 years time, they wont be able to do anything to their roof, wont be able to install new extremely cheap panels that will benefit them, and could cause issues with extensions or loft conversions etc.

its an extremely poor deal for the new owner.
 
It's a funny one that will come up more and more as an awful lot of solar panel installs are similarly owned think anyone who got the panels for 'free' the housing market has been slow to recognise the value so getting any increase on the basis of them being installed is a challenge. If in doubt speak to a local estate agent don't tell them you thinking about doing this tell them you've already done it and want to sell see what thy say as they will know.
 
SpeedFreak said:
Sounds like a minefield for the sale. Who owns the roof? What if the current owners prefer not to have maintenance from a company that provides zero benefit to them?

Surely you include the panels in the sale, substantiate the energy savings generated annually and then benefit from a higher selling price?
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This. Its fair enough to sell your property with solar panels when the houseowner is the owner of the solar panels. When somebody else owns them it puts people off, can make you house harder to sell, may result in substantially less for your house etc.
 
I don't know much about feed in tarrifs but isn't that lump sum half of what you'd make over the next 20 years at current rates? Or are the rates expected to drop so much?

Rather than selling, have you considered remortgaging and renting the properties out after you leave? It might make things simpler if you sell off the FIT payments because it would be between you and the bank instead of another individual, and if you keep them they'll make a nice bonus on top of the rent.
 
prosk said:
I don't know much about feed in tarrifs but isn't that lump sum half of what you'd make over the next 20 years at current rates? Or are the rates expected to drop so much?

Rather than selling, have you considered remortgaging and renting the properties out after you leave? It might make things simpler if you sell off the FIT payments because it would be between you and the bank instead of another individual, and if you keep them they'll make a nice bonus on top of the rent.
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Of course its half! Or w.e

The people buying them make a profit some how
 
prosk said:
Rather than selling, have you considered remortgaging and renting the properties out after you leave? It might make things simpler if you sell off the FIT payments because it would be between you and the bank instead of another individual, and if you keep them they'll make a nice bonus on top of the rent.
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Not a bad idea, use the £33,000 as a deposit for the next home you move into as long as it's enough for your area.
 
Glaucus said:
how does it work when you sell it, surly you cant, or at a massively reduced price as the owners will be tied into the contract.
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This would be my concern too.

It wouldn't be any different to someone renting their roof out to one of these companies and then trying to sell it on.

As others have said, it's a nice deal for you, but a poor deal for the new buyer - which ultimately means they'll probably try and recoup some of those costs with a reduced offer.

I know i wouldn't buy a property with solar panels unless i had full ownership of the panels.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
+1

its a stupid thing to do unless your desperate for cash.

the new owners would require you to buy out the contract before they could purchase your property. so completely pointless.
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They wouldn't though there are thousands and thousands of homes all over the country with this exact arrangement, anyone who got solar panels for 'free' has effectively agreed to rent the roof to the solar panel company for 20 years and it will stay that way when the house is sold. It just makes the negotiations interesting as sellers often see the panels as of more value than the buyers, I had a colleague try to sell a house with solar panels that he owned on the roof on the original feed in tariff and despite them guaranteeing an income of 3k plus a year for 30 years nobody was willing to pay more than for other houses on the street took him a year to sell and he got much less than he thought they were worth.
 
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Its all very interesting. Done some more research this afternoon and found this company: http://webuyyoursolar.com

They don't do a lease arrangement and only take over the FIT. The amount offered is less, £25,000 for both instead of £33,000.
 
Sounds like a legal/moral nightmare when you sell the house, don't do it, just sell the FIT deal when you move to the new owner if they want it, or then sell it to one of these companies.
Andi.
 
This would definitely slow down a sale later down the line. It's up to you if you're comfortable with that. Personally I wouldn't buy a house where this kind of deal was in place.
 
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