Buying a house with solar panels might be worth it choosing whether to buy a house with solar depends on the financing and if a lease or ppa is involved whether the agreement and installation fit your life.
Buying a property with leased solar panels.
When selling a home with leased solar panels you must either transfer the lease to your home buyers or purchase the panels from the solar company to conclude the lease early.
Be sure to read over all the agreement details and ask as many questions as you can.
Sometimes leases contain buy out clauses meaning the new owner can buy their way out of the lease.
Solar leases can last between ten and twenty years and it can be expensive to buy out the system or roll the lease into the house purchase.
There may be a buy out clause.
The homeowner enjoys low energy bills plus the prospect of the feed in tariff after 25 years.
Solar leases are typically for a 20 year term and can be costly to buy out.
The more information the seller can provide at the outset e g.
The buy out premium is usually the cost of the installation typically 10 15k plus a premium.
If the home has leased solar panels buyers need to find out the lease agreement details including monthly fees and the contract term.
Your conveyancer should be able to explain if any of the issues outlined above will affect your property purchase and if there are any major concerns.
If you re considering buying a leasehold property with solar panels the freeholder will need to be contacted to ensure that the necessary permission has been obtained.
Buying a home with leased solar panels.
Buying a house with solar panels in a lease ppa if the house you are interested in has a leased solar energy system it means that the current homeowner sends a monthly payment to the company that installed the panels.
Buying a house with leased solar panels is more complicated.
The homeowner will have leased the panels from the solar power company usually for a 25 year term who then has the right to the feed in tariff payments.
Copy of the lease planning and building regulations consent details of any payments the easier it will be for your property purchase to progress see more on selling a house with solar panels.
The terms of the lease will also need to be carefully reviewed to ensure that installation of solar panels is permitted under the lease.
Some solar panel leases have escalating payments.
Both options have their pros and cons so you ll need to review the terms and conditions of your contract to evaluate which is best for your particular situation.
Additionally solar leases can have escalating payments posing an ongoing liability.
Get your solicitor to look at the solar panel lease before you make an offer.
Obtaining mortgage loans with leased solar panels can be a bit more complicated.