Selling a house with solar panels

The pack to assemble

Every one of these will be asked for. Finding them takes an afternoon now and weeks later.

If the building regulations certificate does not exist

This is the most common gap, and it needs a decision before you contact anyone.

The electrical work in a solar installation normally involves a new circuit, which is notifiable — see building regulations. If it was never notified, you have unregulated building work.

Two routes, and the order matters:

Regularisation. Apply to the local authority to regularise the work. They may require opening up to inspect. It produces a proper certificate and actually resolves the issue.

Indemnity insurance. Cheaper and faster, commonly accepted by buyers’ conveyancers, and it insures against enforcement rather than establishing that the work was safe. Approaching the council generally invalidates the policy — so if you are going to insure, do not contact building control first.

Decide which route you are taking before you make any enquiries. Getting this order wrong is a genuine and avoidable own goal.

If there is a roof lease

Address it before marketing. It will appear on the title, so there is no version of this where it stays quiet.

Get the lease out and read it. Term remaining, break provisions, and whether it contains a lender break right.

Establish who owns it now. Providers have been sold and some have gone into administration.

Ask about a deed of variation if the lease lacks a lender break right. Many providers have a standard process, and doing it now — rather than when a buyer’s lender objects — means it does not sit on the critical path.

Tell your estate agent and your conveyancer at the outset. A buyer who learns about a roof lease at week six renegotiates. A buyer who knew from the particulars does not.

The full picture is on rented roof leases.

FIT and SEG on completion

Feed-in Tariff. Registered to you as generator, not to the house. Ofgem’s guidance is that the new owner contacts the FIT licensee, who updates the generator details on the Central FIT Register.

Practical points:

• Agree it in the contract rather than leaving it to goodwill
• Take meter readings on completion day, photographed, and give a copy to the buyer
• Notify your licensee that the property is sold
• If your FIT rate is a legacy one, say so — a long-running FIT at an old rate is a genuine selling point and buyers rarely know to ask

Smart Export Guarantee. A contract with your supplier. It ends with your supply arrangement; the buyer arranges their own. Tell them they will likely need the MCS certificate for it, which is one more reason to have found it.

Answering the enquiries

Your buyer’s conveyancer will raise enquiries. You can pre-empt most of them by handing over a single pack. The questions we would expect, and which we suggest buyers ask on the other side of this transaction:

• ownership status of the panels, and any lease or licence
• MCS, building regulations, electrical and DNO documentation
• FIT and SEG position
• warranties and installer details
• whether the roof has leaked or been repaired since installation
• whether a structural assessment was done
• whether an export limitation applies

Answer them accurately and in writing. Property information forms carry consequences if answered carelessly, and “I don’t know” is a safer answer than a guess.

Does solar add value?

We are not going to tell you, because we do not have a source we trust.

What we can say from the transactions side: owned panels with complete paperwork are straightforward, and that itself has value — a buyer who is not being asked to accept uncertainty does not price uncertainty in. A roof lease is a complication, and complications get priced.

If somebody quotes you a percentage uplift for solar, ask what it is based on. We would want EPC and sold-price data before repeating a figure, and we have not done that analysis yet.

Before you market

1. Assemble the pack. Start with the DNO, the competent person scheme and MCS.
2. Check the title for a roof lease.
3. If the building regulations certificate is missing, decide on your route before contacting anyone.
4. Tell your conveyancer about the installation at the outset.
5. Note your FIT rate and remaining term — it may be worth advertising.
6. Take a photograph of the meter readings on completion day.