Developer and Solar Feed in Tariff Question

[scoobster999]

Not sure if here or homes and diy section but guess it's more a legal question??

Just bought a new build house which has come installed with solar PV panels on the roof. Going through the contract and there is a clause that ownership and benefits of the said panels will be transferred to us, the purchaser, however our conveyancer has asked about the relevant feed in tariff which has been signed and apparently the developer is going to retain this?

He's willing to sell it to us (not sure how much he wants yet), but I am of a mind that we are paying for their upkeep, will need to replace them at some point in the future (around 20 years I understand), so we should receive the payments? Whilst we will potentially benefit from reduced energy bills any surplus will be paid to the developer which doesn't seem fair?

Not sure if this is the norm or if anyone has had experience in this?

Thanks

Scoob

[scoobster999]

We are due to exchange contracts in the coming week or two, our solicitor is firing off enquiries one of which related to the feed in tariff. I am not sure what the returns will be on the units, there are a lot of conflicting figures on the internet so whether it's worth paying to buy it is tricky to determine.

I am not particularly happy to be taking all of the risks in maintaining and eventually replacing them (or the invertor), however its late in the day as our house is sold and we are committed either way! I am hoping the developer won't be an arse and make us pay fortunes. Wasn't sure if this was the norm

[scoobster999]

I have forwarded the question to my conveyancing company and hopefully they might throw some light on what the situation is. I am not of a mind to proceed with the purchase if the developer is not going to relinquish the FIT. If the property is harder, more expensive to sell as a result then the risk outweighs the benefit and if I can then I will remove the panels, if not then I guess I will withdraw. We aren't in much during the day so won't benefit from the supply so having someone else profiting while I take the risk isn't acceptable.

Thanks for all the comments, very helpful as always.

Scoob