In short
When you're buying a house with solar panels, check whether they're owned or leased, get the MCS certificate, network operator notification and any Feed-in Tariff paperwork, and know the inverter's age before you exchange. A roof lease changes the answer most, because most mortgage lenders must consent to it.
Your offer has been accepted, there are panels on the roof, and the solicitor has sent a form with a solar section you're not sure how to answer. Or you've already moved in, and nobody told you what the box in the loft does or who to call when it stops.
Buying a house with solar panels: the checks, in order
There are four checks, and the order matters.
- Owned or leased. A roof lease can affect your mortgage, so it has to come out first.
- The seller's paperwork. It's easiest to get while the seller still owns the house.
- The system itself. Mainly the inverter's age and when it was last inspected.
- Who looks after it from here. Especially if the original installer has stopped trading.
Sellers in England and Wales answer the first of these on the Law Society's Property Information Form (TA6). Question 17.4 asks whether solar panels are fitted and "whether they are owned outright by you or if they are the subject of a lease" (Law Society TA6 notes).
Don't rely on the mortgage valuation for the rest. The Law Society's notes say the lender's inspection "is not a survey but only a valuation for the lender's purposes", so nobody will have looked at the solar unless you ask.
What to check when buying a house with solar panels
Owned or leased. Some early Feed-in Tariff schemes fitted panels at no upfront cost in return for a lease of the roof space, and the company kept the tariff payments. UK Finance says most lenders' mortgage conditions "will require the lender's consent to be obtained to any lease", including a lease of roof space for solar panels (UK Finance Lenders' Handbook).
What to do: if the TA6 says leased, tell your solicitor and lender straight away. The Law Society warns you "cannot assume that just because your lender accepted the lease, another lender will do the same".
The MCS certificate. It records that the system was designed and fitted to MCS standards, and it lists "the type and model of the installed technology" (MCS). Export payment suppliers will ask you to show the installation was suitably certified, and Ofgem names the MCS certificate as one way to do it (Ofgem SEG guidance).
What to do: ask the seller for it now. If the installer is no longer trading, MCS can issue a copy, but only to the current owner or their legal representative, for £36 including VAT.
Proof the network operator was told. Every solar system should be registered with the local distribution network operator (DNO). Government guidance says "it is the energy device owner's responsibility to ensure that the DNO has received this notification" (GOV.UK).
What to do: ask for the notification or the operator's reply. If there isn't one, a system can be notified after the event, and it's worth doing for export payments, insurance and the next sale.
The building regulations certificate. The same guidance says the certificate for notifiable work "should be provided upon selling the property".
What to do: ask for it together with the electrical installation certificate from when the system was fitted.
Feed-in Tariff or export payments. Feed-in Tariff payments don't move over on their own. Ofgem says a new owner "should contact the FIT licensee who the installation is registered with" (Ofgem), and makes it the new owner's responsibility "to obtain all appropriate records from the previous FIT Generator" (Ofgem FIT guidance).
What to do: get the licensee's name, recent statements and meter readings from the seller before completion. The scheme closed to new applicants on 1 April 2019, so if there's no FIT you'd look at a Smart Export Guarantee tariff in your own name.
Guarantees, warranties and any maintenance agreement. Ask for the panel and inverter warranties, the installer's workmanship guarantee and any maintenance agreement; the TA6 asks the seller about a maintenance agreement too. The Renewable Energy Consumer Code says a member's workmanship guarantee must "be transferable to the new owner in the event that the Consumer moves home", and must be insurance-backed so the full term is honoured if the installer stops trading (RECC Consumer Code).
What to do: read each document's own terms and any steps needed to transfer it, rather than assuming it carries over. If the installer has gone, our guide to what happens when your solar installer goes out of business covers the next steps.
The inverter's age. The inverter wears out long before the panels. The Energy Saving Trust says it needs replacing after around 12 years (Energy Saving Trust).
What to do: find the install date on the MCS certificate. If the system is ten years old or more, budget for a replacement.
When it was last inspected. We recommend an inspection every one to two years, in line with the Energy Saving Trust, with the MCS maintenance schedule as the minimum.
What to do: ask the seller for the last service report. If there isn't one, a solar panel health check once the house is yours tells you where you stand.
What we see on real jobs
This section is short on purpose. It's what we see across the older systems we're called to, not one buyer's story.
Paperwork nobody knew about is common. On the network operator forms, Tony Beckett, our director, says "a lot of customers just don't know that you have to do this". So on a house you're buying, check the notification exists rather than assume it.
Older systems often haven't been looked after. Tony says a lot of the older systems we see haven't had a service in something like ten years, and many of them need bird proofing as well.
What it costs to check and put right
These are our published prices, plus the one official fee you might meet:
- A routine service on a home system: around £200 to £300, with a written report afterwards.
- A replacement inverter: £1,200 to £2,000 fitted, depending on the inverter.
- Bird proofing, if pigeons have moved in: around £400 to £800.
- A copy of a lost MCS certificate: £36 including VAT, paid to MCS, not to us.
We service systems we didn't install, so it doesn't matter who fitted it or whether they're still trading. Our solar servicing and maintenance page lists what a service covers.
When to call someone, and what to send
Go back to your solicitor before exchange if: the panels are leased, there's no MCS certificate, there's no sign the network operator was told, or Feed-in Tariff payments need moving over. These are the seller's documents, and they're hardest to get once the sale has gone through.
Call us if: there's no service record, the inverter is ten years old or more, generation looks low, or birds have got under the panels. We're based in Warrington and work across the UK.
What to send us on WhatsApp:
- your postcode
- a photo of the panels, and one of the inverter including its label
- the MCS certificate, which shows the make and model
- the seller's TA6 solar answers
- a generation meter reading or a screenshot from the monitoring app
- any Feed-in Tariff statements
That's how most of our jobs start. In Tony's words, "we do everything via WhatsApp".
Key points
Owned or leased comes first. Most lenders must consent to a roof lease, so raise it with your solicitor and lender before anything else.
Get the seller's paperwork before exchange. MCS certificate, building regulations certificate, proof the network operator was told, Feed-in Tariff records and any guarantees.
A valuation isn't a check of the panels. Know the inverter's age and when the system was last inspected.
Most gaps can be put right. MCS can reissue a certificate to the owner, and a system can be notified to the network operator after the event.
Questions people also ask
Who owns the solar panels when you buy a house?
If the seller owns them outright, they're part of what you're buying. If they're on a roof lease, the lease company keeps them for the rest of the lease, which is why the TA6 form asks the seller which it is.
Is a mortgage valuation enough to check the solar panels?
No. The Law Society's notes on the TA6 form say the lender's inspection is only a valuation for the lender's purposes, not a survey, so ask the seller for the last service report or have the system checked.
What if the seller can't find the MCS certificate?
Ask the original installer first. If they're no longer trading or no longer certified, MCS can issue a copy to the current owner for £36 including VAT, with proof of address.
Do new-build homes come with solar panels?
Not all of them yet. In England, the Future Homes and Buildings Standards come into force on 24 March 2027 and add a requirement for onsite renewable electricity on new homes, though homes whose building control application went in before then, and where work starts before 24 March 2028, can still be built under the old rules.
Buying a house with panels on the roof? Book a solar health check or send us a photo of the inverter on WhatsApp.
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