The short answer
Before exchange, ask the seller for the MCS certificate, the electrical certificate, the building regulations record, the network notification and every warranty. In a conservation area or on a listed building, ask whether the panels needed consent and see the decision. Export payments do not transfer automatically: the new owner registers with a supplier using the MCS certificate.
Start early
Questions about panels are easiest to settle in the first weeks of a purchase, when the seller is assembling documents anyway. Raise them with your solicitor as soon as an offer is accepted. If a document is missing, there is then time to obtain a copy from the original firm, from MCS, or from the network operator, rather than holding up exchange. A seller who cannot produce any paperwork at all is not necessarily hiding anything, but it shifts the burden of checking onto you. The property information forms your solicitor sends the seller include questions about solar, and the answers there are the starting point for everything below.
The papers to ask for
| Document | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| MCS certificate | Needed to register for export payments; proves the system was certified when fitted. |
| Electrical installation certificate | Shows the new circuit was tested and signed off. |
| Building regulations compliance | Usually issued through the electrician’s scheme; confirms the work was notified. |
| Network notification or approval | G98 notice or G99 approval from the network operator. |
| Warranties | Panels, inverter, any battery, and the workmanship warranty with its insurance. |
| Consents, if any | Planning permission, prior approval or Listed Building Consent, with the decision notice. |
| Generation records | Monitoring data or meter readings for at least a full year, if available. |
The MCS certificate is the most important. Without it, you cannot register for export payments under the SEG (Ofgem). If the seller has lost it, MCS can usually confirm whether a certificate was issued for the address; the firm that fitted the system, if it is still trading, can supply a copy. Check that firm on the MCS search while you are at it.
Who owns the panels
Most systems are owned outright by the householder and pass to the buyer with the house. Some, usually fitted some years ago under schemes that offered panels in exchange for the tariff payments the system would earn, are owned by another company under a lease of the roof space. A lease like that binds the house: the new owner takes on its terms, which may restrict roof work and give the company rights of access. Some mortgage lenders have particular requirements for houses with such leases. Ask the seller directly whether the system is owned or leased, and ask your solicitor to read any lease before you commit.
A battery, monitoring equipment and any car charger should be listed on the fittings and contents form. If the seller plans to take anything with them, it should say so.
Consents in Congleton’s old town
Much of central Congleton lies in conservation areas: West Street, Lawton Street and Moody Street, and Park Lane, according to the council’s appraisal index. Your solicitor’s local search will show whether the house is in one. That alone is not a problem for panels. On an unlisted house, panels on a roof slope within the size limits are permitted development under Part 14 of the permitted development order, with no application.
Three situations needed approval, and for these you should see the decision:
- panels on a wall facing the road in a conservation area, which need planning permission;
- panels on a flat roof on land in a conservation area, which need a prior approval decision under the current rules;
- any panel on a listed building, which needs planning permission and Listed Building Consent.
Check whether the house is listed on Historic England’s listed building search. Unauthorised work on a listed building stays with the building, and the new owner can be required to put it right, so a missing consent on a listed house is a serious matter to resolve before exchange. Listed buildings and conservation areas explain the rules in more detail.
The 2010 Moody Street appraisal said an Article 4 direction on roof changes would be considered. The council’s list of Article 4(2) areas does not include Congleton (council page), but if the house is in the town centre, ask your solicitor to confirm with the council that no direction affects it.
The network record
The local network operator should have been told about the system: notified within 28 days for a small system under G98, or asked for approval in advance under G99 for a larger one. The seller should have a copy. If not, the original firm may, or the operator can confirm. To find out which operator is responsible for the street, enter the postcode in the ENA search; the difference between the two procedures is set out on grid connection.
Checking the system itself
A building survey looks at the roof but rarely tests a solar system. A few simple checks help:
- Ask for a year or more of generation figures, from the monitoring app or meter readings, and compare them with what the roof should make. An unshaded south roof at 35° in Congleton makes about 909 kWh per kWp a year in the PVGIS runs for this guide (PVGIS 5.3); output has other directions.
- Note the age of the inverter. Inverters usually have a shorter life than panels and may need replacing during the panels’ lifetime.
- Look for signs of trouble around the panels: slipped or cracked slates, staining in the loft beneath, birds nesting under the array.
- If there is a battery, check where it is installed and ask for its warranty and the date it was fitted.
Where anything looks wrong, a certified firm can inspect the system before exchange. Choosing an installer lists the checks to run on whoever you ask.
Moving the export payments
Export payments are tied to a person and a supplier, not to the house. When the sale completes, the seller’s export account should close. You then choose a supplier offering an export tariff, which need not be your import supplier, and register with the MCS certificate and your meter details. Take a meter reading on the day you move in. An older system may still be receiving payments under the Feed-in Tariff, which closed to new applicants in 2019; if so, ask the seller which supplier pays it and contact that supplier to transfer it. How much of the output a new household might use itself, and how much it would export, is covered on export and self-use.
Insurance and the mortgage
Tell your buildings insurer that the house has panels, and a battery if there is one, when you arrange cover. Most insurers treat a properly installed system as part of the building, but they want to know, and an undisclosed system can complicate a claim. Your mortgage lender may ask about the panels too, especially if they are on a roof lease. Your solicitor’s report on title should mention any lease, and the lender’s valuer will usually note the panels. None of this is unusual, but it is easier to deal with before completion than afterwards.
Warranties and their transfer
Makers’ warranties on panels and inverters normally follow the equipment, but some require registration by the owner. The workmanship warranty and its insurance may need the new owner’s details. Ask for the documents and contact details, and register in your own name soon after completion. If the system includes a battery, its warranty terms often have conditions about how it is used: see batteries.
If you plan to add panels after buying
If the house has no panels and you plan to add them, the same rules apply as for any owner, and the conservation area and listing checks are worth doing before you exchange so there are no surprises. The roof and route check gives a quick view of the planning route for a given house, and the question form takes anything specific.