Interesting wording on FiTs contract form (from SWALEC)

[Ivan]

If you have purchased a property which has a system installed please provide one of the following documents:
1) a letter from the previous owner confirming that you are now the owner of the system.
2) a copy of the original final paid invoice in the previous owner’s name.
3) the completion letter from the solicitors confirming that you are now the owner of the property, including a list of fixtures and fittings that display the system as part of the sale.

[clockmanFR]

And about time too.
 Its a step to stopping the "Time share cowboys" from rent a roof.

I allways wonder if somebody devious is actually claiming FIT's for our installation, which we use and is are own but have not regester-ed.

It was not many years ago when a local farmer was claiming EEC money on our fields, even though he had never used them and we never gave him permission.

[brackwell]

Would this arise in the case of rent a roof ? Both the old and the new owners have not nor are able to have a contract as that is already in place with the panel owners. But it sure must make a complication for solicitors.

[Ivan]

It looks as though this wording is to protect the "rent-a-roof" PV investors.

It's easy to see these people as the bad guys as  noone wants to see investors get rich, but the funding they provide is helping to ensure that more PV systems are installed in the UK. I always advice people that if they have the money, buying the system outright is the best option, but a great many consumers (probably 95%) neither have the money, nor would they buy a PV installation if they had the money, simply because they'd rather spend the money on something else, or that they don't consider a 6 year payback period sufficiently quick to warrant the expenditure. In this case, the 'rent-a-roof' option is perfect to ensure PV is installed where it would not be otherwise.