UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All.
So I have a new house with solar panels.  I registered with Octopus for  their smart export gurantee scheme. Electricity not use at the property is sold to the grid.
Can the tenant insist that they are the beneficiary of this scheme (I.e money made by the solar panel).
They obviously already benefit from the solar panel when in the house and use electricity generated.
Anyone had similar situation ?
Thanks.

I'd guess you'd have to ask Octopus.

For what it's worth, I've just had a tenant move out who was with Octopus and found there email based support is brilliant. Given that energy isn't price sensitive right now, that's a big tick in that company box for me.

I do not know anything about the Smart Export Guarantee but you have the same options you would have with or without Solar.

1. Include a limited amount of energy in the price of the contract in kWh and at at the same price Octopus charge you for the units and standing charge.


Q. What can I charge tenants for gas and electricity?

Landlords who resell energy to their tenants for domestic use are governed by  Maximum Resale Price (MPR) provisions set by Ofgem. This means that landlords can only resell energy at the price they have paid to a licensed energy supplier.

Tenants are entitled to receive a breakdown of the costs paid by a landlord upon  request and can take a landlord court to recover any amount which has been overcharged. Guidance on these provisions is available here.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2005/10/11782-resaleupdateoct05_3.pdf

So this would give you admin, but it would be easy to set up a template where you key in the energy used from the bill you get and enter them into a spreadsheet to issue as an invoice.  It is messy because it is another debt they owe you rather than the energy company.

Talk to Octopus because they are very accommodating, maybe they will allow you to receive the credits on your own account and get £50 and give £50 to the Tenant for their Referral scheme.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f745d308fa8f5189a93d141/Tenant_Fees_Act_2019_-_Guidance_for_landlords_and_agents.pdf


2. Use the green deal provisions of the Tenant Fees Act 2019 if they are appropriate.


It is worth you examining the Tenant Fees Act 2019 if your solar is still funded by the Green Deal as these charges can be passed on.

Q. Are loans under the Green Deal (or any subsequent energy efficiency
scheme) excluded from the ban?


Yes. Tenants are still liable to make any payments that they are responsible for under a Green Deal loan. 

https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-green-deal-guidance-for-the-property-industry-in-great-britain

3. Pass on the benefit and increase the rent to allow for it.


Whilst the Tenant Fees Act 2019 is pretty silent on utility charging and other legislation says you can charge but can't charge more than you are paying, there is a small grey area here.

Something to be mindful of is that charging for heating can be messy and Councils have used it to prevent a S21 being issued.

https://blog.goodlord.co/how-does-the-tenant-fees-act-affect-bills-included-tenancies

I have had so many clients who have evicted Tenants purely because they included energy and were suddenly making a loss, but I have also had clients who have won S13 rent reviews because they are providing less than was originally contracted for.  One sought an increase from £575 to £875 and ended up with rent being reduced to £475.

I had a case where a Landlord charged a Tenant using their own separate meter, they were lousy at admin and then tried to hit the Tenant for excess fees after 3 years, even an energy company can't charge you for more than the last year. 

It created a lot of grief and the Tenant ended up making deposit protection claim for 3 tenancies at 3x the deposit.  Ironically, the deposit was finally protected and the ADR of the scheme slashed the proposed costs which were for Energy and Water (the Tenancy actually said water was included).

Just because one can do something legally does not mean you want to be going to Court to confirm that.

How much are these credits worth and how much is your time worth, if you think you might get £20 a month then increase rent by £50 a month and that is one less monkey on your shoulder.

Quote from: berniagop on December 19, 2023, 11:00:52 AMHi All.

So I have a new house with solar panels.  I registered with Octopus for  their smart export gurantee scheme. Electricity not use at the property is sold to the grid.

Can the tenant insist that they are the beneficiary of this scheme (I.e money made by the solar panel).
They obviously already benefit from the solar panel when in the house and use electricity generated.
Anyone had similar situation ?

Thanks.

The tenant will still presumably have to pay for some electricity.I don't know how much money would be made by the sale to the grid,but if this is a very modest amount,and they are paying market rents I would just let them have it.I am not keen on making work for myself just to save a few quid.