Rental Advertised with Solar, Moved in, and There’s No Solar

sjj89 on 13/11/2021 - 08:27

So I’ve recently moved into a townhouse that was advertised as having solar panels.

Because of this, I’ve selected an electricity plan with a high feed in tariff, but slightly higher general rates.

After moving in I’ve discovered that the property doesn’t actually have solar panels. The house is <6 months old, and the landlord decided to not install solar last minute according to the property manager. They believed it was installed.

The cables where the solar meter would be are hanging out of the wall.

The property manager has admitted fault over the phone and offered me $250 compensation.

After doing the maths, I’m out approx $1000 over 12 months. Should I push for more from them?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • skid on 13/11/2021 - 08:33
    +4

    I would ask for a $20/wk rent reduction. How locked in are you at this stage?

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:50

      Locked into what?

  • Muzeeb on 13/11/2021 - 08:36
    +8

    Your electricity plan will be rejected by the electricity provider when they realise there is no registered solar setup at the property.

    • bohn on 13/11/2021 - 10:09

      yep, their meter is not configured for solar, and they cannot get a solar tariff

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:44

      Hasn’t been. 6 weeks in

  • SBOB on 13/11/2021 - 08:37
    +4

    Why are you using a 12mth example if you haven't been there 12mths?

    Do the maths, change elec plans today to one more suitable, problem solved. Take the $250 compensation.
    Work out if you want to move due to no solar panels and possibly break lease or move at end of lease

    Seems pretty simple.

    • avoidfullprice on 13/11/2021 - 09:54
      -1

      Yup, OP maths doesn't check out at this stage.

      If I just moved in, I would check for presence of inverter. By then I would have cancel my high tariff energy plan during cooling period.

      Worse case is I ring up next retailer, and ask for immediate transfer today (+10 days cooling off) . I get charge <$100 meter read but get to be on lower tariff sooner.

      Worst case is I wait for my next quarterly bill before switching retailer. That would be 3 months wait. The $250 would be reasonable.

      • Woodinski on 13/11/2021 - 17:57
        +5

        Suspect OP is factoring in savings from not having to pay a bill from having solar panels. The $250 seems low in this case.

    • brad1-8tsi on 14/11/2021 - 19:35
      +2

      My solar saves me $1200/yr and we aren't big power users.

      If I rented expecting solar then I'd be taking a $1200/yr power saving into account as part of my total cost of renting.

      I'd be asking for a $25/week reduction in rent or the solar fitted (good luck with taht during the current supply issues).

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:49

      12 month lease…

      I’m happy to renew lease after 12 months knowing there’s no solar

  • Tee Rex Arms on 13/11/2021 - 09:29
    -5

    So you’re actually out zero dollars so far and want compensation.

    • Quantumcat on 13/11/2021 - 15:11
      +2

      The rent was probably higher due to the savings on electricity bills from having solar

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:43

      It was advertised with it.

  • Pelicannn on 13/11/2021 - 09:54
    +1

    Surely your electricity plan doesn’t have a contract? Just change it to something else which will take a few days and done. Keep the $250 and it sounds like a win to me. Unless you specifically chose this place just because it had solar, then perhaps you could fight for more or break the lease but then they might argue you inspected the place and took it as is.

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:48

      Property manager already admitted fault.

      Looking like $20 p/wk is the way to go

  • Seraphin7 on 13/11/2021 - 11:36
    +5

    Anything less than a year's free rent is 100% unacceptable.

  • timthetoolman on 13/11/2021 - 11:39

    Did they tell you what size system was installed?

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:43

      No but spoke to neighbours with identical townhouses who do have solar and they have 5.5kW

  • cameldownunder on 13/11/2021 - 12:19
    +1

    How on earth did you not see the panels NOT on the roof ? It's not something small that might be missed …..

    "There is a garage with the town house" - "there isnt ?" - "No there isn't" - "Oh sorry, owner told me there is, apologies" ( Sucked in )

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:44

      It’s a townhouse. You can’t see the rooftop

  • cjbowden on 13/11/2021 - 13:03
    +9

    As a landlord, I normally side with the owner. However, in this case I think it is reasonable that you expected that the electricity charges for your place would be lower as a result of solar, and they are not. Forgot any ideas about trying to claim money you might have got from feed in, but you can easily say your $1000 a year electricity bill wouldn't be there if the solar was as promised. $1000 / 52 weeks = $20 week.

    I would be asking for a rent reduction each week, not a lump sum (one off).

    • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:47

      It’s not the owners fault here, it’s the property manager assuming solar was on the property.

      I think I’ll hit them with an in writing request

      • pw87 on 22/11/2021 - 18:38
        +1

        Property manager works for the landlord. They may need to forfeit their commission for their mistake.

  • lgacb08 on 13/11/2021 - 13:44

    How did you work out that you'll be $1000 out of pocket? Is that just make up number assuming you'll be with that retailer for 12 months? I don't think there's any electricity retailer forcing you to stay on the plan with exit fee any more. You can quit anytime, it's not a mobile contract mate.

    • brad1-8tsi on 14/11/2021 - 19:37

      6.6kw solar would save $1k+ per year. You'd factor that in as part of your total cost of living at that residence.

      • sjj89 on 14/11/2021 - 20:46

        My previous rental had a 4.5kW and each quarter would result in $160-$200 p/qtr solar feed in

        • avoidfullprice on 14/11/2021 - 22:27

          Your original post only talks about selecting an electricity plan with a high feed in tariff, but slightly higher supply/usage rates. You have been compensated for the choice.

          The subsequent talk about missed savings. You would need to know what solar electricity system size your current rental townhouse will be able to fit. Also how much would that actually cost the landlord to install, and how much extra rent been factored in to "recoup" the non existent cost. But we don't know these. What I do know is it is not cheap to install solar electricity system on roof double storey townhouse, and solar system size is limited due to roof space constraints.

          If you want rent reduction, suggest you compare like for like of similar rental, then say hey, you advertised $x /wk higher than similar units because of solar, but you don't have it, so don't charge me more than similar property rent?

          • sjj89 on 15/11/2021 - 07:19

            @avoidfullprice: My neighbours in identical townhouses have 5.5kW systems.

            You do understand that it is illegal to advertise a property as having infrastructure installed that it does not?
            Also, it was not the landlord’s error, but the property manager who did not perform their due diligence

            • lgacb08 on 15/11/2021 - 11:32

              @sjj89: The question was did you sign up to that property on the condition that it had solar and it was advertised as such? If yes then you're entitled to cancel the contract and go look for something else. I doubt it will work if you want the agent giving you $1000 off rental for a year given the condition of the property.
              Between having and not having solar, depending on your usage the cost savings between cheapest options will be less than $1000. You can blow up your number assuming you'll use 100 of what generated but given your past bills it's unlikely.

          • brad1-8tsi on 16/11/2021 - 10:08

            @avoidfullprice:

            it is not cheap to install solar electricity system on roof double storey townhouse, and solar system size is limited due to roof space constraints.

            Depends on what you define as cheap.
            My townhouse is 3 stories with crap access. 40sqm roof area. 4kw system = $4k from Clipsal Solar.

            Similar price as a 6.6kw system on a single story with a more flexible roof area. Payback will be 4 years. Not amazing but not what I'd classify as expensive or a poor investment.

      • lgacb08 on 15/11/2021 - 11:35
        +1

        Good luck getting that $1000 off yearly rental on that new built, if the landlord decided to skim on solar he won't give even half of that figure. Getting money from agent will be even harder.

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