Leading public sector law firm Trowers & Hamlins has advised on what is believed to be the first major social housing solar power project in the UK since the Feed-in Tariffs were cut by government in November last year.

The deal also breaks new ground with the arrangement of an insurance-backed solution to meet the requirements of the Council of Mortgage Lenders guidelines for lenders to housing associations.

Trowers & Hamlins acted for RCT Homes – Wales' largest Registered Social Landlord – on the deal with social enterprise Empower Community Management.  The multi-million pound deal will initially see up to 1,000 homes benefitting from the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, with the potential for further properties to benefit in the future.

PV systems will be installed on RCT Home's properties at no cost to RCT Homes, and in an innovative deal, Empower Community Management will share profits from the scheme via a local community fund in conjunction with Meadow Prospect – a regeneration charity that is a subsidiary of RCT Homes – for investment in further energy efficiency measures.

Rob Beiley, Partner at Trowers & Hamlins who advised RCT Homes on the project documentation and in negotiations with RCT Home's lenders, commented: "We are delighted to have advised on such an innovative and worthwhile venture.  Notwithstanding the issues that social housing organisations face in putting these deals together, in the light of reduced Feed-in Tariffs and the need to obtain their funders' consent, this project shows how innovative thinking can still make solar PV work."

Malcolm Wilson, RCT Homes' Deputy Chief Executive, said:  "We had always been interested in solar PV but didn’t have the funds to go it alone.  We were never in it for the money – we are more interested in attacking fuel poverty and we expect tenants that have solar PV installed to save an average of £120 per year from their energy bills.  We have found a deal that works despite all of the constraints and it shows that solar PV for social housing is back on the agenda."

http://www.trowers.com/news/releases/trowers-hamlins-advises-on-welsh-s…