Yes – leasing your building doesn’t rule solar out. It’s one of the most common questions we get from businesses looking into a PPA, and understandably so, since not owning the roof feels like it should be a blocker. In practice, most leasehold sites can go ahead, provided a couple of things line up.
For a full explanation of how a solar PPA is structured and what the agreement involves, see How Solar PPAs Work for UK Businesses.
Lease length vs ownership
Ownership of the building is not required. What matters is that the lease has enough time left on it to align with the contract. UrbanVolt looks for a minimum of 10 years remaining on the lease – the same baseline we’d want to see from a freeholder in terms of tenure security, just expressed as a lease term rather than a title.
If your lease has less than that remaining, it’s not automatically a dead end. UrbanVolt can liaise with the landlord directly, or a lease renewal already in progress can be factored into the timing. It’s worth raising early rather than assuming it’s a barrier before anyone’s looked at the numbers.
The landlord conversation
Getting landlord consent is part of the process on any leased site, and it’s a conversation to have early rather than late. Where it’s useful, UrbanVolt can engage directly with the landlord rather than leaving the tenant to carry that conversation alone. Landlords are often more open to it than businesses expect – a rooftop solar installation typically improves a building’s EPC rating, which matters increasingly to landlords given where energy performance regulation is heading, and it costs them nothing to have installed.
Why we sort lease alignment early
The lease term and the PPA term need to line up properly before anything is signed, not left as a problem to solve later. Because UrbanVolt owns the system for the length of the agreement, the tenancy needs to run at least as long as the contract does, or the contract needs to be structured to fit inside the tenancy from the outset. Getting this right at the proposal stage means there’s nothing to untangle further down the line, and both the tenant and the landlord know exactly where they stand from day one.
Where is this most common?
Leasehold sites are common across manufacturing, logistics, food and beverage, and retail – sectors where businesses often lease rather than own their premises, particularly larger warehouse and distribution units. None of that rules a site out. What matters is consumption, roof suitability, and a lease with enough runway on it – the same criteria that apply to any commercial site, just with one extra conversation involved.
If you’re not sure whether your lease term works, it’s a five-minute conversation to find out. Contact us to start your journey to energy independence.
About UrbanVolt
Founded in 2015, with the idea of making sustainability simple, UrbanVolt has become Ireland’s leading Solar as a Service provider and is now expanding rapidly across the UK. Backed by a team with decades of UK renewable energy experience, we help businesses cut carbon and reduce energy costs without the need for upfront investment.