How to organise utilities when you move

Updated: 29th Jul, 2024

Sort utilities for your new property

When you buy a new home you will need to make sure your utilities are set up correctly. This includes making sure you give enough notice to your current providers and taking meter readings (in both the home you are moving out of, and your new home) to make sure you aren’t billed for energy or water you don’t use.

In this guide we will cover:

🚿 Water
💡 Gas & Electricity
🛜 Internet, Phone & TV

🚿 Water

Giving Notice

When you know your moving date you should let the water company at your current property know. You normally need to give the company 5 working days’ notice.

Finding a supplier

If you are moving to an area supplied by your current water company, you should tell them your new address. You can check which water company supplies your new home using the Consumer Council for Water’s website. If you are moving to an area with a different water company, you should let them know via their website.

Meter readings

If you have a water meter, you should do readings to make sure you are billed correctly. On completion day take a reading at your new property, and on moving day you should do a reading at your previous property. This will mean you can make sure you aren’t charged for water that you don’t use.

💡 Gas & Electricity

Giving Notice

When you move home you should notify your old electricity and gas supplier, giving at least 48 hours’ notice (the more notice you can provide, the better). You should let them know your new address so they can send you your final bill.

If you are on a fixed tariff you might be charged an exit fee if you leave your contract early. If you want to stay on your current tariff when you move home you should contact your supplier and see if they will let you keep the same contract at your new home.

Finding a supplier

If you aren’t sure who the supplier at your current or new property is, you can check the Ofgem website. If you are moving into a new build property you might need to ask the property developer.

When you move in you should contact the current supplier at your new home. They will set you up with an account and put you on a standard tariff. You could then check online price comparison websites to see if you can find a better deal.

Meter Readings

Do a final reading of your gas and electricity meters when you move out of your previous home so you can make sure you aren’t paying for energy you didn’t use. It is also worth doing a meter reading at your new home, just in case you need to query the first bills you get in your new home.

Dealing with Credit

If you have built up credit and have money left with your old energy supplier they will refund you. This should happen within 10 working days of them sending you the final bill.

🛜 Internet, Phone & TV

Giving Notice

Before you move, you should contact your current providers to transfer or cancel your service. If you are planning to cancel any contracts be aware that there might be cancellation fees for leaving early. You’ll normally need to give 30 days’ notice for cancellation, but this can vary depending on the provider. In the case of broadband you might also need to return any routers or modems. Your provider will give you instructions on how to do this.

Finding a provider

Under normal circumstances transferring your Home Phone, TV and Internet to your new home should be simple. However, there may be circumstances where your current deal isn’t available with your new property. This is most common with broadband where you may not be able to get the same internet speeds at your new property.

You can check which broadband network providers are available in your new home by using the Ofcom broadband availability checker. If you are moving into a new build property, you might need to ask the developer what broadband options are available.

Setup at your new home

To get set up in your new home you will need to coordinate a start date with your provider so that you have access as soon as possible. We recommend waiting until you have exchanged contracts and know your completion date before doing this.

However, it can sometimes take a while for an engineer to come out to install your wifi, which could lead to a delay in getting internet access in your new home. It could be worth finding out the estimated wait time and then making a decision once you know that. How to do this will vary by supplier, but on Virgin Media you can start going through the checkout process and it will show you what dates are available to book an engineer (before you need to give them any personal details).

✅ Tips & Tricks

Moving into a new home can be a good opportunity to review your bills and find better deals on utilities. There are lots of price comparison websites such as Compare the Market which can help you do this.
If you have a long delay before the internet can be installed in your new home you could try speaking to the seller (via your estate agent) to see if their contract is still active and if they’d be happy to leave their router for you to use. Alternatively, you could try to hire a temporary 5G wifi router or use your phone as a mobile hotspot to connect your other devices to the internet.
The Energy Performance Certificate you receive when you purchase the property will have information about the energy efficiency of your new home, and might give you areas you can improve to reduce your bills e.g. reducing the amount of gas needed to heat your home.

Other things you will need to organise when moving into a new home include