How to Transfer Utilities When Moving

If you are overseeing a house move, there’s the obvious question of how to transfer utilities. That includes making sure that the new home is nicely toasty, has running water and offers reliable internet when the new household moves in.

It’s always a big milestone when someone sets up home for themselves — especially if they are buying a property. Of course, many people instead choose to rent — as you will likely know if you are a buy-to-let landlord.

However, whether you are facilitating a house move or instead doing the actual moving-in, it is important that anyone living in the property on a day-to-day basis will have access to essential utilities as and when they need them.

As award-winning estate and lettings agents, we are thoroughly experienced with the North West property market. As a result, we have seen many clients trying to figure out how to transfer utilities smoothly and seamlessly between homes. 

How Exactly Do You Transfer Utilities? Our Easy Guide

Are you a UK landlord who wants to know how to transfer utilities to a tenant? Perhaps you are that tenant, and fear having to postpone the moving-in date as a result of, say, the new home’s electricity not working.

On the other hand, you might be a seller keen on ensuring that the new owners of your property will not have to fumble in getting its heating up and running.

Ultimately, in any of these scenarios, how you get utilities from one domestic address to another will depend on which utilities you need shifting. 

Often, it will largely just be a matter of getting in touch with the utility provider. Sometimes, they will be able to arrange a pretty simple switch. In other situations, though, the jump can be a bit more complex.

If you are the seller or landlord, encourage the resident to gather the account holder details they have with their existing utility providers. 

In many instances, utility companies will be happy to transfer existing contracts from the old house to the new one. However, in some cases, this transition process could take weeks — meaning that planning well in advance is key.

Whether You’re Moving Out or Renting Out – Lancashire’s Top Estate Agents Can Help

No matter how carefully you plan a house move, the process itself can bring more than a few bumps. For this reason, it’s reassuring to have an experienced estate agent or letting agent to assist you as you navigate the obstacles.

Are you aiming to buy or rent a property in Manchester or Lancashire? We’re here to help – from the moment you conduct a property search, all the way to when you seal the deal on a purchase or rental.

With our trusted track record in the North West, we have become the region’s go-to estate agents. It’s easy to get in touch — just email info@jonsimon.co.uk or call our Burnley, Radcliffe or Ramsbottom team.

Which Utilities to Switch

Exactly which utilities need switching will depend on the specific household’s needs. However, listed below are the key utilities that most people will need to transfer. Here is how you would go about switching each…

• Electricity: At least 48 hours before the moving date, ask the current supplier if they can end or transfer the electricity tariff.
• Gas: This works much the same as transferring an electricity deal, in that you can choose to end the existing contract if transferring is not possible.
• Water: Since what water provider a home relies on depends on its location, you can end an account with one provider and start over with another one.
• Council tax: Are you set to move home? Let the local authority for your old home know that you will no longer need to pay council tax on that property. They can also help you register for your new one if you.
• Internet: If the current broadband contract is not set to soon expire, simply move it to the new address lest you are likely forced to pay heavy penalties.
• Satellite TV: This largely just entails updating the account data — and having an engineer fit a satellite dish at the new house if necessary.
• TV licence fee: Up to three months before moving home, update the residential address to which your TV licence is registered.

When contacting an energy provider at this stage, remember to provide them with the new home’s address. That way, the final bill on the tariff for the old home will safely reach the resident in their new home.

Don’t Get Caught Out – Take Meter Readings Before You Leave!

With some utilities, the current home will have a meter that tracks usage each month. If you are the resident, you should take a final reading of that meter on the day you are set to move into the new home.

This is a crucial step because when the final bill for your energy usage in the old home arrives at your new home, you might take issue with how much you are being charged. 

In this situation, you could feel grateful for having a record — such as a photo — of the meter reading. This record could strengthen your case if you decide to lodge a formal objection to the bill’s amount with the energy supplier.

If the current home has a smart meter, check whether it is in ‘smart mode’. If it is, it will be automatically submitting readings to the energy supplier. If it isn’t, you will need to manually send this company the final reading.

What if you rent the home and, under the tenancy agreement, the energy bills are included in the rent? In that case, you should pass the final reading to the landlord, who can then send it to the supplier.

Failing to give the landlord this reading could potentially result in you being asked to pay a one-off charge to cover unexpectedly high energy costs.

Your Handy Checklist for Transferring Utilities

You could understandably struggle to keep track of all the utilities you need to transfer when moving house. This is why we have prepared the following useful checklist, complete with details of who to contact in each case.

• Electricity: Contact the current energy supplier.
• Gas: Contact the current energy supplier.
• Water: Contact your water utility provider.
• Council tax: Contact your local authority.
• Internet: Contact your broadband provider.
• Satellite TV: Contact your satellite TV provider.
• TV licence fee: Log into the TV Licensing website to update your address.

Take the Chance to Review Your Rates

Your initial instinct might be to simply transfer utilities in their existing form. After all, going down this route would surely save you time.

However, you could miss an ideal opportunity to look at your current utility rates and assess whether they still represent the best value for money.

It’s worth acknowledging that if you are on a fixed-term tariff, ending it early could leave you on the hook to pay an ‘exit fee’. So, you might want to ask the supplier if they would be able to transfer this deal to the new home.

Still, many people looking to switch utilities could financially benefit in the long run from scouring the market for a different contract. 

Whether you do find a better deal or decide that you are best off with what you already have, your peace of mind could thank you for making this search.

It could help if, as soon as you move into the new property or start renting it, you read its meters. Doing so could help you to judge whether you are being overcharged for utilities.

JonSimon Can Help You Make Your Perfect Move

We don’t deny that it can often be a convoluted process to transfer utilities — even when some of them are relatively simple to carry over to a new home.

With our more than 15 years of experience in helping people to buy or sell homes, we are in a great position to help you transfer utilities, too.

You could, for example, be any of the following:

• A buy-to-let Investor trying to discern how to transfer utilities to a tenant of a UK property
• A renter eager to hit the ground running when entering the next chapter of life in a new home
• A seller who doesn’t want to leave the home’s new owners in the lurch when it comes to the availability of utilities in the property

Not only do our many happy customers tell us that we’ve helped them, with a 5-star review rating. We’ve also got all of the accreditations from respected industry bodies that you’d hope for from a reputable estate agent. Including from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Propertymark (formerly the National Association of Estate Agents, or NAEA).

If you would like to move into a new home in Manchester or Lancashire, check out our latest property listings.

What if you are more interested in dipping your toes into the local property market as a seller or landlord?

We can help here, too. We help sellers get the best price for their homes and make seamless sales happen. We also run seminars updating landlords on the latest buy-to-let regulations. It’s all possible as part of our end-to-end service.

Simply get in touch by emailing info@jonsimon.co.uk or call our Burnley, Radcliffe or Ramsbottom team.