Moving house sometime in the future? We’ve got all the information you need on how to transfer your broadband to your new home.
Thankfully, most broadband providers are happy for you to move your service just like you move your furniture across.
Use our postcode checker to see what's available in your new area, then find out what to do about your current contract.
We’ve compiled a list of the most popular providers and what you’ll need to do to move your broadband with them.
Moving home with BT
What to do: The BT website (bt.com) has an easy online portal for requesting a home move. All you need is your account number, current phone number, new address and moving date. Take your equipment with you when you move – you can easily install it yourself, unless a new line is needed.
How long does it take? BT recommends giving two weeks' notice, although it can support shorter notice periods in most cases. If there's already a working line at your new place, it'll get going in a couple of days; but getting a new line installed could take two weeks.
Cost: Free, unless you need a new line installed or if there’s no BT master socket in your new home.
Do I need a new contract? If you're in the last three months of your current contract, then yes, you'll need to renew it. If not, your current contract will just continue.
Can I still get fibre? Most likely, yes – BT Superfast Fibre has wide availability across the UK. Depending on the coverage at your new address, you may be able to upgrade to an even faster fibre package, or you may need to downgrade to a slower service.
Moving home with Plusnet
What to do: Call Plusnet's (plus.net) customer services with your username, move date, and new address to hand.
If you have a broadband-only package, you’ll also need to sort out your new phone line. If your phone line provider isn’t Plusnet, ask them for a Linked Order Reference Number (LORN), as well as the date your line will be installed. Then, contact Plusnet with these bits of information – they’ll take care of the rest.
How long does it take? Plusnet advises letting them know at least four weeks in advance before you move. This will give them enough time to book an engineer if necessary.
Once it's all arranged, you should be online by the end of your moving day – or, if an engineer is called out, by the end of your installation day.
Cost: It’s free if you take out a new contract. However, you’ll have to pay a home move charge if you’re continuing the same contract. Another fee applies on top of that if you need a new line installed by Plusnet.
Do I need a new contract? Not necessarily – but Plusnet does encourage you to get one. Not to mention, you won’t have to pay any home moving fees if you get a new contract.
Can I still get fibre? Yes, as long as it’s available in your area. Since you're encouraged to get a new contract anyway, it's not difficult to arrange an upgrade or a downgrade should you need to. Plus, if you upgrade from standard broadband to fibre, Plusnet will supply a free router.
Moving home with Sky
What to do: Log in to your ‘My Sky’ account on Sky's website (sky.com) to arrange a home move. You’ll need to confirm your new address and moving date.
If you’re also a Sky TV customer, you may need a satellite dish, depending on the package you have. So, if you require a satellite dish and your new property doesn’t already have one, an engineer will need to come and install it.
How long does it take? Sky needs at least two weeks' notice, but you can book your move up to 90 days in advance. They'll give you an installation date, and, provided everything else is sorted out, you should be online from that point.
Cost: Transferring the package itself is free, but any installation, such as a satellite dish, will cost extra.
Do I need a new contract?: Nope, you can continue your old one.
Can I still get fibre? Sky broadband uses BT’s Openreach network, so it’s highly likely that you’ll be able to get a fibre connection at your new address.
Moving home with TalkTalk
What to do: You can arrange your home move through TalkTalk's website (talktalk.co.uk) – simply log in to your account to get in touch via phone or live chat. You’ll need to let them know your new address and your moving date.
Once you're moved, you'll also need to re-register and re-activate your TV2Go and Talk2Go apps.
How long does it take? TalkTalk requires a minimum of 14 days' notice, but you can book your move up to three months in advance.
Cost: It’ll cost £60 to move your services to a new home.
Do I need a new contract? If you’re on one of TalkTalk’s Fixed Price Plans, you’ll be able to continue your current contract. On the other hand, if you’re on its legacy packages, TalkTalk will update you to its new Fixed Low Price plan.
Can I still get fibre? Sure, if it’s available in your new area. If you can’t get fibre at your new address and you need to downgrade to a slower plan, that's no problem either – you'll just get a new contract.
Moving home with Virgin Media
What to do: Call Virgin Media's (virginmedia.com) customer service to arrange a home move, and be sure to have your new and old addresses, moving date, and account number to hand. When moving day comes, take your equipment with you, as you may be able to install it yourself.
How long does it take? Virgin Media advises you to give as much notice as possible before your move.
Cost: You’ll need to pay a one-off fee of £20 to move your service to your new home.
Do I need a new contract? Nope – you can stick with your current contract. Alternatively, you may wish to upgrade or downgrade to a new contract, depending on what speeds you can get at your new address.
Can I still get fibre? Unlike most other providers, Virgin Media doesn’t use the Openreach network to provide broadband. As it runs on its own cable network, it’s not quite as widely available – check first to see if you can get fibre in your area.
Moreover, if your new home doesn't connect to Virgin Media at all, you'll have to cancel your contract and pay an Early Disconnection Fee.
Moving home with Now Broadband
What to do: To get your home move started, give Now Broadband a call – you’ll need to tell them your moving date and new postcode. After initiating the move, you’ll be able to track its progress through your online account. You’ll need to bring the two microfilters that came with your Now Broadband Hub to your new home.
How long does it take? Now Broadband recommends getting in touch with them as soon as possible – at least two weeks before you move. This is because it takes around 10 working days for Now to switch your broadband to your new address, including organising an engineer visit if required.
Cost: Free – you won’t be charged any moving fees.
Do I need a new contract? When you get in touch with Now Broadband, they’ll let you know whether you can stay on your current membership, or if you need to change your plan. If you want to change your contract anyway, they can arrange that.
Can I still get fibre? If you’re moving to a fibre area, then yep. Otherwise, Now Broadband’s Brilliant Broadband package is a standard connection that should be available even in the most rural locations.
Moving home with Vodafone Broadband
What to do: To request a home move from Vodafone, get in touch with them by phone. You’ll need your Vodafone account or landline number, new address and moving in/out dates. Once it’s been arranged, you’ll just need to bring your router to your new home.
How long does it take? Vodafone asks for at least 30 days’ notice before you move home.
Cost: It’s free to move your broadband between homes. However, if you need a new line installed, you’ll need to pay a fee (£60 for line installations, up to £149 for non-standard line installations).
Do I need a new contract? No, you can stay on your existing contract as long as it’s available at your new address. If you’re moving somewhere that Vodafone doesn’t cover, you won’t need to pay any early termination fees for leaving your contract – however, you’ll be charged a £15 admin fee for processing the early cancellation.
Can I still get fibre? Definitely – Vodafone only offers fibre optic broadband. Depending on what speeds you can in your new home, you could potentially upgrade or downgrade your package.
Moving home with EE Broadband
What to do: To start a home move, give EE a call or log in to your ‘My EE’ account. After that, they’ll keep you updated by text message and email, or you can track the progress of your move through your online account (ee.co.uk). When you make the move, you’ll need to bring your current router with you and reconnect it at your new address.
How long does it take? EE requires at least three weeks’ notice before your move.
Cost: It’s completely free to move your line, even if an engineer is needed. What’s more, EE gives you your first month of broadband for free once you’ve completed your move, as well as a 50GB data boost if you’re an existing EE pay monthly mobile customer.
Do I need a new contract? No, unless you want to upgrade or downgrade your plan.
Can I still get fibre? Yes, as long as it’s available in your new area.
What if I want to change providers?
Moving home is a great opportunity to find an even better broadband deal for your new place, particularly if you’re out of contract. Enter your new postcode into our postcode checker to see what's available, or check out some deals:
- 132Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 18 month contract
- £22.99 per month
- £18.55 Avg. monthly cost
- 264Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 18 month contract
- £0.00 for 3 months
- £25.99 for months 4 - 18
- £21.66 Avg. monthly cost
- 75Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 24 month contract
- £25.00 per month
- £20.83 Avg. monthly cost
- 150Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 24 month contract
- £22.00 per month
- £16.17 Avg. monthly cost
- 150Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 24 month contract
- £27.00 per month
- £22.83 Avg. monthly cost
- 150Mb average* speed
- No TV channels
- £0.00 Setup costs
- 24 month contract
- £30.00 per month
*Average speeds are based on the download speeds of at least 50% of customers at peak time(8pm to 10pm). Speed can be affected by a range of technical and environmental factors. The speed you receive where you live may be lower than that listed above. You can check the estimated speed to your property prior to purchasing.
Broadband providers are always eager for new customers to sign up to their services – so much so that they’ll make the switch as easy as possible for you, whether it’s waiving any move-in fees or taking care of cancelling your current service.
Can I cancel my contract when moving home?
Certainly, yes. But like with leaving any contract before the minimum term is up, you’ll most likely need to pay an early termination fee for every month that’s left on your current contract.
Nevertheless, it may be worth taking the opportunity to cancel your contract during your home move. As well as getting the best deals when starting a new contract, you usually won’t need to pay anything extra to move your broadband.
In contrast, many providers charge a fee if you want to transfer your existing broadband to your new home.
How to set up internet in new build homes and flats
If you’re moving to a new build, you might find that you have no choice over your broadband provider.
This is because it’s quite common for one provider to exclusively provide broadband for an entire building or street of new builds.
It’ll typically offer much faster speeds than if you choose your own provider – you’ll be able to enjoy ultrafast or even full fibre speeds.
Hyperoptic is one such provider that often services new builds, offering full fibre broadband with speeds of up to 1Gbps.
On the other hand, if you’re able to choose your own provider, the process for setting up internet access in your new build home is the same as any other house.
How long does it take to set up broadband in a new home?
Providers usually take around two weeks to set up internet in a new house, which is why most require at least two weeks’ notice. If there’s already a working broadband line in your new property, it should be a quick and easy process.
However, if a line installation is required, it can take a little longer to arrange an engineer visit.
In most cases, providing that you’ve given enough notice to your broadband provider, you should be able to get internet access as soon as you’ve set up the necessary equipment in your new home – for example, by simply plugging in your router once you’ve moved in.
Can I keep my phone number when I move?
Potentially, yes. However, it’s not always possible to keep your phone number – for example, if you’re moving too far away from your old home, or you’re moving somewhere with a different area code.
While most providers allow you to keep your number, one exception is Sky, which can't transfer a phone number to another line.
Can I take my equipment with me?
Yes, you can. In fact, most providers encourage you to take your existing equipment, so you can quickly set up internet access in your new home.
In some cases, you might need to pay extra for any replacement equipment sent to your new home.
Will I have to change my plan?
Providers offer a variety of services in different postcodes. If you’re currently subscribed to a plan that’s not available at your new address, you’ll have to change your plan.
Don’t worry, though – it’s easy to get a new contract. In fact, it’s often encouraged – when signing up for a new plan, you’ll be able to take advantage of the best offers.
Additionally, some providers charge a moving fee unless you commit to a brand new contract.
Can I upgrade my package when I move?
Yes – when you enter a new contract, you’ll definitely have the opportunity to add extra services to it. Not to mention, most providers are happy for you to upgrade at any point.
Can I downgrade my TV package?
Likely, yes. The likes of Sky and Virgin Media recommends you get in touch with them if you want to remove something from your current TV package.
