Broadband when moving house

You have two basic choices, and they are not equally good for everyone.

The first is a home move, sometimes called a transfer. Your existing provider moves your service to the new address and your contract carries on as before, same deal, same price, same remaining term. It is the path of least resistance, and if you are mid-contract and happy with your price it is often the sensible one. Be aware it can come with a setup or activation charge at the new property and that a new line may still need an engineer.

The second is to treat the move as a clean break and switch to a new provider entirely. This is frequently the better move on price, because the address is changing anyway and you are free to take whatever the new home's best deal is, which may be a network your old street never had. If your contract has ended, or is about to, switching almost always beats transferring an ageing deal.

The deciding factor is what is actually available at the new address, because broadband changes street by street and the package that suited the old house may be slower, dearer or simply not offered at the new one. Before you commit either way, check which lines reach the new address and what they cost.

Timing is where moves go wrong, and the fix is simply to start early. Two to four weeks before you move is the window.

Three to four weeks out, decide whether you are transferring or switching and check what is available at the new address. If a new line needs installing, especially full fibre for the first time, this is when to get it booked, because engineer appointments are the thing that runs to a fortnight if you leave it late.

Two weeks out, place the order or arrange the transfer with a go-live date set for moving day or just after. If you are switching providers on the same network type, this can be quick; if you are changing technology, give it the lead time.

Moving day, take your old router with you if you are keeping the service or might need it, and note that a brand-new connection may not go live the instant you walk in. If you sort the order the week before you move rather than weeks ahead, you can end up waiting days or longer at the new place with no broadband at all, which is the single most common moving-house broadband mistake.

A little lead time turns the whole thing from a scramble into a non-event.

This is the question people most often get wrong, so it is worth being precise. There is no blanket right to walk away free just because your provider cannot serve your new address. It used to be common for providers to waive the early-exit fee in that situation, but most no longer do automatically, and moving out of their coverage area does not, on its own, cancel what you owe on the rest of your term.

What actually happens depends on your provider's home-move terms. Some will waive the early-termination charge if they genuinely cannot offer service at the new property; many will still charge it; and some will simply move your contract to the new address if they can serve it. The only way to know is to tell them your moving date and new postcode and ask directly, in writing, what they will charge. Ask whether the early-exit fee applies if they cannot serve the address and get the answer on record.

If you are still in contract and your provider will not waive the fee, do the sum: a big enough saving on a new deal at the new address can outweigh an exit charge, but it is not free by default. And if your contract has already ended, none of this applies, because there is no early-exit fee to pay. Check your contract end date first; it decides which situation you are in.

If you are switching to a new provider rather than transferring, the process is far smoother than it used to be. Since One Touch Switch went live in September 2024 you contact only the new provider, they arrange everything and your old service is cancelled for you, so there is no separate call to your old provider and no double-billing if you time it right.

The one thing to manage is the gap. On a like-for-like switch on the same network, the new line can go live the same day with no interruption. On a change of technology, a copper line to full fibre for instance, there can be a wait for an engineer, so line the dates up so your new connection is ready at or near the day you move in. If a short gap is unavoidable, a 4G or 5G mobile broadband hub, or simply tethering to your phone, will keep you online for the few days in between.

Before you pick the new deal, two quick checks earn their keep: what speed you actually need stops you overbuying in a home you do not yet know, and if you are minded to carry your old deal over, comparing it against the cheapest line at the new address shows whether transferring is loyalty or a quiet loss.