How do I set up the bills in a new-build home?

• ✓E.ON Next says the developer chooses a supplier to provide energy during construction, and that you are automatically on that supplier's variable tariff once you move in. Ask the developer or site manager for its name at handover.
• ✓Citizens Advice calls this a deemed contract, on the supplier's default or standard variable tariff, and says to contact the supplier to tell it you have moved in. Ofgem's guidance says a deemed contract normally exists when a customer moves into new premises and uses energy without agreeing a contract.
• ✓Some new builds start on a temporary developer's supply. E.ON Next says to make sure the developer has handed the meter over to a residential supplier before you try to switch.
• ✓Take a reading on the day you get the keys. E.ON Next says your opening reading means you only pay for the energy you use from that moment.
• ✓You can switch once you are responsible for the home, Citizens Advice says, and the new supplier should switch you within 5 working days.

Sources: E.ON Next: moving home and switching energy (read 15 October 2026); Citizens Advice: moving home, dealing with your energy supply (read 15 October 2026); Ofgem: guidance on deemed contracts (6 November 2023) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓To set up an account or switch, you need the MPAN for electricity and the MPRN for gas. E.ON Next says new builds' numbers are sometimes not yet on national databases, and that the developer should provide them in your homeowner pack.
• ✓Find My Supplier, run by Xoserve, shows the MPRN, the gas supplier and the gas transporter for a property once the meter point is on record.
• ✓Xoserve lists a mismatch between your address and its meter data as a common reason a switch fails, and only the gas shipper acting for your current supplier can ask it to correct the address.
• ✓If Xoserve has no record of the gas supply at all, your supplier's shipper must ask for an MPRN to be created. The network operator checks the connection first, which Xoserve says can take from a few days to a few weeks.

Sources: E.ON Next: moving home and switching energy (read 15 October 2026); Find My Supplier, run by Xoserve (read 15 October 2026); Xoserve: information for gas consumers (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Ofgem says independent and out-of-area electricity network operators have historically provided the last mile of the network to new, typically domestic, customers, for example on newly built housing developments.
• ✓The Independent Networks Association, quoted in Ofgem's October 2023 letter, puts independent distribution network operators (IDNOs) at about 1.5 million customers, with 70% to 80% of new connections adopted by IDNOs.
• ✓For gas, Ofgem said in January 2025 that independent gas transporters (IGTs) serve around three million consumers and have overtaken the regional gas networks as the main source of new connections.
• ✓You still buy energy from a supplier. Ofgem's rules say an IDNO may charge domestic customers no more than the regional operator's equivalent tariff, and keep IGT charges broadly in line with the regional gas networks.

Sources: Ofgem: open letter on independent distribution network operators (19 October 2023) (read 15 October 2026); Ofgem: independent gas transporters' relative price control, call for input (29 January 2025) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓In England, new homes built under rules in force since 26 December 2022 must get gigabit-ready infrastructure and, within a £2,000 cost cap per home, a gigabit-capable connection, or the next fastest connection available within the cap, GOV.UK says.
• ✓The rules do not apply to building work where plans or a notice went to the council before 26 December 2022 and work started within 12 months. On a multi-home application, the start of the first building decides it for the whole site (Approved Document R).
• ✓Wales has had matching requirements, with the same £2,000 cost cap, since 1 July 2025. Scotland has required gigabit-ready infrastructure in new buildings since 1 January 2025, with a gigabit-capable connection where reasonably practicable.
• ✓Developers in England must set out the planned infrastructure and connection in a connectivity plan when they apply for building approval, so ask the developer which network operator it has used.
• ✓Openreach says it installs full fibre free on residential developments of more than 19 plots, and asks developers to register a site at least six months before broadband is needed at the first home.

Sources: GOV.UK: new build connectivity, information for developers (England) (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: Approved Document R, infrastructure for electronic communications (England) (read 15 October 2026); legislation.gov.uk: Building etc. (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2025 (read 15 October 2026); legislation.gov.uk: Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024 (read 15 October 2026); Openreach: registering your site for broadband (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓OFNL says it runs open access full-fibre networks on new developments, with a choice of 18 residential providers, and that its postcode checker shows the providers available at your address.
• ✓OFNL says BT has signed its agreement but currently sells only business services over its network, so BT cannot offer home broadband there.
• ✓OFNL says there is no cost to you for building its network to your property boundary, but the provider you choose charges for the connection, with details on its website.
• ✓FibreNest was the full-fibre network Persimmon built for its own developments. Persimmon announced its sale to BUUK Infrastructure, OFNL's group, in May 2025, saying FibreNest customers would get access to up to 18 providers.

Sources: OFNL: open access full-fibre networks on new developments (read 15 October 2026); OFNL: resident FAQs (read 15 October 2026); Persimmon: sale of FibreNest (14 May 2025) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Ofcom says its checker uses Ordnance Survey address data updated twice a year, so some new properties may not appear until an update has gone in.
• ✓Ofcom also says some smaller networks are not yet in its checker, and that where no prediction shows, you should check availability on the networks' own websites.
• ✓Openreach says its fibre checker can show the wrong details because of the way its records are matched to properties, and that you or your provider can ask it to check and correct them.

Sources: Ofcom: about the broadband and mobile checker (read 15 October 2026); Openreach: my Fibre Checker result is wrong (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK says that if the property you have moved into has no council tax band, contact your local council and it will arrange for the property to be assessed (England and Wales).
• ✓Peterborough City Council, for example, says council tax on a new build is payable from the date it is occupied or the date on a completion notice, and that it backdates the bill once the band is set.
• ✓Peterborough says a completion notice goes to the owner when a home is structurally complete or the remaining work can reasonably be finished within 3 months. GOV.UK says you must appeal within 28 days, and pay council tax from the date on the notice while you appeal.
• ✓The Valuation Office bands a new home on what it could have sold for on 1 April 1991 in England or 1 April 2003 in Wales, using sales of comparable homes and the bands of similar properties.
• ✓Banding can be slow. In March 2026 Peterborough warned that the Valuation Office's new operating system was causing delays of over a year in some cases, and suggested paying on account to avoid a large balance.

Sources: GOV.UK: start paying Council Tax (England and Wales) (read 15 October 2026); Peterborough City Council (example council): register a new build for council tax (updated 2 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: appeal a council tax completion notice (read 15 October 2026); Valuation Office Agency: how we value new properties for Council Tax (21 March 2024) (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK says you have a legal right to challenge a band if you have been paying council tax on the property for less than 6 months, or if the Valuation Office has changed the band in the last 6 months.
• ✓If the home has no band yet, you can ask for it to be added to the list, and you need to suggest a band.
• ✓A challenge with a legal right can take up to 4 months to decide, and you must keep paying council tax while it is reviewed.
• ✓Scotland: GOV.UK says challenges go to the assessor at your local valuation joint board or council, and mygov.scot says to register for council tax when you move in.
• ✓Northern Ireland: nidirect says Land & Property Services must value a new home before it can issue a rates bill, that rates are due from the date it decides the home can be lived in, and that a valuation review can take around 90 days.

Sources: GOV.UK: challenge your Council Tax band (read 15 October 2026); mygov.scot: registering for Council Tax (updated 1 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); nidirect: apply for a new domestic property to be valued (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓CCW says that since 1990 all new houses have had to have a water meter. A metered bill is the water you use plus a standing charge.
• ✓If your new home has a meter, CCW says you pay metered charges and cannot switch to an unmetered bill. Citizens Advice says to take a reading as soon as you move in.
• ✓Some estates are served by a NAV: a company approved by Ofwat to supply water or sewerage, or both, to specific sites instead of the usual company for the area. CCW says NAVs work to the same rules as the main companies.
• ✓Scotland: most homes pay water and waste charges alongside council tax, mygov.scot says. Northern Ireland: domestic water charges are deferred, NI Water says.

Sources: CCW: how is my water bill calculated? (read 15 October 2026); CCW: what if I move to a property with a meter? (read 15 October 2026); Citizens Advice: moving home and water bills (read 15 October 2026); CCW: water companies and new appointments and variations (NAVs) (read 15 October 2026); mygov.scot: how Council Tax works (updated 1 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); NI Water: 2026/27 charges (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Council tax: if banding is delayed, set money aside or pay on account. Peterborough's example is a Band D home in Ailsworth parish, charged £2,321.58 for 2026/27: about £232 a month over the default 10 instalments, or £174 with the 25% single person discount.
• ✓For scale, the average Band D council tax in England for 2026/27 is £2,392, MHCLG says.
• ✓Energy: standing charges are paid every day, even when you use no energy (Ofgem). At Ofgem's average Direct Debit rates for 1 October to 31 December 2026, they are 54.83p a day for electricity and 29.68p a day for gas.
• ✓Check the Energy Performance Certificate: GOV.UK says a new property needs one, and it shows the home's typical energy costs.
• ✓Water: a metered bill rises and falls with what you use, plus a standing charge (CCW).
• ✓Broadband: allow for a connection charge. On OFNL's networks, it says the provider you choose charges one.
• ✓TV Licence: £180, if you watch live TV or use BBC iPlayer (GOV.UK).
• ✓Buying a flat on a heat network? Ofgem says its price cap does not protect you if you get your heat from a heat network.

Sources: Peterborough City Council (example council): register a new build for council tax (updated 2 April 2026) (read 15 October 2026); MHCLG: Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (read 15 October 2026); Ofgem: energy price cap and standing charges explained (read 15 October 2026); Ofgem: energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: Energy Performance Certificates (read 15 October 2026); CCW: how is my water bill calculated? (read 15 October 2026); OFNL: resident FAQs (read 15 October 2026); GOV.UK: TV Licence (read 15 October 2026)

• ✓Taupia keeps your energy, broadband, mobile and water bills in one place, so the first bill from each provider is easy to check.
• ✓It compares energy, broadband and mobile deals, including energy from 19 suppliers covering around 90% of the GB market, and switches once you approve.
• ✓If you share the home, it splits each bill by the rule your household sets and shows who has paid. It never moves money itself.
• ✓Council tax and water stay with the council and your water company. Taupia does not set up council tax or switch water.
• ✓Taupia is free.