Who do I need to tell when I move house?

• ✓Driving licence: GOV.UK says changing the address costs nothing, and you can keep driving while you wait for the new licence. Online, it should arrive within a week; by post, usually within 3 weeks.
• ✓Vehicle log book (V5C): you must update it when you change address, and it is usually free. If the vehicle needs taxing in the next 4 weeks, tax it with your current log book first.
• ✓Update your vehicle tax Direct Debit too, and any personalised registration number document (V750 or V778).
• ✓You can be fined up to £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA when your address changes. The online licence service is for people who live in Great Britain.
• ✓Northern Ireland: nidirect says to tell the DVA immediately. Its online service is for people still living in Northern Ireland, and changing your licence does not update your vehicle log book, which DVLA keeps.

Sources: GOV.UK: change the address on your driving licence (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: change your address on your vehicle log book (V5C) (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: keeping your driving licence up to date (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: change the address on your driving licence online (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK says you normally only need to register once, but you need to register again if you change your address. Online it usually takes about 5 minutes, and you will be asked for your National Insurance number.
• ✓You must register if an electoral registration officer asks you to and you meet the conditions. If you are asked and do not, you could be fined up to £1,000, unless you have a valid reason such as a long stay in hospital.
• ✓From July each year, electoral registration offices contact households to check the register: the annual canvass. There is no annual canvass in Northern Ireland.
• ✓The full register is also used to check applications for loans or credit, GOV.UK says, so registering at the new address helps there too.
• ✓You can opt out of the open register, the version anyone can buy, without affecting your right to vote.
• ✓Northern Ireland: there is a separate paper form, returned to the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, and you check whether you are registered with the Am I Registered service.

Sources: GOV.UK: register to vote (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: the electoral register and the open register (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK lists moving house, and people moving into or out of your home, among the changes to report. A claim might be stopped or reduced if you do not report a change straight away.
• ✓If you are paid too much, you might have to pay some of it back, and you might also have to pay a £50 penalty. Deliberately not reporting a change is benefit fraud.
• ✓Each benefit has its own route: Universal Credit in your online account, Pension Credit through the Pension Service, PIP and DLA through the Disability Service Centre, Housing Benefit through your council and Child Benefit through the Child Benefit Office. For anything else, call Jobcentre Plus.
• ✓Universal Credit: report a new address, a change in your rent or moving in with a partner as soon as it happens. A change can affect your payment for the whole assessment period, not just from the day you report it.
• ✓Northern Ireland: tell your local Jobs and Benefits office. Moving to Scotland: mygov.scot's Moving to Scotland guide covers telling your benefit provider and applying to Social Security Scotland.

Sources: GOV.UK: benefits, report a change in your circumstances (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: Universal Credit, report a change of circumstances (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: moving to your new home (read 22 October 2026); mygov.scot: Moving to Scotland, contact your local council and other agencies (updated 10 August 2026) (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓GOV.UK says you need to wait until you have moved before telling HMRC your new address.
• ✓One update in your personal tax account covers Child Benefit, Income Tax, National Insurance and State Pension. You can also do it in the HMRC app.
• ✓If you send a Self Assessment tax return, your details are updated once you report the change. Business tax has its own route.
• ✓Tax credits ended on 5 April 2025, so there is no tax credits claim to update. GOV.UK says you may be able to get Universal Credit or Pension Credit instead.

Sources: GOV.UK: tell HMRC when you change your address (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: tell HMRC about a change to your personal details (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: tax credits ended on 5 April 2025 (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓Council tax: GOV.UK says to tell your local council, or the council for the new area. In Scotland, register for council tax when you move in and cancel the account for the home you leave.
• ✓Northern Ireland has rates instead. nidirect says to tell Land and Property Services immediately, or you might get a rates bill for a home after you have left it; you are billed for the time you own or live in each property.
• ✓Energy: give your supplier at least 48 hours' notice and a forwarding address for the final bill, and read the meters on the day you leave. At the new home, read the meters on the day you move in and contact the current supplier: until you choose a tariff, you are on its deemed contract at its default rate.
• ✓Water: tell your water company when and where you are moving, with at least 5 working days' notice if you have a meter. In Scotland, water and sewerage are collected with council tax. In Northern Ireland, NI Water says domestic charges remain deferred.
• ✓Broadband: if you are changing provider, Ofcom says to cancel your current contract and arrange a start date for the new service in time for the move. Openreach suggests sorting it as soon as you know your date.
• ✓TV Licence: update your address on the TV Licensing website, or cancel and claim a refund there. You can be fined up to £1,000 for watching or recording live TV without one.

Sources: GOV.UK: start paying Council Tax (England and Wales) (read 22 October 2026); mygov.scot: registering for Council Tax (updated 1 April 2026) (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: occupying and leaving a property (rates) (read 22 October 2026); Citizens Advice: moving home, dealing with your energy supply (read 22 October 2026); Citizens Advice: moving home and water bills (read 22 October 2026); mygov.scot: public water and sewerage services (read 22 October 2026); NI Water: 2026/27 charges (read 22 October 2026); Ofcom: moving home? Top tips for keeping connected (read 22 October 2026); Openreach: moving home broadband help (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: TV Licence (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓GP: in England you can register with a surgery near your new home online or in the NHS App. You do not need ID or proof of address, and your old surgery is told automatically once you are registered. Keeping the same surgery? Tell it your new address.
• ✓Money: nidirect's moving checklist includes bank and building society accounts, insurance policies, savings and investments, private pensions, and credit and store cards.
• ✓Your employer: nidirect suggests telling your human resources department.
• ✓Student loans: keep your contact details up to date in your Student Loans Company online account. In Northern Ireland, nidirect says to tell Student Finance NI.
• ✓Post: Royal Mail's redirection service forwards your post for a fee, and nidirect says it can take ten days to set up, so book it before you move.
• ✓Passport: GOV.UK says you do not need a new passport when you change your address.
• ✓GOV.UK's Tell Us Once service, which reports a death to most government organisations in one go, is not for moves: you tell each organisation on this list yourself.

Sources: NHS: register with a GP surgery (England) (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: moving to your new home (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: repaying your student loan (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: changing your passport information (read 22 October 2026); GOV.UK: what to do after someone dies, Tell Us Once (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓Moving to Scotland from elsewhere in the UK: mygov.scot's Moving to Scotland guide, updated on 10 August 2026, covers the move step by step. Register for council tax in your new area and check the discounts there; water and sewerage charges come with the council tax bill.
• ✓If you get Housing Benefit and are moving to Scotland, mygov.scot says to tell your current council at least 2 to 4 weeks before you move.
• ✓Moving from Northern Ireland to Scotland: exchange your Northern Ireland driving licence for a Great Britain one through DVLA. There is no fee, and it usually arrives within 3 weeks.
• ✓mygov.scot also covers school and nursery places, which you request from the new council before you move, and the National Entitlement Card for cheaper travel, which needs a new application with your Scottish address.
• ✓Northern Ireland: tell the DVA about your licence, Land and Property Services about rates and your Jobs and Benefits office about benefits. Register with the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland, whose register is updated every month.
• ✓Buying a home in Northern Ireland? nidirect suggests waiting until contracts are exchanged before telling anyone, because a sale that falls through means contacting everyone again.

Sources: mygov.scot: Moving to Scotland, contact your local council and other agencies (updated 10 August 2026) (read 22 October 2026); mygov.scot: public water and sewerage services (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: moving to your new home (read 22 October 2026); nidirect: occupying and leaving a property (rates) (read 22 October 2026)

• ✓For the bills part of the move, the address block above lists your new home's council tax band and charge, its water company, who supplies the energy and broadband deals. It covers England, Scotland and Wales; in Scotland it shows the council rather than the band.
• ✓Taupia compares energy, broadband and mobile deals and switches once your household approves, and keeps every bill's dates and accounts together. Nothing changes without your approval.
• ✓Taupia does not set up council tax or switch water: register with the council and the water company yourself. DVLA, HMRC, the electoral register and benefits each have their own service, and you update them yourself.
• ✓Taupia is free to use.