First time buyer, new build... utilities question..

wfc123

Hey there, first of all I've searched for this question to no avail and thought I'd ask it in here..

Me and the Fianc! are moving into our first house and it's a new build so no previous contracts etc.

My question is, how do I go about sorting utilities (Gas, electric, water, phone etc), do the house builder (Barratts) start a basic setup with the companies? The address isn't in any systems either as it will be a new address on the street.

Sorry for the vagueness as I haven't actually asked the question yet because I've been too busy sorting mortgage/solicitors etc.

Any reply would be really appreciated :beer:

purrrrrfect44

Hi, I moved into my new build (keep moat) 3 months ago, and when I moved in the utilities (Gas, electric & water) were registered with British Gas and Seven Trent Water respectively. I received a letter from British gas a couple of weeks after moving in stating I would receive my first bill within three months of moving in. I haven't yet received a bill, but when I do, I will check the tarriff and then see if I can get a better deal. However, my next door neighbour rang up the company pretty much after he moved in and switched to a better tarrif. So its up to you when you want to switch (or even if you want to), im waiting as im living here alone so my bills wont be high to begin with anyway.

As for the phone, the builders wont set this up for you, its up to you to decide when and who to sign up to. You can do this as soon as you can complete so it will be ready asap, or when you move in.

As for your address not being in the system, the builders are supposed to register the address (well mine were) however there might be delays. At the moment with any company I use I have to manually tell them my address as the postcode hasn't been updated on many systems, but this hasn't been a problem. Your house will be using electricity, water & gas etc before you move in as the builders will be using and testing it. So you will be registered with the companies with your address and changing wont be a problem.

wfc123

That's brilliant thank you! Completion date is the 17th and handover will be on the 23rd because we go on holiday the 24th!!!! So what I'm thinking of doing is to try and sort a deal out with the phone/broadband and maybe sky before I go so I can get it all connected and installed for when we come back as we have a few days of before going back to work!

Cheers!