Thames Water Moving Home — How to Open, Transfer or Close Your Account

Thames Water moving home: the 28-day rule explained

You should tell Thames Water about a move no more than 28 days before your moving date — earlier risks the change being missed in the queue, later means you can be billed for water used by the new occupants. The fastest channel is the Moving Home form on thameswater.co.uk inside the My Account portal; the phone line on 0800 980 8800 covers the same task during opening hours (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 8am to 6pm).

Thames Water is the UK's largest water and sewerage company, supplying around 15 million customers across Greater London and the Thames Valley — Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and parts of Surrey, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Kent. Whenever you arrive in that area, leave it or change address inside it, you must notify Thames Water to keep the supply uninterrupted and avoid being charged for someone else's water.

Unlike energy or broadband, domestic water in England is not open to competition: the supplier is fixed by the postcode of the property. You cannot pick a cheaper company when you move — the only thing in your hands is closing the old account on time and opening the new one promptly. Our UK water suppliers directory lists the regional monopoly for every English postcode if you need to identify your next supplier, and our switch water supplier guide explains why household competition is not on the table. For the full overview of Thames Water — phone lines, bills, complaints — see our Thames Water hub page.

What information you need to give Thames Water

Whether you handle the move online or by phone, the conversation is short once you have the right information to hand. The single biggest cause of delay and estimated billing is calling without a closing meter reading — that one figure decides whether your final bill is based on reality or on Thames Water's projection. Spend five minutes gathering the items below before you log in or dial.

The online form and the call handlers ask for the same set of details, so the checklist below works either way. If you have a smart water meter, opening and closing readings are sent automatically and the data fields are pre-filled, but it is worth photographing the dial anyway in case of a transmission gap on the day.

• Your current Thames Water account number, printed at the top of any recent bill or direct-debit confirmation letter ;
• The full address and postcode of the property you are leaving ;
• The full address and postcode of the property you are moving into ;
• Your move-out date (the day you hand back the keys) and move-in date ;
• A closing meter reading from the old property if it is metered ;
• An opening meter reading from the new property if it is metered ;
• A forwarding address and email for the final bill ;
• The name of the new occupier moving into the old property if you know it.

If the meter is in an outside chamber under a manhole cover and you cannot lift it safely on the day, take a photograph with a timestamp as soon as it is accessible and submit it through the My Account portal quoting your move date. Thames Water will backdate the closing bill to that reading rather than estimate. Our step-by-step water meter reading guide walks through which digits to copy and which to ignore.

How to tell Thames Water: online vs phone

Thames Water supports three notification channels for a move — the My Account portal, the standalone Moving Home form (no login needed) and the phone line on 0800 980 8800. All three handle the same task, and Thames Water does not penalise any one over the others. The choice comes down to how comfortable you are filling in a form versus speaking to an advisor, and how complex your situation is.

For straightforward moves — a single occupier, one meter, a clear move date — the online route is almost always faster. For anything with a complication, such as a joint account split between two new addresses, a probate sale, a missing meter or a WaterSure cap to transfer, ringing the moving home team is worth the queue.

Full opening hours, alternative numbers and the digital channels for every Thames Water team — emergencies, complaints, Priority Services, financial support — are listed on our dedicated Thames Water contact number guide.

Moving inside the Thames Water area: account transfer

If both your old and new properties sit inside the Thames Water service area, Thames Water transfers your existing account rather than closing it: the account number stays the same, the direct debit mandate is reused, and you simply receive your next bill at the new address. There is no closing bill and no opening bill, just a single statement reconciling the closing reading at the old property and the opening reading at the new one.

The first bill after a move is the one to scrutinise. The clean-water and wastewater unit rates are set at company level and should be identical at the new address inside Greater London or the Thames Valley, but mistakes happen — particularly if the previous occupier was on a non-standard tariff such as WaterSure, WaterHelp or an assessed charge. Compare the unit rate and standing charge against your last bill at the old address and ring 0800 980 8800 if anything has changed without explanation.

If the new property is metered and the old one was not (or vice versa), the bill format will look different even though the supplier is the same. Households with fewer occupants than bedrooms almost always pay less on a meter than on rateable value, and Thames Water's compulsory metering programme is rapidly making this the default — see our should I get a water meter? guide for the full economics, and our Thames Water meter page for the rollout timeline.

Moving into the Thames Water area: opening an account

If you are moving into the Thames Water region for the first time, you need to open a fresh account in your name. Thames Water will eventually pick up the change of occupier automatically through council tax data, but registering yourself in the first week is faster, prevents bills being addressed to "the occupier" and stops the property drifting into the "no known occupier" state that triggers backdated bills months later. If your previous home was supplied by a different water company, contact that company separately to close the old account — Thames Water cannot do it for you.

You can open the account up to 28 days before your move-in date through the Moving Home form on thameswater.co.uk or by calling 0800 980 8800. Early registration means the account is live from day one, so the first bill matches the actual water you have used and Thames Water does not have to estimate.

On moving day the two things that matter most are the meter and who is billed for what:

• Take an opening meter reading on the day you collect the keys if the property has a water meter ; photograph the dial with a timestamp for proof.
• Confirm with Thames Water that the first bill reflects only your consumption from the move-in date onwards ; any usage before that is the previous occupier's responsibility.
• If the property is unmetered, the bill is based on the property's rateable value — the assessed worth set in March 1990, still the legal basis for unmetered water charges in England and Wales.

Universal Metering Programme: most new homes are already metered

Thames Water has been running a compulsory Universal Metering Programme since 2014, allowed because its supply area is officially classed as "water-stressed". More than 2 million properties are already on a meter, and the company aims to reach most remaining households by 2030. All new-build homes in England are metered from day one, so if you are moving into a property built in the last decade it is almost certainly metered already — and the meter is almost always a smart unit transmitting readings hourly over the airwave network.

After a meter is fitted you get a 12-month comparison period, during which you can see both rateable-value and metered charges side-by-side and switch to metered billing whenever it works out cheaper. After 12 months you are switched automatically. One- and two-person households almost always save money on a meter; households of three or more should run the numbers carefully before the switch. Full detail in our smart water meter guide.

Leaving the Thames Water area: closing the account

If your new home is outside the Thames Water region, you need to close your Thames Water account and open a new one with the regional supplier that covers your destination postcode. Thames Water will issue a closing bill based on the final meter reading (or rateable value for an unmetered property), sent to the forwarding address you provided. The closing bill arrives within a few weeks of your move-out date and is the only time you should consider stopping the direct debit — and only once it has been paid in full.

Notify the moving home team up to 28 days before your departure, take the final meter reading on the day you leave and pass it to Thames Water the same day. If you are in credit on your direct debit, Thames Water refunds the balance to the bank account the mandate was set up on, usually within a few weeks of the closing bill. If you owe money, the closing bill is payable in one instalment unless you set up a payment plan in advance through the Thames Water bill payment team.

Your new water supplier depends entirely on the destination postcode — Thames Water's neighbours include Affinity Water (north and west London), SES Water (parts of south London), Southern Water, South East Water and Anglian Water. Use the Water UK postcode checker or the postcode tool on the Consumer Council for Water website to confirm who serves your new address before the moving van arrives.

Renters, students and joint tenancies

In rented accommodation, who pays the Thames Water bill is set by the tenancy agreement, not by whose name is on the door. The default assumption in most assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) in England is that the tenant is responsible for water, but landlords can — and in HMOs often do — keep billing in their own name and either include water in the rent or recharge it monthly. Always check the utilities clause of the tenancy agreement before opening an account, and ask the landlord or letting agent for confirmation in writing if it is ambiguous.

If you are responsible for the water bill, open the account in your name on the day the tenancy starts using the Moving Home form on thameswater.co.uk or by calling 0800 980 8800. Joint tenants should add every named tenant to the account at registration — Thames Water allows multiple named account holders, so any one of you can submit a meter reading, query a bill or change a direct debit without breaching data-protection rules.

When a joint tenancy ends mid-bill — for example one housemate leaves and a new one takes their room — call Thames Water on 0800 980 8800 to update the names on the account. A new account is only needed when every named tenant changes (a full tenancy turnover), in which case the old tenancy is closed with a final meter reading and a new tenancy opens immediately afterwards.

Students moving into a shared house

Students moving into private rented accommodation in London, Oxford, Reading, Slough or any other Thames Water town should check who is responsible for water before setting up anything. In many student houses water is either included in the rent or the landlord pays Thames Water directly — in which case there is nothing to do at all. If water is not included, register the account online or by phone in the first week of the tenancy, choose monthly direct debit (the cheapest option, with no late fees) and split the bill informally between housemates.

Landlords, void periods and empty properties

Landlords with rental properties in the Thames Water area can register their portfolio on Landlord TAP, a free national tenant-change notification service used by most UK water companies including Thames Water. Once registered, every change of tenancy only needs to be reported once and is forwarded to Thames Water automatically — saving the landlord from a phone call each time a tenant moves in or out. Landlords with two or three properties can also notify the moving home team directly on 0800 980 8800 without bothering with Landlord TAP.

If you own a second home, a holiday let or a rental property kept empty between tenants, you still pay a charge to Thames Water for as long as the property remains furnished and capable of being occupied. Thames Water will waive standing charges on a metered property that is unoccupied and unfurnished continuously for at least three months — but you must apply for the void and provide evidence (for example dated photographs or a void certificate from the estate agent). The waiver is granted at Thames Water's discretion and is never applied automatically.

Moving into a long-empty property

If the property has been empty for months — for example a probate sale, a repossession or a long-stalled renovation — it is worth checking the water is actually running before you unpack. The supply may have been turned off at the internal stop tap or, for a long-term void, capped at the boundary by Thames Water, and discovering it on a Sunday evening is not ideal.

1. Locate the internal stop tap, usually under the kitchen sink near the mains-fed cold tap ; turn it anti-clockwise to open the flow ; it should turn easily, do not force it.
2. Run the kitchen cold tap for a minute or two to clear any stagnant water from the internal pipework before drinking or cooking.
3. If there is still no water, Thames Water may have disconnected the supply at the boundary ; ring 0800 316 9800 (24/7 supply emergency line) to reactivate it, free of charge for an incoming occupier.

For renovations over £100,000, Thames Water asks landlords to call 0800 009 3921 rather than using the standard moving home channel — the team handles temporary supply arrangements, meter relocations and large-scale works permits. If you are leaving a property empty rather than moving into one, turn off the internal stop tap before you go to prevent waste and protect against burst pipes while no-one is there to notice them. Our no water in the house guide explains the diagnostic order before you ring, and which problems belong to Thames Water versus a plumber.

Your final bill, WaterSure and credit balances

Thames Water operates as a regulated monopoly under licence from Ofwat, not as a competitive provider, which means no deposit is required when you open an account and there is no admin fee for the move itself. The only money Thames Water will ask for is the first bill — sent every six months by default, monthly or quarterly if you set up a direct debit — and the closing bill if you are leaving the region.

The closing bill follows your final meter reading (or rateable value for an unmetered property) and is sent to the forwarding address you provided. If you are in credit on your direct debit when the account closes, Thames Water refunds the balance to the same bank account the mandate was set up on, usually within a few weeks — keep the UK account open until the refund clears, even if you are moving abroad.

If you are struggling to pay the closing bill or the opening bill at a new Thames Water address, ring 0800 980 8800 before the due date and ask about the financial support options below. They apply equally to closing bills and to opening balances at a new address, and Thames Water will not chase the debt while a support application is being assessed.

A separate hardship grant for one-off costs — replacement white goods, boiler repairs, debt clearance — is run by the Thames Water Trust Fund, an independent charity. The full payment-route picture, including which support scheme fits each circumstance, sits in our dedicated Thames Water bill payment guide.

When the move goes wrong: complaints

For service issues directly linked to a house move — a missing final bill, an incorrect opening reading, a tenant charged for a previous occupier's water, a credit refund that never arrived — raise the complaint on 0800 980 8800 first and ask the advisor to log it as a formal complaint, not a general enquiry. Put it in writing the same day by email to [email protected] or through the complaints form on thameswater.co.uk, so you have a dated record of when the clock started.

Thames Water follows the three-stage complaints process required of every English water company by Ofwat and aims to send a substantive first reply within 10 working days. If the first response does not resolve the issue, ask for the complaint to be escalated to a team manager — Thames Water has another working window to come back with a final answer, or you can request a deadlock letter confirming the case is closed at the company's end.

Once you hold a deadlock letter, or eight weeks have passed since you first complained, the Consumer Council for Water (CCW) will review your case free of charge. For issues CCW cannot resolve, the final route is the Water Redress Scheme (WATRS), an independent adjudicator whose decision is legally binding on Thames Water but not on you — you keep the right to reject it and go to court.

Thames Water moving home FAQ

Useful Thames Water and UK water guides

Before or after your move, these guides cover the rest of what you need to know about Thames Water and the UK water market — phone numbers, bills, meters, regulators and how Thames Water compares to other regional suppliers.

• Thames Water: contact, login, meter & bills — the supplier overview, coverage area and how Thames Water ranks against the rest of the UK water market.
• Thames Water contact number — every phone line, opening hours, callback numbers and the 24/7 emergency lines for leaks and wastewater.
• Thames Water meter — the Universal Metering Programme, smart-meter rollout and how to read your meter.
• Thames Water bill payment — direct debit, card, Post Office and payment-card options.
• All UK water suppliers — find the right water company for your new postcode and compare contact numbers across the regional monopolies.
• UK water bills explained — average costs, metering rules and the regulators that set what you can be charged.
• How to read your water meter — step-by-step guide so you can quote the right figure for your closing and opening readings.
• How to set up a water bill — the registration steps that apply to any UK water supplier, including Thames Water.