Moving home with Sky: How the process works

Friday 4 August 2023 by Jonathan Victoria  Guides

When you move home, one of the most important and sometimes arduous tasks is to set up broadband. This can be made even more difficult if you’re moving while in the middle of a contract.

Sky is one of the biggest providers out there for broadband and TV, with many households using one if not both services. So for many people, that begs the question “What is the process with Sky and moving house?”

Read on to find out the process behind moving house with Sky, including what happens to your existing contract, how much it costs, and more.

What happens with Sky if you move house?

If you’re locked into a contract with Sky and are moving house, the first thing you need to do is let Sky know.

There are multiple reasons for this, with benefits mainly on your side as you will want to know that you will be getting the same service in your new home.

Sky uses the Openreach network, which is available to over 10 million households, which means your new home will likely use the same connection so there would be no problem there.

However, some places are more connected and can offer better broadband speeds. Ahead of your move, we’d advise you to do some research on the Sky website to find out what sort of speeds you could get with them at your new home.

Should the speeds be different to what you have at your current address, be that higher or lower, you can phone Sky to talk to someone about this and ask to have your current contract changed.

This would come as part of the move, as you will need to let Sky know of your move so they can start you on the Sky Home Move process.

How much notice do I have to give to Sky?

In order to get started with the Sky Home Move process, you will need to sign up to Sky VIP. Don’t worry, this comes at no extra cost, and better yet, the longer you’ve been with Sky, the better benefits you will get with Sky VIP.

Within Sky VIP there is a section named Home Move. That is where you will be able to let SKy know of the move so they can get things set up. This can be done without the need for phoning; however, if you do want to change your package ahead of the move, phoning would be the best course for that.

Sky recommends that you give them at least two weeks' notice so that they can start things going in the background. This will be booking an engineer to go out and set anything up if needs be or anything else like that.

When I move do I take my Sky box with me?

If you are a Sky Q customer, you will need to bring your Sky Q box with you. You won’t need to take the dish, though, as a new one will be installed for you at your new home.

The engineer can then set up everything for you, putting together the Sky Q box with the satellite dish.

The same goes for Sky Glass and Sky Stream. You will need to bring the pieces of equipment for both with you, but as they do not require a dish, you can set it all up yourself without the need for an engineer visit (unless you do want one).

Does Sky charge you for moving house?

The process of moving your existing sky service is free and your payments will stay the same unless you have contacted to change your package.

Costs may occur if a landline needs to be installed or if there is any additional work that needs to be undertaken to get your service up and running.

When it comes to your final bill at your old address, you will likely receive a refund due to your service being put on hold. The amount of the refund will depend on the difference between when the service was paused to when it is set up and running in your new house.

How long does it take to move Sky to my new house?

The procedure for Sky Home Move usually takes at least 10 working days. This is why Sky asks you to let them know of your move at least two weeks before the moving date.

The reason for that length of time is because of the engineer installation, as Sky will need to check the availability of any local Openreach engineers to get them to install your service and potentially do any work that may be needed.

Can I cancel Sky if I move home?

Earlier we advised that you research with Sky what the best package you could get at your new home is.

We’d also recommend that you do a broader search using a broadband speed checker to find out exactly what provider offers the best broadband speeds in your new household/area.

The importance of fast broadband that is also reliable in your home cannot be understated, especially if you primarily work from home or tend to require a lot of bandwidth.

If you do find from your research that you can get a better service or deal from another provider, you could cancel your contract.

This isn’t recommended, though, as it will come at a cost, regardless of if it is even possible to continue with Sky at your new home.

That’s more of an extreme case - as we mentioned, Openreach is available to the majority of households in the UK, meaning your new home should still be capable of using Sky.

What happens if my move is delayed?

If something happens with your move and your move-in date is changed, you must let Sky as soon as possible via the Home Move service.

If it's a case of switching to a new provider, again you must let Sky know quickly so they can cancel any engineer visits or other work that needed to be done.

How to contact Sky about your move

If you do want to talk to someone at Sky about anything to do with your move, head on over to our Sky Contact Number guide where we list all the Sky numbers for whatever you would need.