Moving a TV Licence to a new address is free, takes about five minutes on the official TV Licensing website, and can be done up to three months before you move. You need three things: the licence number, the licence holder’s surname, and the postcode you are currently licensed at.
Two mistakes cost people money here. The first is paying a third-party service to do it, when TV Licensing themselves state plainly that updating an address is free and warn against paying for it. The second is cancelling the licence rather than moving it, which is almost never the right action and can leave you unlicensed at the new address while a refund is processed.
Quick answer: The licence covers an address, not a person, so it does not follow you automatically. Update it free at tvlicensing.co.uk using the licence number, surname and current postcode. The standard colour licence costs £180 for 2026/27. Do not cancel when moving, and if the new property will sit empty for a period, tell them that separately.
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What a licence costs in 2026 and who pays less
| Category | Annual cost 2026/27 | Who qualifies | How to claim it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard colour licence | £180 | Most households | Automatic, paid annually or by Direct Debit |
| Blind or severely sight impaired | 50 percent discount | Registered with a local authority | Apply with proof of registration |
| Over 75 on Pension Credit | Free | Recipient of Pension Credit | Apply direct, can apply from age 74 |
| Accommodation for Residential Care | From £7.50 | Eligible care and sheltered housing residents | Usually arranged by the scheme manager |
| Simple Payment Plan | £180 spread further | Households in financial hardship | Apply to TV Licensing, no extra charge |
The fee rose from £174.50 to £180 on 1 April 2026, a CPI-linked increase of just over 3 percent. It is fixed for the whole 2026/27 financial year, with the next review due in April 2027. Moving house does not change what you pay and does not restart the licence period.
Updating the address, step by step
Sign in on the TV Licensing site with the licence number, the licence holder’s last name and the postcode you are licensed at now. Enter the new address and the date you are moving. The licence transfers with the same expiry date and no fee.
If you cannot find the licence number, the site will locate it using the bank details the Direct Debit is paid from or the email address on the account. That is worth knowing before you start turning out drawers, since the number appears on the licence itself and on payment correspondence.
The three-month window ahead of a move is unusually generous compared with most address changes, and it sets this apart from the DVLA updates that must wait until you have occupancy. The reason is that nothing is posted to the new address that you need to receive, so there is no risk in doing it early. Doing it early also stops the enforcement letters that get sent to addresses recorded as unlicensed.
Pay attention to the moving date you enter. The licence covers the old address up to that date and the new one afterwards, so an inaccurate date creates a gap. If your completion date slips, go back and amend it rather than leaving it.
Why cancelling is usually the wrong move
TV Licensing specifically asks people not to cancel when moving home. Cancelling ends the cover and triggers a refund process, whereas updating the address keeps continuous cover at no cost. Cancel only if you genuinely will not need a licence at all.
The situations where cancelling is right are narrow: you are moving abroad, you are moving in with someone whose licence already covers you, or you are stopping watching live television and BBC iPlayer entirely. In each of those cases you may be entitled to a refund of unused full months remaining on the licence.
If you genuinely do not need one, submit a No Licence Needed declaration rather than simply cancelling and going quiet. Addresses with no licence and no declaration receive escalating letters and, eventually, officer visits. Roughly 160,000 people are prosecuted for licence evasion in the UK each year, and a proportion of those cases start with a house move that was never notified.
Be honest about what needs a licence. It covers watching or recording live television on any channel and any device, and using BBC iPlayer at all. On-demand services such as Netflix or catch-up on other broadcasters’ players do not require one on their own.
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Shared houses, lodgers and moving in together
A spouse, partner, family member, or someone on the same joint tenancy or joint mortgage is normally covered by an existing licence at that address. A tenant or lodger with their own separate tenancy agreement usually needs their own licence, even in the same building.
This is the area that catches out people moving into shared accommodation, and the deciding factor is the tenancy structure rather than the building. One joint tenancy over a whole house means one licence covers the household. Separate agreements for individual rooms mean each person watching live television in their own room generally needs their own.
- Joint tenancy on a whole property: one licence covers everyone living there.
- Separate room-by-room tenancies: individual licences usually required for each room where live TV is watched.
- Communal areas only: the landlord’s licence may cover a shared lounge while individual rooms are not covered.
- Moving in with a partner who has a licence: you are normally covered, and your own licence may be refundable.
- Halls of residence: the same room-by-room logic applies, which our student removals guide touches on alongside the rest of the halls admin.
If you are the one leaving and someone stays behind at the old address, you can give written permission to transfer the licence to them rather than cancelling it. That is cleaner than the departing person cancelling and the remaining person buying a new one.
Empty properties, second homes and gaps between moves
If the new property will stand empty before you move in, tell TV Licensing it is unoccupied. That stops the automatic letters sent to unlicensed addresses, which otherwise arrive addressed to The Legal Occupier and can be alarming to find on the mat on day one.
These letters are generated by address records rather than by any evidence about you, so receiving one is not an accusation. Plenty of people arrive at a new home to find a stack addressed to the previous occupier. You can report those without opening them, giving the name and address shown on the envelope.
Second homes need their own licence if live television is watched there, unless the property is only ever used when the main home is unoccupied and specific conditions apply. Holiday lets and properties let to tenants shift the responsibility depending on the arrangement, so check the position rather than assuming one licence stretches across both.
A gap between tenancies where you are staying with family is simpler. You remain covered by the licence at the address where you are actually living, if there is one, and the licence you hold can be moved on when you settle somewhere permanent.
Refunds: what comes back and when
Refunds are calculated on complete months left on the licence, not on days. A licence with five whole months remaining refunds five months; one with four months and three weeks refunds four. Applying a few days either side of a month boundary changes what you get back.
You can apply for a refund if you no longer need a licence and there are complete months remaining. The common triggers around a move are emigrating, moving in with an existing licence holder, moving into accommodation already covered, or genuinely stopping live television and BBC iPlayer.
Direct Debit complicates this slightly. Paying monthly means you are usually running one month ahead rather than holding a year of credit, so the refundable sum is smaller than annual payers expect. Check which payment arrangement you are on before assuming there is money to reclaim.
Two practical points. Cancel any Direct Debit only after the refund is agreed, not before, because cancelling first can register the licence as unpaid rather than refunded. And keep the confirmation, since it is the evidence that the address is no longer your responsibility if enforcement letters arrive there later.
If the timing is close to a renewal date, deal with it before the licence renews. A licence that has just auto-renewed for another year still refunds on the same complete-months basis, but it is simpler to stop the renewal than to unwind it.
Landlords, HMOs and who is responsible
Responsibility sits with whoever watches live television, not with whoever owns the building. A landlord letting a furnished property with a television does not thereby license the tenant, and a tenant assuming otherwise is the one who receives the enforcement letter.
In a house in multiple occupation, the position follows the tenancy documents. Where each room is let on its own agreement, each occupant watching live television in their room needs a licence. A landlord may hold one covering communal areas, and that does not extend into individual rooms.
Landlords letting to tenants should not hold a licence in their own name for a property they do not live in, because the licence covers the address and the occupier is the one with the obligation. Where a property is let furnished with a television, saying so clearly in the inventory and reminding the tenant of the requirement avoids an argument later.
For empty periods between tenancies, a landlord can notify TV Licensing that the property is unoccupied, which stops the automatic letters arriving for a tenant who has not moved in yet. That is worth doing on any void longer than a couple of weeks.
Student lets follow the same logic. A group on one joint tenancy is covered by a single licence; individually let rooms are not. Halls of residence are almost always individual agreements, which is why students are advised to sort their own.
Where this sits against the other address changes
We compared the notification windows for the main address changes a UK household makes when moving, because they do not all work the same way and the differences determine what can be done early.
| Notification | Can it be done in advance? | Cost | Why the timing differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| TV Licence | Yes, up to 3 months | Free | Nothing is posted to the new address |
| Driving licence | No, wait for occupancy | Free | A new photocard is posted to the address entered |
| Vehicle logbook | No, wait for occupancy | Free | A new V5C is posted out |
| Council tax | Shortly before or on the day | Free | Billing runs pro rata from the move date |
| Royal Mail redirection | Yes, at least 5 working days ahead | Paid | Needs lead time to set up |
| Electoral register | After moving | Free | Registration is tied to actual residence |
The useful conclusion is that TV Licensing and Royal Mail are the two you can clear weeks ahead, and both are frequently left until last. Doing them early in the process removes two items from the week when everything else is competing for attention.
The DVLA pair work the opposite way, because both post a legal document to whatever address you enter. Our guides to the driving licence change of address and the V5C logbook update cover why occupancy matters for those, and council tax when moving home covers the pro rata billing.
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When you should not just transfer it
Do not transfer automatically if you are moving in with an existing licence holder, moving abroad, or moving into accommodation where a licence is already held for the property. In those cases you may be owed a refund of unused full months rather than needing to carry the licence forward.
Transferring is the default advice everywhere, and for most people it is right. It is worth pausing in a few cases, because a licence you no longer need is money you can reclaim.
Refunds are calculated on complete months remaining, so timing matters. Someone moving in with a partner in month two of a twelve-month licence has considerably more to reclaim than someone doing the same in month eleven. Check the position before the licence renews rather than after.
The other case worth pausing on is whether you need a licence at all in the new home. A household that has drifted entirely to on-demand viewing may not, and a move is the natural point to work that out. Be accurate about it, since BBC iPlayer alone requires a licence regardless of what else you watch.
How EcoGreen Movers fits into the admin week
Five-minute jobs like this are easy to clear when the move itself is planned rather than improvised. EcoGreen Movers is a nationwide UK removals company working from fixed quotes and confirmed arrival windows, which is what lets you schedule the admin around the day instead of firefighting it afterwards.
We run residential moves across the UK, including London, Manchester and Edinburgh. The full sequence is in our moving house checklist, or get in touch for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to move a licence?
No. Updating the address is free on the official TV Licensing website, and TV Licensing actively warn people not to pay third parties to do it. Any site charging a fee is a commercial address-change service, not the licensing authority.
How far in advance can the address be changed?
Up to three months before you move. That is far more generous than most address changes, and it is possible because nothing is posted to the new property. Enter the correct moving date so cover switches on the right day.
Should the licence be cancelled when moving?
No, in almost all cases. TV Licensing ask people to update the address rather than cancel. Cancel only if you are moving abroad, moving in with someone whose licence covers you, or stopping watching live television and BBC iPlayer altogether.
Is one licence enough for a shared house?
It depends on the tenancy. A single joint tenancy over the whole property is normally covered by one licence. Separate agreements for individual rooms usually mean each person watching live television in their own room needs their own.
What if letters arrive for the previous occupier?
Report them through the TV Licensing contact form, giving the name and address printed on the envelope without opening it. These letters are generated from address records rather than from anything about you, and reporting them stops the sequence.
In summary: free, early, and not a cancellation
Update it on the official site with the licence number, surname and current postcode, do it up to three months ahead, and pay nobody for the privilege. Enter the real moving date, and amend it if the date slips.
If the new place will sit empty first, say so, and if you are moving in with someone already licensed, check whether you are owed a refund rather than carrying a licence you no longer need.
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