Rates when moving home in Northern Ireland: who to tell

Tell LPS about the change, not just your new address

When you sell or move home in Northern Ireland, tell Land & Property Services about the change in ownership or occupancy promptly. nidirect warns that an outdated record can leave you receiving a bill for a property after you have moved. Do not assume that redirecting post or changing an address with your bank updates the rates account.

This checklist is for a homeowner organising a move, not for calculating the rates due. LPS needs the actual facts to assess the account. A planned moving date, the day you physically leave and the completion date may not be the same, so keep them separate in your notes.

Have the bill and transaction details ready

Find a recent rate bill for the property. The official update service asks for one of the account references shown on it, such as the occupancy, account or ratepayer ID. Have the property address and your contact details ready, and keep a forwarding address where you can receive any follow-up correspondence.

For a sale, the service also asks for information about the new owner, your solicitor or the estate agent. For a purchase, it asks about the previous owner, their solicitor or the agent. Use the details you are entitled to provide and check anything you do not know. There is no need to collect extra personal information just to complete your own checklist.

Write a separate entry for each property if you are selling one home and buying another. Label which reference belongs to which address. This simple step helps avoid sending the right date against the wrong account when several moving tasks are happening together.

Use the official service and keep confirmation

nidirect provides a form to create or update a domestic rate account. It also provides Rates Online, where linked account holders can report buying, selling or moving and access bills and other account services. Start from the official nidirect page, particularly if a message about your move includes an unexpected payment link.

For Rates Online, the published instructions require your own nidirect account and the relevant ratepayer and account identification numbers to link the rates account. Follow the current instructions rather than creating duplicate records because you cannot immediately see the property. Ask LPS for help if the details do not match.

Retain the submission reference, date and a copy of the information supplied. Put it beside your completion confirmation and the old bill. That gives you something concrete to refer to if a later bill still uses the old ownership or occupancy dates.

Do not assume an empty period ends the bill

Moving out before a sale completes does not by itself establish that rates stop. nidirect explains that empty domestic properties can still be liable, with particular exclusions and relief rules. Tell LPS about the situation and ask what applies rather than cancelling payments on the assumption that an unoccupied house is automatically exempt.

If you receive Rate Rebate, treat its change-of-circumstances reporting as a separate task. The official guidance requires relevant changes to be reported and warns that overpayments may have to be repaid. Do not assume that a routine account-address update confirms ongoing entitlement at the next property.

Rental and non-domestic arrangements need their own checks. The occupying-and-leaving guidance directs those ownership or occupier changes to LPS. Do not apply an owner-occupier checklist to a tenancy and assume it settles who pays.

Check the revised account against your records

When the updated bill arrives, check the property, named account holder and dates against the information you supplied. If something is wrong, raise the specific discrepancy with LPS and keep the query reference. Ask how any outstanding balance, credit or payment arrangement should be handled; do not guess the final amount by dividing the previous bill yourself.

Keep rates administration separate from an estimate of the home's sale value. Completing a sale or getting an online guide estimate does not mean the rates record has been updated. Finish both tasks explicitly, and retain the account confirmation with the rest of your moving records.

For the separate valuation question, read LPS capital value versus market value.

If you are still planning the move, compare the different types of Derry property valuation before choosing the advice you need.