Raven Housing Trust
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Setting up my new home

To make sure the move into your new home is a smooth transition, we’ve put together this guide to help you with the essential parts of settling in – like setting up utilities and finding local healthcare services. 

Setting up utilities

Gas and electric

Identify your property’s current electricity and gas providers. When you move into your new home, you’ll have to let the current energy supplier know.  If you don’t know who currently supplies the gas and electricity to your new home, you can find out online. 

You’ll need to let the current supplier know when you’ve moved in, provide them with your contact details and, depending on the type of meter that’s in your home, set up payments.  The meters for your home are owned by the current energy provider, if you have any problems with the meter in your home you’ll need to call the energy supplier. 

Water

You can identify your water and wastewater suppliers via this link:  Find Your Supplier | Water UK 

Always check with your water supplier if there’s any help they can provide towards the cost of your bill.  Many offer a discount for people on certain benefits and can provide free water-saving gadgets to help to save money on your bills. 

‘Turn on and Test’

If there’s a gas supply at your new home, the gas will have been ‘capped’ during the time it was being prepared for you.

When you have received the keys to your new property, you will need to call Gas Call on 0330 002 1169 to arrange an appointment for the gas to be turned back on and the heating system tested.

Please note the following before booking an appointment:

  • If the meter is ‘pay-as-you-go’ you’ll need to have credit on the meter for the test to take place.
  • There must be a working electricity supply (and credit on the electricity meter, if required) for the test to go ahead.
  • If you have a gas cooker that you would like to be connected, this can be done by the Gas Call engineer free of charge during the testing appointment.  Gas Call will need to be made aware at the time of booking, and unfortunately will not be able to provide a separate appointment or return at another time free of charge.  You must provide the engineer with a copy of the cooker’s instruction manual.
  • If the gas cooker is found to be faulty, it will be disconnected for your own safety, in accordance with gas regulations.
  • No other gas appliances will be checked.

Benefits

Once you’ve signed your tenancy, you’ll need to let the benefits you receive know that you’ve moved.  If you don’t do this, your benefits will be stopped, missed or suspended: 

 If you need help with benefit changes, or applying for benefits, our Moneywise team can help. 

Housing Benefit and Council Tax support

Some households are eligible for support towards their council tax costs, click here.

 You can’t make a new claim for Housing Benefit unless you’re of pension age.  If you’re moving from a different local authority or this is your first claim, you’ll have to apply for housing costs through the housing element of Universal Credit. 

Reporting your change of address

Make sure you let your council know your change of address.

Crawley Borough Council – Council Tax: online here or call:  01293 438 611

Crawley Borough Council – Housing Benefit: online here or call: 01293 438 611

Epsom & Ewell Borough Council:  online here or call:  01372 732 000

Horsham District Council:  online here or call: 01403 215 100

Lewes Council:  online here or call:  01273 471 600

Mid Sussex District Council: online here or call 01444 477 264

Mole Valley District Council:  online here or call:  01306 885 001

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council: online here or call 01737 276 497

Tandridge District Council:  online here or call: 01883 722 000

If you need help with benefit changes, or applying for benefits the our Moneywise team can help.

Budgeting

It’s a good idea to work out what changes your new home will make to your budget before you move. 

If you don’t already have one, you can use this handy Budget Planner online: Budget Planner | Free online budget planning tool | MoneyHelper 

Average bills

Any prices listed below should only be used as a guide when planning your budget before you move.  Prices can vary depending on factors such as usage, tariff and location. 

Gas and electric

Average monthly cost (in 2023) Direct Debit Pay on receipt (key/card)
Low (flat or 1-bedroom house / 1-2 people) £120 £185
Medium (3-bedroom house / 2-3 people) £170 £265
High (5-bedroom house / 4-5 people) £240 £365

Water

Average monthly cost (in 2023)
1 bedroom £20
2 bedrooms £22
3 bedrooms £25
4 bedrooms £26
5 bedrooms £27

Contents insurance

The cost of contents insurance varies greatly depending on the location of the property, it’s size, the value of your belongings and even what type of front door you have.  Bear this in mind while you are budgeting.  Many providers are willing to give you a quote before you move into the property.

A 1 bed flat may cost around £5/month, while a 2 bed house could cost around £11/month.

You can find more information about finding the best contents insurance policy for you further down the page.

 

Average food costs

Weekly cost per person Weekly cost per household (2/3 people)
Food at home £34 £79
Food out (for example at restaurants, takeaway etc) £10 £23
Total £44 £102

Income

A benefits calculator can help to show what benefits you may be entitled to in your new home: Benefits calculator | MoneyHelper 

If you need help applying for benefits then our Moneywise team can help.

Registering with local health services

Find your local GP:  Find a GP – NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

Find your nearest NHS dentist:  How to find an NHS dentist – NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

Accessing local mental health support:  Find an NHS talking therapies services – NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

Urgent mental health helpline: Mental Health Helpline for Urgent Help – NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

School admissions and childcare

School admissions: School admissions: How to apply – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Free early education and childcare:  Find free early education and childcare – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Find a nursery school place: Find a nursery school place – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Find a registered childminder:  Find a registered childminder – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

TV License

If you plug an aerial into a television in your home and/or use the BBC app on a device in your home, you need to sign up for a TV license here. 

If you already have a TV license, you can let them know you’ve moved here.

Driving License

It’s important to let the DVLA know you, and anyone else in your household with a driving license, have moved here.

Contents insurance

When signing your tenancy, you agree to hold contents insurance to cover the value of your belongings. 

Start by calculating how much contents insurance you’ll need here.  When you’re filling out the form, think about how much it would cost you to replace the items in your home, rather than how much you paid for them. 

Once you have the amount of insurance you need, you also need to consider how much excess you would be happy to pay if you made a claim.  Normally the smaller the excess, the higher the monthly or yearly cost of the policy – but you don’t want to set the excess higher than an amount you could afford to pay if you needed to make a claim. 

Finally, many companies offer ‘extras’ such as home legal cover and accidental damage cover.  It’s worth thinking about whether you need these extras as sometimes removing them from the policy will save you some money. 

Here are a few comparison websites that can give you quotes for contents insurance: 

Getting furniture

Second hand furniture in all Raven areas

Furnihelp Mid Sussex  

Furnihelp has stock of second-hand furniture, household goods and equipment from donated items and make these available to local people in need.  The furniture is supplied free of charge, although they are always happy to accept a donation to help towards their running costs.   

Online here or call 01342 811 755.

Furnistore Surrey

Furnistore gifts items to families most in need in the community. This need might be because of a council housing situation, homelessness, refuge, or because individuals or families have fallen on hard times.  They offer the remaining items at a 50% discount price to anyone who is on means tested benefits.  Any other member of the public, who are not on benefits, can also purchase from a wide range of good-quality furniture and household items from Furnistore at extremely affordable, but undiscounted, prices. 

Online here or call 01737 773 133.

Grants for furniture and white goods

  • Surrey Crisis Fund (for those living in the administrative borough of Surrey): Online here  or call 0345 600 9009 

To find other grants that may be available in your area or due to your specific circumstances visit Turn2Us: online here  or call 0808 802 2000.

If you need help applying for grants, or require a professional referral, our Moneywise team can help from the date your tenancy starts. Raise an enquiry through your MyRaven online account or call 0300 123 3399.

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