How to Notify the Water Company When a Tenancy Changes (and Keep the Proof)

Gas and electricity get a handover call; water stays on the outgoing name because nobody filed the occupier change. The problem is an unowned water file. Build it the same day keys return: name the company, gather names, dates and the readings you already have, submit Landlord TAP or My Account, and store the unique confirmation reference. Then mark any empty dates and stop.

Tenant hands back keys on Friday. You email the energy supplier and forget water. Six weeks later a bill arrives in the outgoing name covering the empty fortnight plus the new occupier’s first weeks. In practice the unique receipt would have been the file. The tenant “said they would sort it” is not a confirmation reference.

Disclaimer: IziRento is operations software, not legal advice. Local tenancy rules vary; check a qualified adviser for binding decisions.

Why does water stay on last year’s name?

Energy gets the Friday call. Water stays on last year’s name because nobody opened a portal. Treat water as its own occupier file: the company for the address, the dates, the readings you already have, then a submit. Do not fold this into an energy-account transfer.

Landlord TAP — the Landlord Tenant Address Portal for England and Wales — is the national notify site. Water UK lists four TAP jobs: add a property, change tenant details, mark empty, or update if you sell. The submit is passed to the relevant company and a reference is provided for your records. A typical mistake is treating TAP as a bills inbox. Cambridge Water is explicit: TAP declares who is responsible; it does not show or pay bills. The hidden risk is a later invoice you cannot verify there. One property is still a notify job. The void-period energy notify is a different checklist. Stay on the England and Wales household process.

What should you gather before you open the portal?

Gather the pack before you log in. Southern Water’s landlord page is the usual ready-list: landlord and property, new occupier, previous occupier, empty period with reads. A half name and no leave date is how the receipt points at the wrong person.

Southern Water asks you to keep this ready before TAP: new occupier move-in date and reading, names, contacts, previous address if known; previous occupier name, leave date, reading; empty from/to with reads. Northumbrian Water’s minimum is title, names, and an email or telephone. If the opening pack is still a scrap of paper, finish the meter-reading photo file first. For example, a Friday key-return with no leave-day water read still needs a number you can type.

Which notify route do you use — TAP, My Account, or the landlord line?

Pick one written route and keep the proof. For most England and Wales lets the default is Landlord TAP. A one-property landlord can use the company’s My Account. A phone call still counts if you write the call reference the same day.

Landlord TAP is register-then-submit. After a submit you receive a unique transaction receipt for your records. Affinity Water splits the route by size: fewer than 10 properties go to My Account; more than 10 go to TAP. TAP is not mandatory for a single flat. One property is still a notify job.

Company windows vary. Anglian Water’s TAP note is process, not a national deadline: use TAP when the change is no more than five weeks away. Outside that window, use Anglian’s own form or phone. United Utilities publishes 0345 672 2999 if you prefer not to use TAP. Northumbrian Water’s fallback is email, phone or post — TAP still cannot show bills.

How do you keep the unique confirmation reference?

Copy the unique transaction receipt — or the My Account confirmation, or the call reference — into the tenancy file the same day you submit. Until that string exists, the occupier change is a story, not a file.

Cambridge Water says you get a unique transaction receipt, and that a new tenant means you update the portal — you do not also need a separate call. LetSafe’s process note (reviewed 2 September 2026): keep copies of every notification. If you phone, do write the date, who you spoke to, and the call reference. Do paste the reference next to the lease. Don't close the tab because “TAP has it.”

When do you mark the empty dates on the same day?

If keys return before the next occupier moves in, mark the empty from/to the same day. That is how the company knows who is the occupier for the gap. A blank void is how last year’s name stays on the bill through the empty fortnight.

Severn Trent’s empty-property page says use Landlord TAP so they know when a property becomes empty, and that the landlord is responsible for charges during empty periods. If any water is used in a void, charges still apply. Do file the empty dates with the same unique reference. Don't leave the void blank because “nobody is using the taps.”

What belongs in the water occupier file before you stop?

One file per property: water-company name, outgoing and incoming details, empty from/to if there was a gap, the readings you typed, the route, and the unique confirmation reference.

Success bar: you can name the water company, you gathered names, dates and readings before the portal, you submitted via Landlord TAP or My Account or the landlord line, you wrote the unique transaction receipt or call reference, you marked void dates the same day, and you did not assume the tenant filed it. Verify the receipt sits next to the lease.

IziRento is a workspace for properties, leases, bills and reminders. Keep the water-company name, change dates and confirmation reference on one record.