By 12-month broadband plans give you more flexibility, making it perfect for renters and for students. You can get 12-month broadband from £19 per month.
Nowadays, most UK home broadband deals will require you to sign up for a lengthy 18-month or 24-month contract. If you want more flexibility, you can choose a 12-month broadband plan instead. These are currently available from just £19 per month, with some of the best value deals available from NOW Broadband (part of Sky).
In our opinion, 12-month broadband plans are perfect if you’re renting your home and if you want flexibility to move after the first year without incurring penalty fees on your broadband. It’s also perfect for student households and for anyone wanting the ability to change providers after one year.
In this article, we’ll look at the 12-month home broadband deals that are currently available in the UK. We’ll start with an overview of the available options, before looking at each individual provider in more detail. We’ll also look at some alternative options, including getting no contract broadband and 4G home broadband.
| 12 Month Broadband Plans: | From £19/month |
|---|---|
| Recommended Deal: | £20/month for NOW Super Fibre (£20/month) |
| 12 Month Broadband Providers: |
12 Month Broadband Deals
At present, NOW is our recommended broadband provider if you’re looking for a 12-month plan.
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NOW
You can get fibre broadband from NOW for as little as £22 per month (or £18 per month if you’re looking for normal copper broadband). This comes with unlimited downloads and line rental included. You can also benefit from a discounted NOW television membership for access to Sky’s Entertainment, Cinema and Sports TV channels. There’s no activation fee when you sign up on NOW’s 12-month broadband plan: you’ll simply pay an upfront fee of £5 for the delivery of your router. |
Compare 12 Month Broadband Deals
The following table shows a summary of broadband providers that offer a 12-month contract in the UK:
| Broadband Provider | Plans From | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| BT | £33.99/month |
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| Cuckoo | £39/month | |
| Plusnet | £25.99/month | |
| NOW | £18/month |
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In certain postcodes, it’s also possible to get broadband on a 12-month contract from smaller providers like Community Fibre and Hyperoptic.
For more information, read on to learn more about each individual provider.
Contents
12 Month Broadband Plans: By Provider
In the following section, we’ll look at each of the individual broadband providers in more detail.
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BT
Depending on where you live, BT offers a range of 12-month plans, ranging from Fibre Essential (with average speeds of 36Mbps) to Full Fibre 900 (with average speeds of 900Mbps). Prices vary but in most cases, you’re paying about £5/month more than on the equivalent 24-month plan. There’s also a £29.99 upfront fee for set-up and you won’t get the reward card offers that are exclusive to BT’s 24-month plans. At the time of writing, BT’s 12-month broadband plans start from £33.99 per month. This doesn’t include a landline (you’ll need to add an extra £5 per month for a home phone service). You can compare all of BT’s 12-month broadband deals.
Tariff Information: BT Website |
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CuckooCuckoo is one of the UK’s newest providers of fibre broadband and full fibre broadband. Their plans start from £39 per month, with no upfront fee when you sign up on a 12-month plan. Most UK homes can get Cuckoo’s ‘Fast’ broadband plan. This uses a combination of fibre and copper technology to deliver average download speeds of 67Mbps:
In homes with access to a full fibre (FTTP) broadband connection, you’ll also get a choice of two further plans. The ‘Really Fast’ plan gives you an average download speed of 100Mbps and the ‘Eggceptional’ plan gives you an average download speed of 900Mbps.
If you cancel your Cuckoo service before the end of the 12-month term, you’ll be charged a flat fee of £60 for early cancellation.
Tariff Information: Cuckoo Website |
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NOW
As a low-cost sub-brand of Sky, NOW offers unlimited broadband from only from £18 per month (and unlimited fibre broadband from just £22 per month. There’s an upfront charge of £5 for the delivery of your router.
Tariff Information: NOW Broadband Website |
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Plusnet
If you’d like to see Plusnet’s 12-month broadband deals, you’ll need to enter your postcode on this page. You can then choose ’12 months’ under the ‘Contract length’ dropdown on the results page. At the time of writing, Plusnet’s 12-month broadband plans start from £25.99 per month (about £4 per month more than their standard 18-month plans). In addition, you’ll need to pay an additional £10 set-up fee and there aren’t any reward card offers available on the 12-month plans. Plusnet’s full fibre (FTTP) plans are only available on a 24-month contract.
Tariff Information: Plusnet Website |
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When you sign up as a new BT customer, you’ll normally need to commit to a lengthy 24-month contract. However, there’s a range of special 12-month broadband deals available 
If you’re looking for home broadband on a 12-month contract with very competitive prices, our current recommendation is to sign up for 
As a NOW broadband member, you’ll be able to add discounted 
Plusnet’s regular fibre broadband plans are available on a shorter 12-month contract as an alternative to the standard 18-month contract.Alternatives to 12 Month Broadband
In our opinion, 12-month broadband plans are a good option if you’re looking for some flexibility, whilst also having access to some of the most competitive deals.
This flexibility of a 12-month plan comes in handy if you’re renting your home (as you may not want to sign up for a broadband deal that’s longer than your tenancy agreement). It’s also handy if you’re looking to move home in the near future or if you’re looking for a student broadband plan.
As an alternative to getting 12-month broadband, you can also consider the following options:
- One-month rolling broadband. For even more flexibility, choose a no contract broadband deal. On these deals, there’s normally an upfront fee for setting up the service. The monthly price can also be substantially higher. However, you’ll avoid any possibility of being charged an early cancellation fee if you were to cancel in the first 12 months.
- 4G or 5G home broadband. You can also consider a 4G home broadband or 5G home broadband service. Even if you sign up on a longer contract (e.g. for 24 months), it isn’t tied to a single address. This means you can simply bring the service with you to a different address.
- 18-month broadband. In some cases, it can be beneficial choosing a longer 18-month contract (e.g. from providers such as Plusnet, Sky or TalkTalk). This opens up a wider choice of deals, along with special offers (e.g. discounts or gift cards for signing up). On an 18-month contract, you’ll need to pay an early exit fee if you were to cancel your service in the first 18 months. However, this can sometimes work out to be reasonably priced overall, even once the cancellation fee is taken into account.
More Information
For more information, see our overview of UK broadband deals. You can also read our NOW Broadband review, along with our guides to no contract broadband and 4G & 5G home broadband.
Michael said:
I highly recommend https://www.giganet.uk/
No in contract price increases, excellent UK customer service, 30 day contracts and no exit fees. I think they also use Zen. I am a very happy customer.