.UK domain names

If you currently own the .co.uk domain name and now you hear that the .uk domain name was launched on the 10th June this year and providers are offering it for sale.
What should you do?

First off, let’s look at a few facts:

The new .uk domain has been automatically put by for you up until 19/06/2019. Not only does this apply to .co.uk it’s also for those owning .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk or .ltd.uk domain names. So, there is no need to panic buy! Just as long as the domains remain registered the .uk will be reserved for you.

For some of you there will have been more than one domain that existed before the cut off date which shared the same website name as yours but had different domain name endings (i.e. www.mywebsite.co.uk and www.mywebsite.org.uk). You can check whether you have the rights to the new .uk by using the Rights lookup tool.

If you decide not to register the new .uk equivalent domain before 10 June 2019, it will then become available for someone else to register, but your existing domain will of course still be yours as long as it remains registered to you.

If at any time you decide not to renew your existing domain, the .uk equivalent will automatically become available for someone else to register.
Price wise, it looks like they’ve come down a bit recently and the cost to register for one year is now only £2 more for a .uk than a .co.uk.  If you think you have a registered business name you want to protect, then its worth it, but you have time.