Until now, domains could only be registered under a second level domain (SLD) such as .co.uk or .org.uk, since registration under the top level domain (TLD) .uk was not previously provided for directly by the registry. With the introduction of .uk, domain owners of existing domains in England - especially of existing .co.uk domains - are preferred.

The registry reserves the corresponding .uk domain for already registered domains under the current SLDs free of charge and for 5 years until June 10, 2019 according to the following rules. Within this period the domain owner can decide at any time whether he wants to register the domain under the TLD .uk. The TLD .uk supplements the existing domain extensions according to current information. For the time being, there are no plans to discontinue one or more existing domain extensions in England.
 
In the following we have summarized the rules, which domain owners may register privileged domains directly under the TLD .uk:

    The domain was registered under the following SLD before October 28, 2013:

• .co.uk: The corresponding.uk domain is automatically reserved.
• .org.uk: If there is no.co.uk domain, the corresponding.uk domain will be reserved automatically.
• .me.uk: If there is no.co.uk or.org.uk, the corresponding.uk domain will be reserved automatically.
• .net.uk, .plc.uk and .ltd.uk are treated subordinated.

    The domain was registered between October 28, 2013 and June 10, 2014 under the following SLD:

• .co.uk: If there is no other SLD, the corresponding.uk domain is reserved automatically.
• .org.uk: Any existing.co.uk domain has priority, otherwise anyone can register the corresponding.uk domain "first come - first served".
• .me.uk: Any existing.co.uk or.org.uk domain has priority, otherwise anyone can register the corresponding.uk domain "first come - first served".
• .net.uk, .plc.uk and .ltd.uk are treated subordinated.

Registered domains remain unaffected by the liberalisation. However, if these are deleted by June 10, 2019, the unrecoverable right to register the corresponding .uk domain expires and anyone else can register the domain according to the "first come - first served" principle.

Even if the respective domain owner has no interest in the corresponding .uk counterpart, no one else can register the domain within these 5 years. Only a change of registry owner can transfer the rights to the .uk domain after registration.

Domain owners of domains under the current SLDs in England can have 123domain.eu check whether the corresponding .uk domain has been reserved for their domain or another. Afterwards reserved domains can be prepared for the registration or alternative ways for the desired domain can be shown under .uk.

We are happy to answer your questions about liberalisation in England and your .uk domains. Please call us directly at +49 231 58698-123 or contact us by e-mail at info@123domain.eu.