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Can .ac.uk domain names be transferred to a new owner and registrar in much the same way other domains are handled? Are there any restrictions on this?

I'm aware there are certain eligibility requirements for registration.

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JISC have no published rules on the transfer of ownership of a .ac.uk domain, because their terms and conditions include the following:

5.4 not transfer, sell or otherwise divest the domain name.

https://community.jisc.ac.uk/library/janet-services-documentation/terms-and-conditions-acuk

The T&C for .ac.uk domains is quite short and doesn't leave much room for interpretation or negotiation.

As such, without JISC's explicit consent (which you'd have to contact them for), you would have to cancel the domain and the new owner would have to complete the full application process for the now available domain from scratch.

Given that they strictly require that the domain name to be properly descriptive of the organisation registering it, I'm struggling to think of a scenario where even this would be allowed.

Even of a privately owned institution that qualified for an .ac.uk domain was changing hands, because the domain name would simply remain with the institution and any details of individuals involved in the registration would be updated.

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  • Thanks. We're a privately owned web dev company who registered the domain on behalf of one of our clients (an educational institution). They now wish to move to another agency, which I will involve changing the registrar and host.
    – James
    Commented Dec 10, 2019 at 9:38
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    @James - OK, you might be confused. Ownership of a domain is to the Registrant. Transferring a domain to a new host (registrar) is something entirely different. The new registrar must be approved by JISC to handle .ac.uk domains. The registrar will have instructions for the transfer process. Commented Dec 10, 2019 at 9:40

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