A friend of my has been with BT for yonks and is moving to another address nearby where the previous occupant had BT (again, for yonks), paid the bill and moved out.

My first friend has now been told that while BT will reactivate the line at the new address for free, there will be a 12 month contract even though he's been with them at his current address for ages!

Is this correct?

Yes, when a line is reconnected a new 12 month contract begins.

Thanks for that. Poo.

But that only applies to the line rental - you could CPS your calls and/or use 1899/18185/18866 immediately.