to ask how to relocate (to Belfast)?

[AdultierAdult]

My husband has been telecommuting and commuting to Belfast from a very expensive area in the South East and we are fed up of missing him during the week (obviously he is remote working now!). Both our parents live in ROI anyway so we feel like we are on the wrong island and paying a premium for London bubble living, without any real need.

We’ve decided to relocate to Belfast but feel completely out of our depth. We have a baby and a daughter who would be going into NI year 9 (she’s in y7 here), and husband needs to commute to city centre by bike or public transport. Schools and an area with a bustling community with access to the city are the priorities.

Feel so overwhelmed - how do I go about narrowing down schools to apply for, or areas to rent/buy, and how to find somewhere when the world has stopped!? Should we become accidental landlords and keep a place in the SE in case it doesn’t work out or sell up and go for it to avoid all that headache? How do we find somewhere to rent with two cats, or should we just go for it and buy (we dont need to sell here to do this)? I don’t feel like enough of a grownup to do this and I can’t sleep at the moment for stressing about it.

For anyone who knows Belfast and could suggest some postcodes - we’d prefer not to spend more than £1000 a month renting. Budget to buy would be max £300k if we keep our house here or probably about £650k if we sold up here completely.

I know this isn’t AIBU but other appropriate areas are dead! Any nuggets of wisdom greatly appreciated.

Hillsborough is lovely but pricey and public transport to Belfast isn’t as convenient as other places. Lisburn could be an option - regular trains to the city centre, good house prices and Friends and Wallace for schools.

Hi wavey, I drive but DH doesn’t so it’s just his commute that needs to be cycling/train. But I think walking distance primary would be the dream anyway, DDs primary was walking distance and that time to chat and walk every day was really special.

Friends looks amazing, but not surprised it’s very popular. As someone said, always worth a try. This thread has been like gold! We will definitely rent first and then decide if we are ready to give up a foothold in the SE England market - or even just release equity - to allow us to buy something really brilliant.

The Malone Road area of South Belfast is what first sprung to mind when reading your post. It’s a lovely area with plenty of cafés, restaurants & shops, and also within very close reach of central Belfast. Local grammar schools like Methody & Victoria are highly thought of and at year 9 entry you may get lucky and be able to secure a place. These both have excellent prep departments but there are also some very good primary schools nearby.

Holywood is a beautiful little town by the sea, yet only a 10 min drive to Belfast. It has a great selection of eateries & shops, and quite a few expats live there. Your DD would most likely have to take a short train ride to school in Belfast from here. There is a small independent school nearby (Rockport) that is very good however fees are high!

There are some very nice up & coming areas of East Belfast, namely Ballyhack & the Ravenhill area. Ballyhackamore has gotten very popular in the last few years, and is very well known for having amazing restaurants. Again, it has some great schools around it, like Strathearn and Bloomfield Collegiate. The primary school system is a bit different in the east, with children attending smaller schools from P1-3 before moving to one big school (Strandtown). Another fabulous school in the east is Downey House, one of the 2 Methody preps.

www.propertynews.com/property-for-sale/55-clifton-road-bangor-bt20-5hy/property/IPE11488/?sort=Relevance&status[]=For+Sale&sector[]=Residential&keywords=bt20&offset=20&limit=10 buy this, walk through the park to the local integrated nursery, then on to the integrated primary, also next door to the girls grammar. Walking distance to train for husband. Living the dream.

Oh I was eyeing that house up a while ago Atlanticpa

@PeachMoon for those first 6 weeks were you in a short term let? If so, how /through who did you arrange?

Love that road, ward avenue and all the streets around baylands.

Have a think beyond this current job. If your husband wanted to change job, what would prospects look like in Belfast compared to the south east? The job market is definitely not as good.

I was there many ?15 years ago to look at the uni for DS.
It was an open day for local schools and I was gobsmacked at the uniforms of everyone - I guess to make it clear what religion the DCs were. Eg mid calf length kilts (girls) and boys in gold braid edged blazers, never seen anything like it elsewhere in UK (maybe Eton)
The education is good I believe and this has probably changed but I would imagine school choice is important.

I was gobsmacked at the uniforms of everyone - I guess to make it clear what religion the DCs were

That's utter crap. All schools, Catholic, state, integrated, they all have uniforms of varying colours. It's not as if all the Catholic schools wear green and the state schools wear orange.

Edwina no it hasn’t changed! Uniforms here are still seen as important and almost a status symbol. Not that different in terms of English or Scottish private schools.

They don’t mark out religions- it is grammar vs secondary. Grammar have wool blazers, apart from Friends which is Quaker and try to be more accessible.

I've seen a few recommendations for Finaghy and I would agree. Made the move from Buckinghamshire 8 years ago.
Close enough to Lisburn rd shops/restaurants/bars but far enough away to avoid noise. Public transport choices are great - bus/train. Easy cycle into city centre along main road but also a mile from a traffic free route beside the river. Lots of open space.
The estates where you see flags aren't as hardcore as others in NI, it's a pretty mixed area. There are no bars in the village itself which I think keeps things a bit calmer in the evening!
The main mixed primary school is Finaghy Primary School but if I were you I'd wait to see what school eldest goes to and then see if you like their Prep School. There are mixed sex and single sex preps & they are all mixed religion.
This street and surrounding ones have lovely gardens www.propertynews.com/property-for-sale/32-locksley-park-belfast-bt10-0ar/property/DRTDRT1868/

I lived in the Home counties at the time - loads of private schools but not the high faluting uniforms I saw in Belfast. They need to move on if they aren't public schools. Must be expensive.

The major difference between NI grammars and uk private schools is cost. So we pay an annual capital fee of £150 some schools then have a an additional voluntary contribution of a couple of hundred. So if the uniform denotes 'status' it isn't based on wealth. Lots of schools also have different braids etc for their house system, prefects, sports etc

Interesting, thanks.

I think people don't question the cost of uniform because from the day and hour they have a child they know that secondary school uniform costs a fortune. The non grammars in my area don't have cheap uniform either. There's no such thing as buying uniforms in the supermarket.

My daughter's first year at secondary cost us about £1500 in uniform and various fees, plus charges for science equipment, home economics, art equipment etc.

Yes the status is more around ‘my child was bright enough to get in to a grammar’ and the uniforms denote which school it is. But yes they are expensive- probably at least £500 including PE kit, and this does undoubtedly put some families off. Due to the voluntary contributions most schools mentioned above are £500 plus a year to attend.

The school is the biggest issue. Victoria is a good option as is Hunter House. Victoria also has a prep.

This house www.propertynews.com/property-for-sale/35-marlborough-park-central-malone-belfast-bt9-6hn/property/UPS11217-2-10102839/ is handy for Victoria!

My 2 both go to a grammar. Their fees are voluntary and capped at £180 per academic year for a family. I think when just one of them went we did a dd for a £10 a month. One of them started last September - her uniform cost about £200. One skirt, a blazer, tie, I didn't bother with a jumper (lesson learnt from my oldest ), tights. Shoes and shirts came from supermarket/high street. PE shorts and top were the dearest!
I've paid out an addition £50 for HE and art supplies, no additional sports clubs etc. My eldest does Gaelic football, aerobics and netball with no extra cost.

The uniforms aren't so different to the uniforms in ROI either - tends to be jumpers rather than blazers down there but otherwise similar in terms of being specific to the school and pricey. Definitely not a Catholic Vs Protestant thing.

@AdultierAdult We rented an AirBnB for those first 6 weeks, it worked out quite well and most of them had a significant discount if you booked for more than 4 weeks (think 30-50% discount) so have a look on their website and play around with dates to get an idea of cost.

Also, I forgot to mention we are renting with our cat as well. Most places we looked at said no pets but we applied anyway and then put a request to the landlord via the letting agent saying we would have carpets professionally cleaned when we vacate the property and they agreed no problem, so it can be done! We did not take her to the AirBnB though, she was with MIL for about 10 weeks til we got settled and our furniture arrived etc.

Two more houses that are within your budget if you sell your SE property that are beautiful and modernised so basically move in ready as far as I can see:
propertypal.com/615503
propertypal.com/542385

Oh wow, love it! Husband asking when we can put house on market 🤣

So jealous! Would move back to Belfast (South, probably) in a heartbeat!

Clifton Road is an ‘ok’ area but not great. In simple terms I wouldn’t live there. The other side of the park there are some lovely houses similar in style and a much better area.