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.

Someone else has mentioned about future job prospects - what fields are you both in? My DP is a software developer and had no shortage of opportunities, he had 13 interviews in a week I think? Apparently a lot of American / London based insurance / fin-tech companies are gravitating here as there is a high calibre of graduates from Queens / Dublin unis, but for much less $ than London/NYC as cost of living is better.

On the other hand my industry doesn’t exist here so I have had to take a significant drop in salary, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make as I was desperate to come home, I’m considering going back to uni.

I really would be careful to chose a mixed area if you no longer identify yourselves as Catholic but your background is. Malone Road is beautiful.

If you are thinking of Bangor it is ‘mixed’... all of the schools are ‘mixed’ too and no one really cares anymore.. it’s much more a live and let live sort of place ( except for some of the rougher areas but with your budget you won’t be anywhere near them)
It used to be considered a ‘safe area’ and still more or less has that feeling eg I lived beside the Chief of Police for years all during the troubles. The trains to Belfast are decent and frequent.

South Belfast, Holywood, Helens Bay, Ballyhackamore, and Cherry Valley are all great areas with Holywood and South Belfast having the edge - especially Finaghy and Stranmillis. Holywood is a bit smugly middle class but I like it. I'd avoid North Belfast and its suburbs (I'm from there originally) . Also be careful about East Belfast (there are pockets of extremism) and the West is probably out if you are not from there (larger pockets). There's still a degree of political tension but its very manageable. I still visit regularly - feel free to pm me if you've questions about areas. Unless you are Catholic it'll be 'a Protestant' school. The educational system is generally great. Be realistic about your children's academic ability as there's still an 11 plus and segregated grammar/secondary system. Newtownards, Hilsborough Comber and Donaghadee (lovely seaside town) are lovely if you want to be outside the city and don't mind a commute. The grammar schools could be great but secondary rough in an area so consider both. Cost of living, commuting, people and social life are fab. If it were me I'd opt for South Belfast or Hilsborough. No such thing as sitting in a car for hours to get to the coast on a bank holiday.Good luck - sounds like you are about to really improve your life

Hi,

To those asking - husband is in IT and works for a bank. He works with developers but isn't one - hard to be more specific without being outing but I guess it shouldn't matter as I've NC'd! He's previously worked for a Big 4 which has practices out there he could move to should something happen to his current job (which feels quite safe, even right now). Or worse comes to absolute worst find something in Dub in Financial Services and stay one night a week.

I'm currently on mat leave and am considering applying to Queens for Medicine in a year or so (degree Chemistry but have been working at a management consultancy since graduation). There are good jobs I could apply for and am qualified for in Belfast but I am in the very lucky position of not really having to go back to work so am reassessing what I want from life. In short, we feel OK about making the move. If we keep our house here we can always run home with tail between our legs and get jobs in London again should it not work out. But I really, REALLY don't want the commute or lifestyle anymore. 30+ years of the Home Counties and I'm more than ready to leave.

We moved back from Edinburgh last year- best thing we have done. Pace of life completely different and the people are some of the friendliest you will ever meet- and the funniest!

Yes, DH often says his colleagues are hilarious. Whenever he goes to the English offices he says culture is drab and serious in comparison, within same organisation. He's fallen head over heels with Belfast but I'll have to get him out to Bangor etc to have a look too.

How does your dh feel about Belfast weather? That is the only thing I'll miss about SE England- the sun! Been sitting sunbathing all day in the garden. With extra disposable income and no mortgage though we will be able to afford more holidays :-)

He won't miss it, I think I will though! We will have immediate family in London, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny and Limerick so I imagine we will travel often. I think I'd rather be in a cooler/more grey garden more of the time though, than our current life which is mostly spent on trains, planes and in offices!

www.propertypal.com/14-cathedral-view-north-circular-road-lisburn/562486/photo-2
This one is just across from the train station- express train ten mins to Belfast. Plus within walking distance of friends and wallace which both have preps. My daughters are at one of them and it is a lovely school with only 160 children.

If you are checking out a few areas I wld try and get a few tips for each. A general drive through ballyhack, holywood, Bangor, lisburn road etc might leave you none the wiser.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2018/dec/07/lets-move-to-bangor-county-down like this really.

Wow that really sells it! I’ve already sorted 4 school applications blind but will also ring schools on Monday and see if anyone can chat with me. I don’t want to be a pest though as I know teaching staff will be home and struggling like the rest of us.

Husband looking at Airbnbs for house hunting but it’s difficult as not sure when we can go or how we house hunt! Any ideas? Book somewhere for early July that’s fully cancellable perhaps in the hope we can find a rental to move to in aug/sept? Worse comes to worst I can go ahead with kids into temp accom and DH can wrap up here whilst working remotely but ideal would be to be in new place in sept.

We moved from London to Belfast and then to Bangor after renting for 2 years. It took me a while to settle and I was hugely homesick for a while but now absolutely love living here and wouldn't be anywhere else. Pace of life is a million times better, our work life balance is great, people are amazing and friendly, the food and drink and natural environment is wonderful. I love it. Would be a bit concerned about you not driving though - I don't drive either and have found it a struggle, and that's with a DH who does drive and is happy to. That might be a bit of an issue.

Another bonus is that there are zillions of English accents in Bangor which helped me feel less of an outlier!

If you are going to rent I wouldn’t necessarily worry about being in Malone. I would save the money towards buying and just rent somewhere that’s ok- finaghy, ormeau road or even the nicer bits of North Belfast- probably a third cheaper.

@peachgreen I do drive - sorry if not clear. It’s my husband who cannot due to permanent eyesight issues, he just needs to get to and from work and we manage together the rest of the time. Luckily we enjoy one another’s company!

Finaghy looks very interesting. You’re right, probably no point forking out £££ to rent. I’m so excited I have no idea how I’ll sleep!

Have you thought about how you’ll transport the cats? We used an Australian company for her to leave obviously but she was transferred to a local company when she landed in London, it was Airpets I think. Her medication went missing sometime between pickup and boarding the first plane and Airpets got her a vet checkup as soon as possible after landing and replaced her weeks worth of lost pills with about 6 months, couldn’t recommend them enough.

If you are thinking about visiting in early July keep in mind that there's a bank holiday here around 12th July and many companies take a few days off. You may want to ring some estate agents and see if they'll be open, even if things are a bit more back to normal.

Keep and eye on BBC news ni / Belfast telegraph for our lockdown stages easing. Definitely not much open now in terms of estate agents etc.

Finaghy is lovely! Has a train station and am easily cycle to town. Had an integrated school plus other good schools. Rathmore grammar is very good,

Check these out.

www.propertypal.com/the-belsize-finaghy-park-gardens-finaghy-park-central-belfast/611854

www.propertypal.com/42-finaghy-road-south-finaghy-belfast/613368

www.propertypal.com/12-finaghy-park-north-finaghy-belfast/628560

If your DH works where I think he does, it’s the same company I used to work for.

Very relaxed in terms of office friendships/ politics without being unprofessional.

It’s really heartening to see how you are both so excited and enthusiastic about this corner of the UK. A lot of people can be very down about it without actually knowing much about the place, but it has a huge amount to offer, especially for families.

Northern Ireland is a really nice place to live if you've a few quid.

Terrible, wonder if it is the same - he absolutely loves the people. His manager and the people he manages are all in Belfast so it’s just silly him being here.

Thanks for tips on bank hols and links - will keep eye out!

Re: cats I had assumed as U.K. to U.K. we could just get vets to advise on driving them over in the car, I hadn’t thought too much about it!

Finaghy is a bit of dead zone at the crossroads though. Tanning beds and Iceland! Although there is Hatches!

And when anyone mentions Bangor this is all I can think of...