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.

Good job! I live in Belmont and love it.

@yestim that's great to hear. DD looking forward to visiting Morellis with mates - though she'll need to get some local mates first!

Now been offered BRA, Grosvenor and Assumption. Think there's a clear winner for us but wondering if anyone has any specific thoughts about them before I seal the deal!?

Hi there, that's great that 3 schools have got back to you. I've no close links with those schools at the minute but I'm aware of people at BRA and Assumption. Hopefully this will give the thread a bump! Assumption has a good reputation although I'm not so keen on single sex schools. BRA seems to be doing really well at the moment - it may be more difficult for you to get to as you'd have to go through town at rush hour. I've heard people say their pastoral care is very good. I don't know anything about Grosvenor but I travelled miles to school and always wished I'd gone somewhere more local, especially on nights with after school clubs. There are definite benefits to going to your closest school!

I know quite a few people with kids at Grosvenor and they're all very positive about it. It's a well thought of school, as far as I can tell

Thanks both. Decided on Grosvenor but wanted to sense check. Think Assumption might be too academic for my DD even though they were happy with her midyis score. Grosvenor seems a good all rounder and lots to do beyond sport and music, plus right area for us. Just needed to sense check.

We move a month today!

One big thing BRA seems to have going for it was proper integration - 30% catholic - but as you say is a bit across town so reduces chance of super local mates unless we focus house hunt on north next year. We are quite keen on Campbell prep for DS from what we’ve heard from someone who teaches there so looks like we might be sticking around the area we are renting in, provided it’s all we hope it is!

Good luck for the move OP, I'm not too far from you if you are moving to Belmont, if you have any questions just shout. Grosvenor seems to be a great school, my DC have been to summer camps there and the facilities look great. If you stay in the area you are spoilt for choice with primary options for DS - there are 5 great state primaries you would be in catchment for. Mine go to the local catholic primary and there are loads of children from mixed religious, non catholic and atheist backgrounds. It's a great area to live.

I also commute to work on bike so if your DP needs anyone to show him the best routes into the city centre let me know, you can cycle path the whole way in pretty much and if you go round by the titanic area you get to see seals the odd time bobbing about along the river.

I'm local to you too! I can feel a mini meet-up coming on!

Sounds great, see you in Belmont Park - I’ll bring a tray bake!!

@Nyancat that’s great news! DH used to cycle to work when he worked 13 miles away(!) and I reeeeeally miss his cycling body. Lockdown has not done good things to either of us.

I’ve been looking at fun things to do in NI and am so very hopeful this could unlock a much better quality of life for us. Cannot wait!!!

By the way, I ended up going Dixon line (they are in England that week anyway so can pack for us) but both B line and Dixon quoted under £1800 and all the local quotes here were £4-6k!!!

By the way, I ended up going Dixon line (they are in England that week anyway so can pack for us) but both B line and Dixon quoted under £1800 and all the local quotes here were £4-6k!!!

Those quotes are insane, I wonder if lockdown affected the quoted price?! We shipped our container from Australia to Belfast for $8000 (just over £4000)!!! Glad you found somewhere cheaper!

And that price included dismantling beds and things and a fair bit of packing (we did do a lot of packing ourselves but they did about half) and re-built the beds and things on arrival!

That's similar to the price I paid with Dixon Line. I also had quotes of £6000 from places like Pickfords so it's not just because of lockdown. They were brilliant for us, I hope you get great service too.

I have lots of friends with children in Assumption - it's a specialist music and sport school and although it has outstanding results I would be very happy for my less academic child to attend as there's a great sense of community and friendship - and the art department is spectacular (I've never seen a better one).

I do also know children who attend Grosvenor - I think on balance it may be slightly more academic than Assumption.

Sorry if that confuses things!

@HappyHugs I'm already completely confused. She's now also got a place at Sullivan Upper after sending 2019 CAT scores (maybe she's more academic than I thought?) but I think we're committed to Grosvenor now and she's excited about Japanese club etc. I just want to get out there, get her in school and for her to love it. Fingers crossed.

A bit ARGHHH that I was so hasty with the forms because I would've liked to at least consider Sullivan - really liked the look of it.

Oh - and another question. How best to go about finding recommendations when I don't know anyone? I can't find a local facebook group like the one we have for our town. In particular I was looking for a piano teacher last night but I'm also thinking things like dentist, doctor and even dry cleaner!

Lots of GP surgeries in the Arches centre, I would go for one of those. Grosvenor is a great school and easy to get to from anywhere, I don't think you will regret that choice. I wouldn't worry about stuff like dentists and piano teachers for now, there still isn't anything like that happening yet anyway. Good luck with the move, keep in touch!

Sullivan and Grosvenor are both great schools, Grosvenor was totally knocked down and rebuilt so facilities are probably newer / better. It would also be handier for Belmont than Sullivan. North down mum's 2 on Facebook would probably be useful for recommendations.

Thanks, I think we have made the right choice for DD and I’m overthinking things. 24 days to go!

My advice is not to rent your current house out. Sell it instead. Being a landlord is miserable. Also, if your property has appreciated, if you keep it, get used to the idea of having to give a chunk to the government in capital gains tax when you finally do sell. Even if prices do nothing but go down for the next few years, each year you’ll have to give more of the initial gain back to the government at the point of sale.

I find the Next Door app great for recommendations etc but I think you can only join once you've moved in

Yes, nextdoor app is great for recommendations. Knock medical centre on the upper newtownards road was recommended on that app recently as being good. There are a good few dentists in the area and generally no difficulty getting onto their lists.

Oh that's good to know that it's not hard! It's a nightmare here - dentists, schools - everything is over subscribed. Completely shocked at how easy it was to get DD offers from several brilliant schools.