Northern Ireland

[bassiann]

Beautiful country, house prices appear to be exceptionally cheaper than GB, same currency, language, why do people not want to move there?

AIBU - it’s a shithole
YNBU - I would love to move

The smaller jobs market and lower opportunity to earn, I’d say.

Belfast born & bred here. I work in an industry that attracts professionals from other parts of the UK, primarily England. A lot of them start off on commuting contracts and rather quickly decide to move - house prices & excellent schools being two big motivators in this. Generally they seem to discover that NI isn’t that bad after all and are frequently surprised by the strength of the middle class..

Like anywhere, there’s absolutely lovely areas and shitholes to balance it out!

From NI too. There has been a noticeable influx of people either moving back home after living in GB or people from GB coming here sonce Covid - mostly if they can WFH.

Yes house prices are cheaper, salaries are lower though. Bills remain the same.
Food prices are the same, possibly slightly more expensive.
A night out drinking is now a similar price to London.

When I was in professional training my salary was 7k. Colleagues in Newcastle were on 22k. It was usual for the NI crowd to be sent to work in GB as we were cheaper.

Its a beautiful country, very friendly people. A few rough areas that haven't moved on from the troubles. But the vast vast majority of people want only peace and shared communities.
In middle class areas these issues are not a problem at all.

Great schools - especially Grammar which 60% of our children go to.

Our health care system is shit. All the complaints about the NHS on MN now have been happening here for years and there seems to be no way of fixing it.

We have an incompetent government who play green and orange politics and fight like children rather than sorting out anything. The waste of public money is atrocious. They have fallen out so badly the whole government has shut down for years over completely stupid issues.

Barely anyone votes on policy just Catholic/Protestant- though slowly this is changing. But the government at Stormont are still known as "The Fools on the Hill"

A lot of things I read on MN dont ring true to living here.
We know all our neighbours, the kids play in the street, people call in all the time. NI doesn't really care about class as much.
Its got a very certain sense of humour.

All in I love living here - apart from the weather.

But it isn't some "cheap" utopia

I've just come back from vising NI.

The only downside is their weather!

Much of this is true, but you are completely wrong to say "A night out drinking is now a similar price to London". You must frequent the most expensive places in NI, to get that impression!

Eating and drinking out is much cheaper in NI.

Great schools - especially Grammar which 60% of our children go to.

Yes, I agree that we have great schools. But 60% of children do not go to grammar school. That would kind of defeat the purpose. More like 40%.

Loads of English and Scottish people living in my area OP!

Live in Northern Ireland but had lived away for decades.

People are v friendly and helpful for most part
Houses reasonably affordable but becoming more expensive .
Gorgeous coastline
Schooling is good
Cracking sense of humour
Apart from belfast, lower population density

Weather not good
Politics is annoying with lots of in fighting
NHS is particularly bad
Public transport not fatastic

I would imagine lots of people don't want to move there because it is far away from their family and friends. There is a significant number of people from elsewhere in the UK / Ireland (and elsewhere) in my area of North Down. I would say 50% of my kids friends have at least one non-local parent. From conversations with people that have moved here they love the quality of life, education, relatively affordable housing etc
I would point out that there are plenty of areas of NI that are much expensive than areas in GB. Obviously if you are moving from SE England everything here is going to be cheaper but you could make the same saving moving to the north of england.

Yes, not as cheap as it used to be in termss of housing, but of a bubble at the moment and average house price has just hit £200k.

Education is quite polarised, everyone says we get the best results in the UK but that's only on a fairly narrow definition, we also have the highest proportion of kids leaving school with no qualifications.

SEN provision and healthcare (especially mental healthcare) are even worse than the rest of the UK, and Stormont are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Other than that, it's great!

Sorry you are exactly right. I got my percentage the wrong way round. 40% go to Grammar and 60% to high schools

I dont go to particularly expensive places or nowadays even out very often. Last time I was out was to Belfast city centre in the Duke of York and the Harp Bar. But the prices there are similar to our "local"
(Apart from the scary one where you jave to be in the know to get in)

Was in London last weekend and a pint in Sloane Square was the same price as I would pay 10 mins walk from home.
....and I dont live in Ballyhackamore

I was shocked recently by how expensive eating out/drinks are in Belfast, definitely London prices - but it is a very popular tourist destination now.

Schools are great, both grammar and secondaries are much better than England.
Wages may be lower - HOWEVER it depends where you work, DSis works for a Canadian tech company and earns £80k + and the cost of living is MUCH lower than mainland U.K.
There are some really interesting industries developing there - tech and film and TV in particular.
Housing is way cheaper. The beaches and coast are gorgeous. Theres loads to do if you’re outdoorsy and like walking, climbing, sailing etc
Belfast is a fun vibrant city. Things like comedy shows, theatre, opera, live music are a fraction of the cost in a city like London but still high standard.
and the people are genuinely warm and helpful.
Downsides - the weather is 1) more rain 2) changeable to a ridiculous extent!
3) You’ll have to get used to people using the word ‘wee’ for EVERYTHING regardless of the shape or size or weight of the wee thing, place or person being described!

Having lived in London recently and now living in an equally expensive part of England - NI going out prices are NOTHING in comparison!
Though they have gone up in recent years which seems like a lot to locals unless you go to the really flashy hotel bars in Belfast you won’t be paying anywhere newer English prices.
London Zoo - family ticket for 4 is £97.50
Belfast Zoo - family ticket for 5 is £40 before any discounts
cinema is cheaper
leisure centres are fantastic and cheap

and family tickets often are for 5 or 6 peeps not just 4.

Northern Ireland is a great place, the coastline, the people, the prices etc.

The biggest negative for me if considering a move is employment and wages. I think it's about 25% of all employement is in the civil service - directly or indirectly.

The remaining large employers appears to be processing, manufacturing and retail.

Employment opportunities are limited for a lot of sectors and wouldn't suit a lot of people.

Ignorance, a lot of people presume it’s all a dump but there are some very middle class pockets & lovely housing that would cost a fortune in England.

Weather puts me off though.

In answer to this, I would say there is still an enormous prejudice from English/Welsh ( maybe Liverpudlians excluded!) people against NI that lingers on from the Troubles. A very outdated view of the country and the people.

Much less so from Scots as there are much closer ties - geography, family, culture - between Scotland and NI. Lots of NI kids go to uni in Scotland and vice Versa.

I talk to friends and colleagues all the time who have gone for work or a wedding or similar and seem surprised how nice it is.

From NI but lived in England for nearly 20 years before returning home with my English dh. It’s a great place to live. Our quality of life is so much better. We lived in the SE and what we sold our house for we bought ours mortgage free with a few hundred thousand left. The house is bigger, nicer and in a much better area.
schools are fantastic. Dd goes to a grammar school and behaviour and academic results are fantastic. Sport is a huge thing (despite the weather) and clubs are cheap.
travel abroad is cheaper (compared to Stansted which was our local).
the people are so much friendlier.
Dh and I had jobs lined up before we moved back. Me more public sector and Dh in tech. We both earn much more here. Dh has moved jobs twice and never an issue getting a job.
yes the politics is a bit annoying, if you pay attention to it (I do). Dh couldn’t care less and is oblivious!

public services are much of a muchness. Bin services are 100% better. NHS I’ve found fine. Though we do have private healthcare which I’ve used for dd (a perk of having more disposable income).

we live 10 minutes from the city but right next to the sea with beautiful mountains as a backdrop.

the downside is the weather. We were spoilt in the SE in comparison to here. But the intense heat was a lot. Today it’s sunny and our ‘heatwave’ won’t go above 25. We go abroad a lot though because we can now afford it, so the shit weather is more bearable.

when we go back to see the in laws we notice how busy everywhere is. The traffic is insane and it feels like a rat race. We can’t wait to come home.

Re the weather - some posts are making it sound biblical 😅 but a good comparison would be Scotland or North of England weather versus South coast.

There is only one real city and it’s Belfast, which has a seriously grim city centre at the minute. Watch Stephen Nolan’s Peelers to get an idea. Yes, the issues might be the same as in London etc. but in a small city like Belfast it means you notice it wherever you live. Yes, good top grammar schools do very good results at the very top end but also the longest tail of underachievement in the U.K. if you don’t get into one of those grammar schools, and the ones in Belfast are very very competitive.

A pint is generally 6.50+ which I have found to be about the same price as London etc. to be honest but I suppose that depends where you go in London. A recent piece of research out Belfast as the most expensive mini break place after Amsterdam.

It a grand place to live and I’m from there but it’s certainly not the perfect place to live that I see being touted a lot. There’s a Christian right wing political party running it that makes Nigel Farage look practically centre!

Edited to say - as a PP said, you’d be stuck in NI without private healthcare - even getting to see a GP is very difficult; most GP appointments are gone even if you manage to get into the phone queue at 8.29am. And I know someone who doesn’t have private healthcare who is on a waiting list for a rheumatology consultation which is four years long. The mental health care is particularly grim, especially in a part of the U.K. with so many mental health issues.

@Sassoon Derry?

Derry is of course technically a city, as is Lisburn etc. but someone moving from a city in England wouldn’t see it as such. If you want to see most bands, or decent theatre etc. you have to travel to Belfast, or Dublin.

I’ve had family there. It’s very backward compared to the UK. Spectacularly non diverse. The trendier parts of Belfast excepted. Relatives with English accents have felt uncomfortable in some areas. There are other dark sides such as the close relationship with drugs and former paramilitaries for example.
The NHS is non functional. Devolved government is totally fecked. And there are a high number of special needs schools. That’s not because of great provision. It’s necessary due to higher rates of congenital disability such as deafness. It’s insular in every sense.

Oh and the driving is truly dreadful. Speeding everywhere.

I don’t recognise the descriptions of the NHS services Here, several family members with long term health conditions receive excellent care, no issues with GP appts and access to healthcare is much easier there than in my SE England city.

Do you live in Belfast? I’d love to know where as GP appointments alone are one of the top complaints to MLAs there!

@BarbBarbbarb are you sure they aren’t going private? Waiting lists are years long.