To think the cost of things in Belfast is unbelievable Vs 10 years ago

[CurdinHenry]

Food in particular

Is this because of the customs union situation?

I know things have become more expensive everywhere but it used to feel like a fairly affordable city for the UK and now it feels like bordering on Irish prices (without Irish salaries)

I haven't lived in England or the south so haven't experienced real costs.

Though I have been in London quite a few times recently and don't find coffees, lunch, drinks etc really any different from Belfast prices.

It could be the same all over, but things here have definitely gotten far more expensive since Covid and Brexit.

The Bank of England have let inflation rip for last 5 years and they're at it again. The UK in general is getting much poorer relative to the rest of the World.

What was the comparison a decade ago?

I was in Belfast a week ago but haven’t been before so do not have a personal comparison to make but prices are up everywhere. We paid £45 for two main courses and a pint and a half pint in a pub.

In Ireland a comparable bill in a pub with the exchange rate from euros to pounds was £36. That was in a very small town.

I would always expect to pay more in a city.

The most expensive dinner in Ireland was £80 but we did have 3 courses and a couple of drinks each. Which then meant in his merriness DH tipped the very young waiter 20%.

We have the mother of all spreadsheets for this trip.

I visited Belfast earlier this year and thought the cost of eating/drinking comparable with my home city (Southampton).

It's a big city so no surprise there

It's not because of the customs union. That means that Belfast gets the best of both worlds as there's no import charges from the rest of the UK or Ireland. It's keeping prices down rather than raising them. I go to Belfast a lot and I don't think prices have changed much over ten years, not when you compare them to anywhere else. It's certainly cheaper than Dublin!

Bloody hell £80 is good going I find it hard to find a main for less than €35. Care to share where??

Re "without Irish salaries"..

Irish salaries aren't actually that high compared to the UK. The GDP of Ireland is much higher than UK GDP, Mean income is a little bit higher but median income is about the same give or take. It's median income that matters. (Though of course it also matters where in Ireland you are talking about and where in the UK)

It's a lovely place to live still and far from poor. But I think the presence of multinationals skews the statistics a bit. Food prices and restaurant prices are going up everywhere unfortunately.

I’m from south of the border, was in Belfast at the weekend and thought eating out prices were roughly comparable.

The main problem, as with so much in Northern Ireland is Stormont.
"Some" of the parties have refused allow legislation to bring the Northern Ireland licencing system into the 20th century as the present one only allows you to sell alcohol if you buy an already existing licence which makes acquiring one very expensive which in turn makes starting a pub business very expensive so those costs get passed to the consumer.
Alignment with the rest of the UK (we are after all "as British as Finchley") in licencing law and taxi licencing would give all Northern Ireland cities and towns a new lease of nightlife.

I was in NI over the last week and found prices very comparable to those in England.