Is it much cheaper to live up North ?

mondeo

Looking at buying a second house just 2 km's over the border and renting out our house in Dublin. Got offered a job up north and I think I would be mad to refuse it, it's a big increase in salary. I assume I would be paying cheaper paye tax up there, cheaper car tax and insurance, better waste charges, more fair property tax etc.

Is it worth it to live in the North compared to the Republic ? Are the Taxes much different there compared to the rest of the UK ? I'm all up for moving over the border, I'll get use to the red post boxes and Asda surely !

Has anyone here done it before ? It's great that I can drive over and across the border and back without any checks. Tell me why I should stay in the Republic and continue getting bent over by the government here ?

It is cheaper up there to buy things. It's also a kip if we are being perfectly honest. Sour and dour people, terrible roads, the much vaunted NHS obviously doesn't do a good job with dentistry, the highest rates of obesity in the world, Give My Head Peace on TV etc.

The worst thing about down here is people have got so complacent and self-indulgent that they don't realise how good they have it.

dxhound2005

The biggest consideration would be the currency exchange rate. That is if you are going to be paid rent in Euros and have all your spending in the Sterling area. From memory a Euro would have bought as little as 60 pence and as much as 95 pence at various times.

Property tax is much higher in the North.

Jim_Hodge

Council tax of £1200 at least per year.

On £30000 you'll pay about £700 more income tax per year.

Geuze

PRSI is 4% here, and 11%-12% in the UK.

So while income tax may be lower, PRSI is much higher.

Horrible, insular place. Not worth any price. Even going to the pub is frowned upon where kicking out time is 1am sharp.

ShatterAlan

It's a kip. I was in Belfast for a weekend a few years ago. Couldn't wait to get out of the place. I felt like a black man in Mississippi in 1963. My hotel room looked out onto Sandy Row with their loyalist murals and red white and blue kerb stones. I walked through the area and could feel the hatred in the air. I went into the offie and bought a can of cider (hair of the dog) and when they heard the Dub accent the seething suspicion was palpable. I took a black cab tour with the gf and afterwards we almost needed prescription anti-depressants. Settled for a few pints instead and then got the coach back south.

Kerry25x

If you've been offered a job with a big increase in salary and you're happy to make the move then I see no reason not to give it a go. I wouldn't jump in to buying a house someplace you've never lived though, why not rent for a while first. You're lucky to have found a better paying job there, the UK is generally a far more low wage society than us.

mfceiling

Laughing at some posters saying it's a kip. All of it? Parts of the south down coast would blow 99% of the south out of the water. Huge private houses with very wealthy occupants.

Leafy streets with large houses in parts of Belfast wouldn't look out of place in Ballsbridge or Donnybrook.

Yes you'll pay a higher property tax but it will include your bin charges. Doctor's visits will be free. Prescriptions will be free. Car tax is very low....how much is an older large engined car down here? I'll give you a hint...it's well over a thousand. Car insurance is cheaper as the English insurers now are in the market.

Yes you'll meet insular people but you'll get that in rural and urban areas in the south as well. Pick a nice middle class area with good schools (books etc are free as well or on a rental scheme...I'm just out of Easons today after spending just under €200 on one child's books here) and you'll have a nice home with a very decent standard of living.

ShatterAlan

Keep your house in Dublin. You'll need somewhere to crash when you have to flee Ulsthur every 12th of July.

I'm not sure if the education system is up to much up there either. You'd notice this among some Nordie posters around here - struggling with spelling, sentence structure, and making a coherent point. Poor logical reasoning and quick to anger.

Depends where you are in NI. It’s quite normal if you don’t move into a loyalist council estate, which is extremely unlikely anyway.

My only annoyance when I’ve spent time up there is the politics is grim and causes me to never want to interact with it and there is, despite everything, a rather dreary fixation on references to Protestant / Catholic dichotomies.

It’s not that it’s like in your face all the time or anything, or that it’s aggressive or nasty, but the number of times I’ve had discussions, with perfectly sensible people (both sides of the divide), where it all of a sudden winds down to “such and such an area is full of big Protestant farmers” or “that’s a more Catholic area.” … I find I tend to change the subject or avoid conversations that drift that way. It can become rather … 🤦‍♂️

Say what you like about social progress, but it still elects a party to high office that’s basically the closest thing in Europe to the US Bible Belt GOP and issues around Christian right wing fundamentalism are still mainstream in politics. To me that says a lot.

The Derry Girls blackboard and toasters in cupboards thing is amusing and a caricature, but there’s a large element of truth in it.

If you can just avoid all of that, it’s a grand spot.

CGI_Livia_Soprano

Some Northern Irish people are alright but honestly the whole dirty business up there really puts me off the place. At least there’s a few good restaurants and tourism spots in Jerusalem.

CGI_Livia_Soprano

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058203940/is-it-much-cheaper-to-live-up-north

I’m not having a go but I think you should consider selling your place down here before you buy somewhere else. We’ve had enough of the auld absentee landlord thing in this country, to be honest. Just a thought.

It’s cheaper but for the most part wages are dirt so you’re no better off.

jmlad2020

A lot of ignorant people on this thread bashing the North when they barely know it. OP is moving 2km over the border not to Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Imagine someone from Northern Ireland visiting North city Dublin or Blanchardstown and labeling the south as a kip, purely on that small visit alone.

So ignorant it's quite sad.

Darc19

Choose your area well and you'll be fine.

Don't think that it's much cheaper though.

Yes, a doctor is free, but you can be waiting 2-3 weeks and not always the same doctor.

Yes, refuse is included in local taxes, but those taxes are high. A decent house in a decent area will be £1500++.

Income tax is lower for high earners, but little difference under €50,000 when the 12% social insurance and slightly lower tax free allowance is taken into account.

Car insurance will be very similar, or possibly higher. Car tax is a little cheaper on efficient cars. Cars themselves are cheaper. Roads in NI are not great.

Houses are cheaper. Eating out is cheaper. Groceries are a little cheaper. But it is quite a different country.

Overall, don't expect huge difference in costs, but higher salary may make it a good move

0lddog

@Mondeo, Tyrant started a thread on moving to NI earlier this year

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058190563/why-not-move-to-northern-ireland

If you can bring yourself to wade thru the uninformed prejudice of many of the posts you will find some useful bits of information

I wonder did Tyrant move up there ?

ShatterAlan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117754030#Comment_117754030

Kandahar, and Kabul are essentially nice. Lovely people as long as you're not a Brit or a Yank booting down doors and sticking a gun in Grandma's face.

But I supposes that was the norm there too.

Norn Iron is a horrible place. And not because of the people or the scenery. It's just awful. You can just smell hatred in the air.

Gary Scrod

Be warned, the place is full of nordies.

cj maxx

Like anywhere, it depends where in NI you. I find it grand.

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117753756#Comment_117753756

Wages though are shît. Guy doing the exact same job I was for a company here and only about 2 years less service was on about 16% less then I was earning. Turns out that’s more or less the norm.

i couldn’t be of the mind to have to navigate physically and socially as well as professionally the whole sectarian/political/social thing... too much effort, workplaces can be challenging enough environments at times without all that crapola.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117756232#Comment_117756232

16 % less ?

The difference is much larger than that for many jobs

mondeo

Can I keep my southern reg car if I move up North ? I assume I can since my car is still going to be registered at my Dublin address, a house which I am gonna keep. The police up North go mad stopping southern cars checking to see their place of residence ? I admit I have only been up north a few times in my life so I know little about the situation.

Also would a regularly parked southern reg car be attacked up North by kids or even adults with a historic chip on their shoulder ? I remember in the 90's my uncles Sierra had both headlamps smashed in Belfast City centre. It was a thing back then apparently. I doubt any of these things still go on except during some of those parades.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757199#Comment_117757199

No problem in Newry

Could well be a problem in Portadown

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757199#Comment_117757199

Have you any previous experience of being a landlord?