Belfast was recently identified by a nationwide poll as among the best places in the whole country for home-workers. The survey, commissioned by instantprint (a Rotherham-based printing company specialising in posters and booklets), took into account things like the average property size, the cost of living, and the availability of superfast broadband. They concluded that the Northern Irish capital is the undisputed champion.
So what else is there that might persuade a professional to make the move to Belfast?
Job Opportunities
With low unemployment and low living costs, Belfast is a city that holds plenty of appeal for those looking to ply a trade. The city is founded on textile mills and ship-building, and these professions are still thriving. But there are also opportunities in services, just as you might find elsewhere in the UK. Belfast is also an attractive city for tourists, and so there’s work to be found catering to this demand.
Broadband
The coronavirus pandemic has caused workers across the UK to make the transition to home working, and it’s likely that this transition will be a permanent one in many cases. Thus, the quality of broadband infrastructure will be of vital importance to professional tenants and homebuyers. Fortunately, this is an area where Belfast has a head start: according to instantprint’s polling, city residents enjoy a healthy 64.1mbps download speed on average.
Shopping and Restaurants
Being a major British city, Belfast provides all of the shopping opportunities you’d expect elsewhere. There are big-name stores to be found in the shopping centre on Victoria Square, where House of Fraser, Mango, and Tommy Hilfiger all make their home. But there are also plenty of market traders and small boutique retailers elsewhere in the city – and it’s only really the residents who get to fully explore them.
Nightlife
The history of this city means there’s a nightlife distinct from that on offer elsewhere in the UK. There’s a combination of traditional Irish pubs and upmarket clubs. Many of the former are packed just a short walk from one another, on Hill Street in the Cathedral Quarter. On these cobbles, tourists engage in their pub crawls – and if you’re living in the city centre, it’s here that you’ll be visiting during your downtime. Provided, naturally, that nightlife is your thing.
Leisure
Belfast’s leisure centers have enjoyed a splurge from local government recently, with Belfast City Council having committed to £105 million, spent over a decade, to leisure centres, programmes and services. The beneficiaries of this are the Andersonstown, Avoniel, Brook, Olympia, Lisnasharragh and Templemore Baths facilities. All of this means, by and large, that wherever you’re staying in the city, you’ll have somewhere to go to both enjoy yourself and get some physical exercise.
