Would you move to Northern Ireland for a cheaper life? Thousands already have

If you can handle the commute, you could save a fortune by moving over the Border

Belfast from above. Photo: Getty

Gabrielle Monaghan

Alan Duncan, who runs PR firm Agile Communications, has Belfast – and his mother-in-law – to thank for finally being able to get on the property ladder.

In 2013, Duncan and his wife Tamara were renting in Kildare, while also struggling to save for a deposit for a house – when a friend of Tamara’s Northern Irish mother offered the couple a good deal on a rental near Queen’s University Belfast.