[Closed] Living on Guernsey ?

Hi Blitz we moved to the island 14 years ago happy to answer any questions provide advice where I can

There is a very active cycling scene on the island mainly focused on road cycling but there is MTB as well but more limited

An uncle and aunt moved there in 1979 so he could take up job as GP.

They've never left and love the place, Thier family are also staying - one of my cousin's seems to have traveled the world before returning quite happily to the island.

That said, I've not been since 1982 myself, and at 8 I didn't take much note other than of the ice cream parlour...

A bit of a less rushed post in answer to some of your questions

Yes lots of positives about pace of life, tax savings etc.albeit cost of living is quite expensive.

Great place to live particularly if you are outdoorsy particularly beech and sea something like 27 beaches / bays. lots of very active sporting and leisure groups on island.

Guernsey velo club organise a lot of races (road,crit,xc and downhill) there are some trails that you can ride on but these are generaly short sections linked by quite lanes

Housing wise as your wife will be an essential worker you will be able to purchase on the local market which opens up a lot more options depending on where you currently live housing can be quite expensive but this is partially offset by no council tax and tax relief on mortgage payments albeit they are phasing the latter out.

Schooling is very good at the primary level secondary in a state of flux at the moment they scrapped the 11 plus a couple of years ago and seem to be going round in circles. That said both of mine appear to be doing well and they should be sorted by the time your girls go up to secondary. My wife teaches in primary so could give more of an insight into schools if wanted.

Island life has been great for the children growing up daughter is now 17 and son almost 14 they actually seem to have more time to participate in leisure activities as everything on the door step.

That being said it is important to get off the rock on a regular basis just for a reality check if nothing more.

trust the above helps in someway, happy to answer any questions PM me if you prefer

Wife's best friend is from the island. Suspect there are many positives, but she tends to specialise in the random stuff - like the family party where a policeman relative had to sit at a different table to the drug dealing side of the family, one of whom had just gone down for a long while. For someone brought up in the Fens, it sounds very interbred!

Certainly her parents generation (now 70+) still seem quite scarred by the war time occupation.

Seem to need to travel to Southampton for more serious medical treatment.

I'd love to try it, not sure it would suit if I manage to get old and frail.

Grew up in Jersey but similar style of living.
Absolutely brilliant if you are sporty / outdoorsy, particularly water sports but also footy, cricket & rugby thrive (among others). Pace of life is a bit slower with a unique mix of city & seaside going on.
Obvious downsides due to the size but it doesn't impact everyday life all that much, and if you like holidaying in mainland Europe it's a pretty short hop across to France on the boat.

Mountain biking is ok, but nothing compared to Scotland / Peaks / Lakes / South Wales.
Road riding will be good. Plenty of hills if you want them but if you do regular 100m epics, you might run out of variety pretty quickly.

As much as I'd love to agree that Guernsey is a bit odd, it's not that small and the above post is probably more reflective of the individual than the island!

I went there to visit someone and I got claustrophobic even in three days 🙂 To be fair the beaches were great and plentiful but I think I'd get pretty fed up of biking up and down the same island all the time.

Plenty of hills if you want them

Rather depends on your own personal definition of 'hill' 🙂

Thanks all for the replies. Really helpful.

My wife wasn’t able to get in touch today about the job so not much progress.

I can see lots of things I think would be positives and would suit us. We’ve liked lots about lockdown and being in a quiet place appeals in many ways. The sporty outdoors lifestyle is of course a big plus too.

I guess the concerns are that isolation and also the cost of living / housing. Good news that the local housing market would be open to us but sounds like it may still be expensive which may price us out. We’re in Kent now so quite an expensive part of the UK, but still have a chunk of mortgage - probably have around 40% equity. One of our aims was to move to a cheaper place and get our mortgage and outgoings down so we could perhaps work less or in less stressful roles. Not sure it sounds like this is going to be possible here. Will have to see the specifics of what the job comes with.

Thanks again. Lots of food for thought.

Blitz

Isolation - obviously, this varies widely between people, trick i find is to get away regularly. Southampton is only a 25-minute flight. central London less than 2 hours away.

It is different from jumping in your car Saturday morning on a whim as you do need to plan trips in advance.

St Malo is easily reachable by boat, we manage at least three mtb trips every year to; the lakes, the peak district and the Alps limited only because I also do track days and follow motor sports. I know several season ticket holders at various football clubs who travel to most home games if that is your thing.

Cost of living wise i would say comparable to the south east some things do cost more but its always a nice feeling taking the VAT off Amazon purchases.

Mortgage free is probably going to be difficult you would be better off looking at Devon / Cornwall but these have limitations in terms of career prospects for your children and are quite remote themselves.

Stress free probably not, but stress less definitely. Life is far simpler with less of the everyday pressures. We work hard but in a relaxed (some would say too relaxed) way. I can leave work at 5pm collect my family and be on the beach before 5:30.

Healthcare as mentioned by others is an issue in that some specialisms are treated off island which must be very stressful for the families concerned but the PEH (hospital) does offer lots of treatments and there is quite a lot of further expansion planned. primary healthcare is not free so we pay to see the GP and or A&E but once referred any treatment is covered upside is that you can usually get a GP appointment same/next day and on the few occasions we have visited A&E the waiting room was nigh on empty.

the above post is probably more reflective of the individual than the island!

Fair point, her extended family are quite a bunch!

I think there maybe something to be aware of regarding university fees or masters fees or something? Maybe less relevant now but I remember a friend of my partner had to pay more because she was from Jersey but the income tax savings should allow you to save a lot towards that.

I think there maybe something to be aware of regarding university fees or masters fees or something? Maybe less relevant now but I remember a friend of my partner had to pay more because she was from Jersey but the income tax savings should allow you to save a lot towards that.

I believe that used to be thae case but CI students are now charged the same as UK students. No student loan scheme availiable but there is a means tested grant availiable but not much help to middle income households.

Friends recently moved back from there.

Whilst there is the 2 "markets" for property, don't bank on access to the "local" market. Any job offer may not be permanent - They are quite keen on kicking non Island people out before five years to prevent them becoming "resident". Most job offers especially state/key workers like the Police, will be that - fixed term contracts. And of course, if you leave any job before obtaining "residency" for a better paid one might kill your chances entirely of getting residency.

Your chances of getting Residency at the moment are generally not that high, my friends went, one as a key worker, the other became one. Even after a couple of years, they could never escape the knowledge that they may not be re-hired, and might not be able to make the island a home.

They came back for a number of reasons, but property was one, they were never going to be able to afford anything to live in, even with two reasonable incomes. It's basically Posh London prices, unless you're local market, and even rentals are high. The property market can be slow there, and they found themselves moving from rental to rental, as owners let places, but then decide to sell again. I think they moved 3 times in 4 years and got sick of packing and unpacking.

If you have kids, not sure the Schools are the best. Some prices are a bit cheaper than UK Mainland due to no vat, but not 20% cheaper - Stands to reason, everyhting isimprted, and theres no Sainsburys, no Tescos, Aldi or Lidl. There are 2 Waitrose though!

And with the savings on groceries, you do have to pay to see GP's so there are hidden costs, as well as the inevitable Aurigny price gouging flights. So if you want to come home, as shortish notice for a funeral, and theres 2 of you, bank on £400 before you even start. Even more infuriating when you're delayed 2 days due to sea fog.

Its also like a huge village - everyone knows everyone elses business there.

I liked it, but I'd not live there. Its also surprisingly densely populated - Plenty of bungalows and detached houses with big gardens, but you'll never feel "away from it all" like you might in parts of the UK.

Jujuuk68 sounds like your friends didnt have a great experience and doesnt reflect my own or a lot of the many "imports" that I know.

The OP's wife will qualify for local housing I cannot comment if the position is a fixed term contract or not but population control are a lot more proactive than a lot of people give them credit.

As with most places there are positives and negatives but it is a particulay nice place to be isolated at the moment.