# Advice..Moving from UK to Cyprus



## Shelly08 (Sep 12, 2015)

Hi

We have just sold our home in the UK and would like to move out to Cyprus within the next 6 months.

Can anyone help with advice for the following-

Cost of living.. we would be looking to rent at first, what would rent roughly be on a 4 bed villa with pool?

What areas of Cyprus are nice for bringing up children? Where is there alot of British?

My husband is a Web Manager at present, is there alot of Web/IT related jobs available?

I have a small childcare setting and would like to start a new childcare setting in Cyprus, do many people childmind?

Our boys are 8 and 15 (Yrs 4 and 11) we would like to get them into a private English School, my eldest has GCSE's next year... is there good colleges in Cyprus for him to further education? He is also into Football and Boxing, is there many clubs for this?

It would be a huge jump for us but we do have 100k behind us and are willing to give it 3 years to see how it goes..

Any advice would be very grateful.
Thank you

Shelly


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Someone just asked questions regarding cost of living yesterday and got a fairly detailed breakdown. Its worth searching the forum a little bit before you post questions like this.

Here is a link to the topic in question called "Monthly Outgoings": http://www.expatforum.com/expats/cy...-living-cyprus/862074-monthly-out-goings.html

Lots of good info in there about costs.

As for web/IT jobs - there are not many jobs around in that field. I saw one advertised last week in Larnaca and one about three months ago in Nicosia.

Your best bet in that field is self employemnt. I am a self employed web developer for the last fourteen years and do quite well.

Lots of people have been asking lately about childminding in Cyprus and the overwhelming answer I have seen is that its not very much in demand here.

Best areas for lots of Brits are Limassol and Paphos. Plenty of international private schools in both areas. Lots of british kids in those schools.

Hope some of this helps.
Zach


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## Shelly08 (Sep 12, 2015)

Thank you so much 

Hubby is also a self emp web consultant too. We will look into this in Cyprus.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

Just to elaborate I will say that I have 0 clients locally here in Cyprus. The local market as far as web development, web applications, et cetera is very very dodgy. 

I do okay because I've spent 14 years building up a client base all over the world and as such, am one of the most sought-after developers in my specific field.

Do not rely on getting many/any local clients because I can say with 100% certainty that there are almost none.


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## rosi_p (Dec 2, 2013)

Hi there, I am a mom of a 14yrs old girl and she has started her 2nd year at Pascal English School in Larnaca, being year 4 and doing her GCSE’s this year. We moved here in Sep’14. Pascal is a wonderful school in terms of the following: the Teachers SPEAK in English at all times and are very friendly to the students; I am only saying this because one of my Piano student has been going to Med High School for 4 years and his vocabulary is pretty poor for a Private School student; he tells me that the Teachers don’t always speak in English; the older sister of another student of mine moved from the Amercian Academy to Pascal for the VERY SAME reason – English not being spoken at all times. Also, I have personally heard from Cypriots that they LOVE the American Academy because the Teachers there treat Cypriots special; I cannot comment on that, but have heard it twice from different people. The other good thing about Pascal is that once in year 4, students will do their GCSEs in ONE Academic Year as opposed to 2 (American Academy and Med High). The facilities in the school are wonderful. Teachers are lovely. The Headmistress and the two Deputy Headmasters are very approachable; they WANT your kids to do well. Bad points: more expensive than the other 2 schools, which in a way should not be a problem, as at Pascal you study ONE YEAR less than the other 2. So, basically, my daughter will be 17 yrs old and ready to go to Uni (hopefully, ). For any Private school – be prepared for additional expenses. I’ll give you an example:
Last year, Year 3 at Pascal cost 5750 euro; we spent additional 280 for the school uniform; also the books were about 350; the monthly bus taking her to and from school – 70 per month (REGARDLESS of whether they go to school half a month, December for instance or a full month). We also paid for some exams reccommended to be sat and it was about further 220 euro. 
This year, Year 4, the GCSE Year, the fee is 7350 (including the registration fee of 240; don’t ask why is this fee there - since our daughter is ALREADY in the school!!!!); 300 for books; around 100 for Art stuff and there will be definitely more fees to pay for some external exams.

Bringing up children: I wouldn’t know where and how you’d like to bring up your kids....Limassol is a beautiful city, but I wouldn’t want to go there as we do not want to live in a hectic environment. Larnaca is prety boring BUT if your kids make friends – it is absolutely fine! Safe place it is.

Renting: we live in a 3 bed spacious house IN Larnaca; no pool, but massive garden, garage and all things a family would want; our rent is 500 euro pcm; the bi-monthly water bill – around 80; bi-monthly el. bill – 350; no other major expenses. In contrast: one of my student’s family live in Aradippou; 3-bed spacious beautiful house; very good size pool – 1500 euro pcm. The good thing is that you can always negotiate prices here since the market is bad for owners and good for tenants...Just don’t be afraid to negotiate.

Childcare is not a thing here. Looking after elderly people – yes, but not after young children.

Where are there lots of Brits? Haha, everywhere. You won’t feel alone in the boat.

I would disagree with the gentleman who replied to your post saying that IT jobs are not really available. The only thing is that your husband MAY need to speak some Greek, but I can definitely say that I have seen many IT jobs being offered. MORE than ANY other.

Best of luck with your move!!!!


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## GSmith (Nov 9, 2015)

There are IT jobs in Limassol, lots of online forex and gaming companies here and also shipping companies based in Limassol. I've lived in Limassol for 12 years, travelled to Cyprus for 3 years prior to that staying in different cities (for work) and the choice was simple for me when I eventually moved here. Younger demographic, mix of nationalities, some decent beaches and more lively than pure tourist centres in winter. Half way between bot airports, do I need to go on??


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## Baywatch (Mar 30, 2014)

GSmith said:


> There are IT jobs in Limassol, lots of online forex and gaming companies here and also shipping companies based in Limassol. I've lived in Limassol for 12 years, travelled to Cyprus for 3 years prior to that staying in different cities (for work) and the choice was simple for me when I eventually moved here. Younger demographic, mix of nationalities, some decent beaches and more lively than pure tourist centres in winter. Half way between bot airports, do I need to go on??


I must agree with Zach about the web developing jobs.

Forex or online gaming has hardly anything to do with web developing. Some IT jobs are available, but that is mostly network managing

Anders


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## hiatusxenia (May 6, 2013)

Zach is right and I believe his father is from Cyprus. Cypriots NEVER hire anyone foreign to do something for them that someone local can do, even if it is not done as competently and the expat market is too small to make a living from.


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## GSmith (Nov 9, 2015)

Not all employers in Cyprus are locals, I know of firms who avoid hiring locals


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## hiatusxenia (May 6, 2013)

GSmith said:


> Not all employers in Cyprus are locals, I know of firms who avoid hiring locals


Yes, but they are pretty few and far between, particularly at the moment. 

However, I think the OP said that she has quite a decent sum of money behind her so even with private school fees taken into account, she should be ok for a couple of years and it would give them the opportunity to assess the job market for themselves.


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## zach21uk (Jun 26, 2014)

GSmith said:


> Not all employers in Cyprus are locals, I know of firms who avoid hiring locals


Yes there are some firms who avoid hiring locals and they are "no-go" as well. The best way I am summarize that is to quote what I was asked by someone here in Paphos recently who was an expat and wanted a quote for a custom built eCommerce website.



> £2000 pounds for an eCommerce website? Are you kidding me? I can put together a website myself using *MICROSOFT WORD* or *WIX* so how do you get off charging £2000 pounds for an eCommerce website?


I politely excused myself and walked away. This is just one example of something that has happened a few times here with the "non locals".


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## Talagirl (Feb 24, 2013)

Just seen this advert for a PHP Developer and Webmaster based in Limassol posted today:

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and talented PHP Developer. This is an excellent opportunity for the successful candidate to work for a stable, public name brand company (not Forex) and have professional and personal growth. Required Skills
2+ years of professional web development experience
Proficiency on web development on Linux platforms and Web applications
Strong knowledge on Object-oriented development experience in PHP5
Strong knowledge on Javascript, JSON and AJAX development
Strong knowledge on Postgres database management and Linux system administration skills
Solid interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to work as a productive member of a fast-paced, tight-knit team
Flexible development with continuous integration
Fluent in English, oral and written
Good interpersonal, organizational and time management skills
If you are interested please send your CV to [email protected].


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