More people moving to North than leaving

More people are arriving in the North to carve out new lives than are leaving, it was claimed today.

Even though new research claimed there was a 15,735 net fall over a period of 10 years of people leaving the North, a University of Ulster academic said this was being offset by an influx of people.

A study from the Halifax Building Society claimed more people left the North between 1996 and 2005 to live in other parts of the United Kingdom than people arriving for a new life in the North from England, Scotland and Wales.

However, the findings revealed an excess of births over deaths contributed to a population rise over the period of 75,000.

The North also came second in the UK to London for surging house prices, with a 215% rise, compared to 218% in London.

Professor Bob Osborne, director of the University of Ulster’s Social and Policy Research Institute, said the latest statistics showed the North was reaching peak population levels.

“The population of Northern Ireland has grown by almost a quarter of a million since the early 1970s from 1.5 million to 1.725 million,” he said.

“It would certainly appear that indigenous people from Northern Ireland are continuing to leave…but this is being offset by the arrival of more people.

“Over half of those are immigrants from the new European Union accession states but a significant number are also people from Northern Ireland returning to live here.”

Prof. Osborne said the rise in migrant workers had been a factor in the surge in house prices in the North.

“With migrant workers looking for somewhere to live, the housing market in Northern Ireland is attracting more investment in the buy-to-rent sector,” he said.

“That is jacking up prices up, which is obviously making it difficult for first-time buyers.”