Nearly three quarters of young British people aged 18 to 30 are seriously considering leaving the UK, driven by high living costs, poor work-life balance, unaffordable childcare, and grey weather, according to a British Council survey cited in a feature by The i Paper.
The report, published in The i Paper’s “Expat Files” column, profiles a Liverpool couple who acted on exactly that impulse — and chose Cyprus. Liam Quirke, 28, and his partner Melanie, 26, moved to Paphos in May 2025 after Liam, who runs a digital marketing company, attended a technology conference in Cyprus in 2023 and found a growing community of international entrepreneurs.
“Every morning, under a grey sky, I’d walk to my office in the centre of Liverpool thinking: I could be anywhere in the world right now, and instead I’m walking here in the rain,” Liam told The i Paper.
The couple first rented a villa in Tala before moving to a two-bedroom apartment in Kato Paphos. According to The i Paper, the cost of living, Cyprus’s non-dom tax regime, and the island’s business environment were among the factors that made the move financially attractive. The warmer climate and the island’s colonial-era familiarity — left-hand driving, British products readily available — eased the transition.
“In Britain, you feel like you’re spending money just to breathe,” Liam told The i Paper. “Here, it’s easier to live a simple life.”
Asked by The i Paper whether he would return to Britain, his answer was unequivocal: he would not, unless his family needed him.
Cyprus has increasingly featured in British emigration conversations in recent years, reflecting both the island’s growing tech and financial services sectors and its relative affordability compared with major UK cities.
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