Lakeland County Attracts Most Moves: Royal Mail

Fermanagh and Down are the most desirable counties in Northern Ireland for people moving home, a unique, in-depth study of over half a million address changes by Royal Mail has revealed.

The survey - which takes into account movements to and from as well as within locations - boasts the serenity and picturesque scenery of Fermanagh as the most desirable area in Northern Ireland, attracting a net total of 284 home owners just piping Down which attracted a net total of 222 new home movers.

Newcomers to Fermanagh travelled a total of 13,530 miles to relocate, an average of 157.33 miles per household while it was much shorter in Down with an average of 82.1 miles.

Existing residents of County Londonderry proved to be the most loyal to their county, achieving the most internal moves with an impressive 6,334 although their net change was much smaller at 63. They were followed by County Antrim with 2215 internal moves.

Nationally, The West Country is proving desirable, with Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire and Somerset all making appearances in the top 10.

Kent tops the table with 5,068 moves into the area. It also tops the poll of most loyal residents – with a significant 12,646 internal moves and an average of just 5.39 miles per relocation.

Only London and Surrey achieve higher move-in levels, but because they have also experienced significant moves out neither make it into the top 10. Other counties to appear include West Sussex (2), Hampshire (3), Lincolnshire (7) and Suffolk (9).

Royal Mail's Home Movers Barometer, managed and compiled by data value management specialist DQM Group, is based on 0.6 million mail redirection requests.

Chairman of Fermanagh District Council, Cllr Alex Baird, said: "I am not surprised by the results of this survey as Fermanagh is the best place in the world to live, to work and to visit. The Royal Mail survey confirms this.

"Fermanagh is blessed with some of the finest scenery in the country. We are rightly proud of our county, We have a long and continuing tradition of welcoming people from other parts of Northern Ireland and from further afield."

(BMcC)