Cardiff is fast becoming one of the most popular cities in the UK to move to. And it is not just the English moving to Cardiff, many people from the US are also taking an interest in moving to what is one of the most desirable cities in the UK to work and live in. So why are so many people moving to Cardiff?
In this guide to moving to Cardiff you will find all the answers to the most frequently asked questions about Cardiff and what it’s like to work and live there.
Why you Should Live in Cardiff
Is Cardiff a Safe Place to Live?
How much does it cost to rent a home in Cardiff?
How much do homes cost in Cardiff?
What is the Cost of Living in Cardiff?
How Much Does it Cost to Move to Cardiff?
Where is the Best Place to Live in Cardiff?
Which is the Cheapest Area to Live in Cardiff?
Moving to Cardiff Alone
Living in Cardiff as a Student
Moving to Cardiff with Family
Which are the Best Schools in Cardiff?
Is there much Employment in Cardiff?
What are the Best Ways of Getting Around Cardiff?
What is there to do in Cardiff?
The Best of Cardiff
Cardiff is a popular city to move to and it is no wonder, considering all it has to offer people who live there.
Should I Move to Cardiff?
What’s it like to live in Cardiff? Well, if the number of students who stay living and working in Cardiff after their time at university, or the people who always return to Cardiff having moved away, or the tourists who come here then decide to make it their forever home are anything to go by, it is obviously a great place to live.
People who live in Cardiff are considered friendly and welcoming, and there is a great community spirit in Cardiff with many neighbourhoods having a village feel rather than a city vibe. But if course with the bonus that should you so wish, the buzzing nightlife of Cardiff city centre is never that far away.
Here are top 6 reasons why you should move to Cardiff.
It’s cheap. Well, compared to most cities and certainly most capital cities, the cost of living is certainly cheaper. Whether buying or renting a property you will be surprised at just how much home you get for your money. There is a whole section about the cost of living in Cardiff later in this guide.
It’s well connected. Cardiff airport is on your doorstep, Bristol Airport is only 40 miles away, London is a quick trip up the M4, and a great road network opens up the delights of all of Wales, as well as the South West of England.
It offers a great quality of life. moneysupermarket.com carried out research that actually backs this often claimed title. Cardiff really does offer something for everyone with a huge variety of places to eat, drink, watch or participate in sports, there are masses or open spaces, you are only 30 minutes away from the Brecon Beacons and you are right on the coast.
There’s lots to do. Whether you are a nature lover, are into art and culture, historic buildings, history, museums, nightlife, you are a foodie or a sports fanatic, Cardiff has a never-ending supply of things for you to do, visit, or become involved in.
A great mix of city and countryside. Within the city itself, you have Cardiff Bay with an abundance of wildlife, Bute Park which holds Cardiff Castle within its grounds, Roath Park, Pontcanna Fields, in fact, Cardiff is an incredibly green city. But should you wish to explore further afield then the stunning countryside and mountains of South Wales are right on your doorstep.
It’s easy to get around. How big is Cardiff? At just 140 sq km, Cardiff is a compact city which is easy to navigate by foot and has a population of about 475,000 people.
Did you know? Cardiff has the smallest percentage of people over 65 living in Wales at just 13%
In the period July 2018 to July 2019 www.home.co.uk reports that the price of detached homes in Cardiff rose 11%, Terraced homes by 6% and overall the price of property rose by 6%. The price of semi-detached property fell by 1% and flats by 4%.
The average price of a detached home in Cardiff is £425,459
The average price of a semi-detached home in Cardiff is £246,629
The average price of a terraced home in Cardiff is £217, 959
The average price of a flat in Cardiff is £153,361
But to give you a rough idea, excluding packing costs, you can expect to pay on average the following home moving costs when hiring a professional removal firm to move you to Cardiff.
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from London to Cardiff costs on average £575
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Birmingham to Cardiff costs on average £515
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Leeds to Cardiff on average costs £715
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Liverpool to Cardiff costs about £670
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from York to Cardiff costs about £740
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Leicester to Cardiff costs about £565
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Glasgow to Cardiff costs about £990
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Edinburgh to Cardiff costs about £995
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Bristol to Cardiff costs about £395
Moving a 1-2 bedroom home from Plymouth to Cardiff on average costs £575
On average expect to pay about £150-£200 for a professional packing service for a 1-2 bedroom home.
Thinking of moving to the Cardiff area? Here is a Cardiff neighbourhood guide with the best places to rent or buy a home in the Cardiff area.
Where are the best areas to rent a home in Cardiff?
According to www.walesonline.co.uk, these are the top 5 places to rent a home in Cardiff:
Cardiff Bay – If you love being in the centre of the action and stunning waterfront views, then Cardiff Bay is the place for you. Completed in 1999, there are 8 miles of waterfront on the 500-acre lake. There is an abundance of eateries and bars, a number of local supermarkets, sports facilities, and great transport links to the city centre which is only a mile away. cardiffbay.co.uk will give you a great introduction to the area.
Canton – A super trendy part of Cardiff to live with a great arts scene and plenty of choice of eateries and bars. Just 2 miles outside the city centre, there are two parks, a library, a number of primary schools and a high school.
Pontcanna – Another super trendy part of Cardiff with plenty of choice of bars and restaurants. Well known for its wide, tree-lined roads and large houses which provide easy access to the city centre. Between the River Taff and Pontcanna, you will find a strip of parkland that houses the Cardiff City Riding School, as well as football pitches and allotments. Pontcanna is home to the Sports Wales National Centre and the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Team.
Roath – Roath is amongst some of the most affluent areas of Cardiff, with easy access to the city centre, a good selection of local stores, and the famous Roath Park. Popular with students due to its proximity to the university, you will find plenty of bars and restaurants in Roath.
Cathays – Due to its proximity to Cardiff University, this is a popular student area. There is a great selection of bars and eateries, as well as a couple of local supermarkets. Most of the properties here are Victorian terraces. The Sherman Theatre is a famous local landmark, as is the Civic Centre.
What are the best areas to buy a home in Cardiff?
www.primelocation.com recommends these top 5 areas for buying a property in Cardiff.
Cyncoed – Although this is one of the most expensive areas to live in the whole of Wales, it is a much sought after area by families looking for a larger home to buy. In Cyncoed you will also find two of the top schools in Cardiff, as well as a campus of Cardiff University.
Lisvane – Another of Cardiff’s most affluent areas with mainly large family homes set between the city and countryside. Lisvane is just 5 miles from the city centre but has a village feel about it. There is a community website where you will find out lots of interesting and useful information about Lisvane: lisvanecommunity.org.uk
Thornhill – Situated between the city and the beautiful countryside of Cardiff, Thornhill has a good mix of different sized homes, many of which are family-friendly new builds. The area is fairly new having mainly been built in the 1990s.
LLandaff – If you are looking for easy access to the city but prefer to live in a quieter, village feel suburb, then Llandaff is worth considering. Beautiful stone-built homes, historic buildings, a cathedral, a good selection of bars and cafes, as well as a relaxing park can all be found in Llandaff.
Penylan – Stunning views over the city centre, Cardiff Bay and the Bristol Channel ensure that Penylan is a very popular area in which to live. It is a quiet suburb with beautiful Victorian homes, quaint tearooms, Roath Park is on your doorstep and you are within walking distance of the city centre.
Which are the Cheapest, and Most Expensive, Areas to Live in Cardiff?
www.zoopla.co.uk has ranked the affordability of property within Cardiff by postcode.
The top 3 cheapest places to live in Cardiff are:
CF3 with an average property price of £163,585 is the cheapest postcode district within Cardiff. CF3 includes the areas of Marshfield, Castleton, St Mellons, Rumney, and Llanrumney.
CF10 with an average property price of £182,077 includes the city centre, Cardiff Bay and Butetown.
CF24 with an average property price of £182,978 includes City Century, Cathays, Roath, Plasnewydd, Splott, and Adamsdown.
The 3 most expensive areas of Cardiff to live are:
CF23 with an average property price of £201,453 includes Llanishen, Cyncoed, Pentwyn, Penylan, and Pontprennau.
CF15 with an average property price of £213,551 includes Pentyrch, Tongwynlais, Taffs Well and Nantgarw.
CF14 with an average property price of £253,534 includes Birchgrove, Whitchurch, Thornhill, Lisvane, Llandaff North and Llanishen.
There is no shortage of open spaces and parks to visit in Cardiff.
Moving to Cardiff Alone
Are you thinking of moving to Cardiff alone, perhaps as a student or for work? Is Cardiff a good place to live for single people? Here are some essential things to know when moving to Cardiff as a single person.
The people of Cardiff are very welcoming and friendly, and being such a compact city it is easy to feel familiar with the area quite quickly. This is important as it will enable you to quickly see familiar faces and make new friends.
Cardiff is considered a very safe place to live but as with anywhere in the world, just be cautious when out and about.
Consider renting a room in a shared house, or flat sharing, if you want to save some money, get to know the area, and make instant friends in Cardiff. Useful websites for finding rooms to rent in Cardiff include: gumtree.co.uk , www.spareroom.co.uk, or www.nestpick.com
Join local social media groups to find out all the best places to go and get the low down on Cardiff city life.
meetup.com has plenty of local groups to join so that you quickly find new friends and get to learn all about living in Cardiff.
To find out all about local events in Cardiff, activities, groups, and societies by visiting interests.me
Consider volunteering in your spare time, it is a great way to meet new people and help the local community at the same time. volunteercardiff.co.uk will give you some great ideas.
keytothecity.co.uk also lists community groups, charities, and events in Cardiff which may interest you.
If you have been accepted as a student at Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan, or the University of South Wales, or are considering becoming one, then this section is for you.
There are over 28,000 students in Cardiff so you will be amongst a great community of fellow scholars, and because students make up such a large proportion of the population of Cardiff, their needs are well catered for and there is plenty of support available.
Compared with most university towns and cities, Cardiff is comparatively cheap, and there is an abundance of student accommodation.
And after you finish your education, when you cannot bear to leave the wonderful city of Cardiff, the employers of Cardiff are very keen to take on graduates, so there are many career opportunities.
So rather than go into reams of information about living in Cardiff as a student, here are our pick of top websites that will give you all the information and support you need.
cardiff.ac.uk is the official website of Cardiff University
cardiffmet.ac.uk is the official website of Cardiff Metropolitan University
southwales.ac.uk is the official website of the University of South Wales
cardiffdigs.co.uk is a great website run by the 3 Universities and the council of Cardiff. From how to move out of halls of residence to which day to put your bins out, this website has it all.
cardiffstudents.com is run by the Cardiff University Students Union. From money advice to where the best places to shop are, this website has lots of useful information.
cardiff.ac.uk has plenty of useful information, from how to apply to Cardiff University to a very handy New Students Checklist which lists all the things you need to do before and after moving to Cardiff University.
And don’t forget to read the Best of Cardiff section where you will find great recommendations for places to eat, drink, party the night away, or to go to escape and relax.
Is Cardiff a good place to raise a family? Cardiff is a very family orientated city with plenty for the whole family to do. In fact, Cardiff has launched its own Child-Friendly City Strategy with the ultimate goal being to become of the UK’s first Unicef Child-Friendly Cities. You can read all about what this means to you and your family at www.cardiffnewsroom.co.uk
Within Cardiff itself, you will find plenty of activities to keep your children occupied such as the wetland trails of Cardiff Bay and Bute Park. There are cinemas, bowling alleys, arcades, the Techniquest interactive science centre, and many family-friendly restaurants throughout the city. And of course, you are right on the doorstep of the stunning Welsh countryside with hundreds of incredible places to explore.
You will find plenty of free things to do in Cardiff too. www.culturetrip.com lists lots of free activities to keep the family entertained.
From the previous sections, you will now know that Cardiff is a city of low crime and is considered one of the safest cities in the UK, not only that but how affordable Cardiff is compared to other UK cities.
Then consider that www.walesonline.co.uk reports that Cardiff was voted as one of the best cities in Europe in which to live, Cardiff has a high quality of life, and a new Cardiff Clean Air plan has been backed by the government, and Cardiff would seem like a very good place in which to raise a family.
And as parents, you will want to know about healthcare in Cardiff so visit www.cardiff.gov.uk to find local doctors, dentists, healthcare specialists, and hospitals.
Read on to find out which are the best schools in Cardiff and then later in this guide you will find the best of Cardiff guide, including the top family-friendly restaurants in Cardiff.
There are 3 state nursery schools, 1 bi-lingual school, 98 primary and 19 secondary schools, a number of private schools, a sixth form college, as well as 3 universities in Cardiff.
Schools in Wales are categorized by a color-coded system, red being schools that need help and green being the best.
You can see the schools ratings in the area you wish to move to in Cardiff in these reports from www.gov.wales
You may also be interested in visiting www.schoolguide.co.uk which allows you to compare local schools in Cardiff.
Is There Much Employment in Cardiff?
Not only is Cardiff a great place to live, but it offers some great employment opportunities.
www.walesonline.co.uk quotes Secretary of State for Wales, Alun Cairns as saying “Employment is at a record high; latest data shows that Wales is the fastest growing nation in the UK and Cardiff is the fastest growth growing capital”
So what are the biggest employment sectors in Cardiff?
If you are in the digital tech sector, then Cardiff is one of the fastest-growing tech centres in the UK according to www.business-live.co.uk, with over 21,500 people currently employed in this industry in Cardiff.
The 5 fastest-growing companies in Cardiff as reported in the Wales Fast Growth 50 in 2018 by www.walesonline.co.uk are:
DMSG – A group of companies offering change management programmes.
City Energy Network Ltd – An energy efficiency consultancy
Bect Building Contractors – Civil engineering, construction, refurbishment, and facilities management
DevOps Group – IT consultancy
Oprema Ltd – A UK consultancy and distributor for security systems
Other major employers in Cardiff are the public sector, finance, retail, media, and tourism.
There are a number of websites to help you find employment in Cardiff including:
Being a fairly small city, Cardiff is easy to walk or cycle around. The central areas are pedestrianized and many new cycle routes have been created within the city.
There is an on-street cycle hire scheme allowing you to hire bikes from docking stations around the city. For more information visit www.nextbike.co.uk
If travelling by car there are 9 city-center car parks with spaces for over 3500 cars, with the St David’s Shopping Centre having an additional 2000 car spaces. There are also park and ride facilities outside the city centre.
To find the location of NCP car parks in Cardiff visit www.ncp.co.uk
For those who don’t own a car but want to explore the beauty of Wales or further afield there is the City Car Club which a car rental scheme. Find out more at www.citycarclub.co.uk
Cardiff is well serviced by the rail network. From Cardiff Queen Street station you can get to Cardiff Bay, Cathays, Llandaff North, and Ninian Park. Cardiff Central station will take you further afield with services to the Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan, with intercity services to many UK cities including a high-speed service to London.
There is an extensive local bus service as well as an express bus service between Cardiff and Cardiff Airport. Local buses also connect the surrounding areas to Cardiff. More details about the bus services in Cardiff can be found at www.cardiffbus.com
Taxis are plentiful with a number of taxi ranks situated around the city.
For those who need help getting to the city centre there is City Centre Mobility Assistance. These operate Monday to Friday between 11am and 3pm. They can be prebooked by calling 029 2087 3888.
And finally, one of the best ways to get from Bute Park to Cardiff Bay is on the Princess Katharine water-bus service which operates an hourly service. As a bonus, you will even get a running commentary about the local history and points of interest on your journey. Aquabus also offer hourly services between Cardiff Castle and Cardiff Bay.
There is so much to see and do in Cardiff. But it is even better when you get to experience parts of Cardiff for free. So let’s dive right in and see just what Cardiff has to offer you for a free day out.
What can you do for free in Cardiff?
Bute Park – Visit beautiful Bute Park, 130 acres of parkland and landscaped gardens. Visit the arboretum or take a leisurely stroll along the banks of the River Taff. It is a great place to unwind and relax.
Glamorgan Canal Nature Reserve – Glamorgan Canal Nature Reserve is a great place to wander around and glimpse herons and kingfishers as well as a variety of tree and flower species.
Cardiff Bay – As well as all the cafes, bars and restaurants for you to enjoy in Cardiff Bay, there is also a 10km circular trail for walkers and cyclists.
Castle Quarter Arcades – Spend a day window shopping and exploring the unique, hand-made and vintage items within the Castle Quarter Arcades.
National Museum and Art Gallery – With interactive activities and interesting exhibitions held throughout the year, there is always something to see here.
St Fagans National History Museum – A 100-acre open-air museum where you can learn all about Welsh traditions as well as see over 40 re-erected original welsh buildings.
Chapter Art Centre – A fantastic place to while away a day looking at all the art exhibitions and galleries.
Llandaff Cathedral – Steeped in history, built on the site of a 6th-century monastery alongside the River Taff, this cathedral is well worth a visit.
Millennium Centre – Situated in Cardiff Bay you will find the Millennium Centre which houses the National Arts Centre of Wales. Free shows are often held on the Glanfa Stage in the lobby.
Norwegian Church Arts Centre – Roald Dahl was baptized here and was formerly a church frequented by Scandinavian sailors. Today it is an art gallery often hosting exhibitions by local artists.
Cardiff Castle Grounds – Just take proof that you live or work in Cardiff to the ticket office and you can get a key giving you free access to the castle grounds for 3 years.
Live Music and Comedy –Porters regularly hold open-mic nights and comedy shows during the week for free.
Koywood Gallery – Go see the exhibitions by local artists at Koywood Gallery.
Ignite Cardiff –Be inspired by listening to people talk about their passions in quick 5 minute sessions. These sessions can be fun, enlightening and inspiring but always worth 5 minutes of your time.
Proof that it does not always only rain in Cardiff.
The Best of Cardiff
If you are moving to Cardiff you will probably be overwhelmed with the number of things to do, the great restaurants, bars, and clubs. So here is our top 5 of the best of Cardiff.
Top 5 Restaurants in Cardiff
These are the top 5 rated restaurants in Cardiff as ranked by www.tripadvisor.com
No Fit State – Learn circus skills at nofitstate, from juggling to trapeze, this is a unique experience for all the family, whatever their abilities.
Dr Who Tour – Much of the Dr Who series are filmed in and around Cardiff. This walking tour visits 20 locations used in the Dr Who series.
The Clink – A unique dining experience where your meal will be cooked by serving inmates at HMP Cardiff as part of their rehabilitation and work towards qualifications.
The Vaults – A nightclub within a real vault of a bank that was built in 1926. It has a Techno Room, Funky House Room, and upstairs in what was the bank itself, a cartoon cinema chill out room. Awesome.
Spillers Record Store – Opened in 1894, Spillers is alleged to be the oldest record store in the world. Not only will you find vinyl LPs but exclusive album signings and live music sessions.
Top Local Cardiff Removal Firms
Luckily there are some great removal companies that can help you with your home move to Cardiff.
Finding top-rated local removal companies to move you to Cardiff is an important step to experiencing a stress-free home move. It is vitally important to choose your removal company wisely as all removal firms are not equal, unfortunately.
All that remains now is to get your free home moving cost estimate and to check out the reviews of removal companies who can help you move to Cardiff.
And no doubt you will have many more questions regarding your home move, so be sure to visit our resources section where you will find a wealth of useful information to make your home move to Cardiff easier, cheaper and safer.
So we could go on forever about just what a great place Cardiff is to move to. We hope this has given you some useful information that makes your decision about moving to Cardiff just a bit easier.
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