Around half a million people left the UK to live abroad last year, and it’s not just retirees. A survey by the British Council has found that 72 per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds would consider living and working overseas – with cold weather, the high cost of living, extortionate childcare costs, a lack of work-life balance and even poor romantic prospects among their motivations for leaving. The i Paper’s Expat Files follows Brits who have taken the leap and settled elsewhere, detailing the ups and downs of their journeys. British barrister Geraldine Noel, 52, ended up in Malta by accident in 2010. She tells Maybelle Morgan how the island has changed.

I never would have thought adopting a rescue dog and being banned from bringing it into the UK would have led me to settling in Malta – going strong 16 years now – but I love my life here in the sun and wouldn’t change a thing.

I grew up in Brixton. A lot of people don’t know that there is a huge Maltese community in south London, so I grew up surrounded by people from the islands there. I ended up graduating from Oxford University and then worked for a while in tech companies in the UK, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service, until I moved to New York to get my postgraduate degree from Fordham University.

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In 2010, I started to feel homesick for the UK, but Malta was my next choice. It wasn’t unknown to me – I knew the people were friendly and the weather was good. My dad is from the Caribbean, and Malta has that same relaxed, island-centric lifestyle. At the time, Malta didn’t have any breed-specific dog legislation (now, in the last three years they’ve brought them in because the sanctuaries have been overrun).

While I was still in New York, I interviewed for the position of vice-president at FIMBank in Malta. I did a Skype call, got accepted, and then the company rented a dog-friendly apartment for me for a week to help me get on my feet. I landed in Gżira, a beautiful coastal town along the seafront, and I’ve been in Malta ever since.

I didn’t realise it at the time but I was the only English barrister in the whole of Malta – and because of EU changes, I still am. I was very fortunate to come here before Brexit, so I’m still considered a European lawyer. That’s not the same for new British lawyers – the doors are closed on them now.

Since then, I ended up setting up my firm, Acumum Legal & Advisory – we are licensed by the Maltese government to manage residency applications and work permits. Before Brexit, Britons were the biggest foreign population in Malta, but afterwards, a lot of older people left because they were worried about medicine, the cost of living, currency conversions, and their pensions.

‘Malta is one of the sunniest countries in Europe, getting around nine months of it a year – the weather is amazing’

I’m very fortunate. I was able to purchase a property in the north of the island in St Paul’s Bay some 13 years ago. So I’ve been able to avoid the year-on-year increase of property prices that we are currently dealing with. It’s a small island, and in the last 10 years, the official population has gone up by 100,000.

There’s been a huge surge of Americans who are looking to retire on the island of Gozo – in particular, because it’s less developed and greener than the rest of Malta. It’s also cheaper than the mainland, because, if you’re working in Malta, are you really going to be getting up at the crack of dawn to get on a ferry? And in bad weather, those ferries may not be running. Gozo is only a little island so there can be storms, high winds and huge waves between January to April.

I have a small two-bedroom apartment with a 120-square-metre garden with five citrus trees, a mango tree, and a pomegranate vine, and I’m growing loquats – a sweet, tangy fruit that tastes like a plum. I can see the sea from the garden and the beach is a five-minute walk away. Back when I moved, a two-bedroom in St Paul’s Bay would have cost between £150,000 and £250,000 and now that same property would be worth between £200,000 and £350,000.

I love the Maltese – their stubbornness, their joy of life, their bon-viveur attitude. Malta is one of the sunniest countries in Europe – getting around nine months of it a year – the weather is amazing.

Whilst I came here as, and live here as, a single person, the culture means that there are lots of opportunities to make friends. I attend events organised by organisations like the Rotary Club of Malta, where we raise funds for charity. In the summer my friends I organise a boat trip every weekend with costs shared; we bring food to share on a pot-luck basis. I also enjoy going to concerts – last year I went to see Robbie Williams, a fantastic outdoor concert in the balmy evening weather.

There are so many things that make Malta appealing to British nationals: English is an official language, there are British pubs galore that do roasts with all the trimmings, red post boxes, Marks & Spencer. You can get Waitrose and Iceland-branded products in certain supermarkets. I actually have Greggs sausage rolls in the freezer right now.

Of course, tax efficiency is one of the most appealing things about living here. Malta still has the British non-dom regime and a variety of tax breaks that include a 15 per cent rate on income remitted to the country, and no capital gains or inheritance tax.

The curse of Brexit, though, means it’s so much harder for young people to move over – you have to have a work permit, or be on a residency programme. But there are jobs here, especially if you’re a plumber or electrician, as there is constant development. You won’t be as well paid as you would in the UK, but then you get other benefits – to live on a Mediterranean island, for one!

One of the things I love is the proximity to other countries. Sicily is a 75-minute ferry away (about £120 for a return) so I’ll do day trips and go and see Mount Etna. In the summer, I’ll go camping with the dog and pitch a tent in Nebrodi Park nature reserve. We’re close to the coast of North Africa, and my colleagues will zip over to Corsica, ort to Sardinia and the other islands of Italy.

‘I take the dogs for a walk past Roman baths and I’ll jump in the sea by Golden Bay beach and have a swim’

It’s also very multicultural here, and there is an inclusive, welcoming vibe – we’ve got Colombians, Argentinians, Venezuelans, Indians, Bangladeshis. But this influx also means there is a lot of pressure on Malta, and there is a lack of investment in infrastructure, and housing pressure because of rental prices right now.

There are reasons it might not be for everyone. We are the most densely populated place per capita in the EU. There’s constant development – new things popping up, hotels, resorts, and more, which means traffic and noise. This overdevelopment is also encroaching on green spaces.

I’m very lucky that I live near a green space in the north of the island. So I take the dogs for a walk past Roman baths, and if it’s good weather, which is most of the year, I’ll jump in the sea by Golden Bay beach and have a swim. From anywhere between £25-£65 you can go to beach clubs or lidos where you can rent a bed and be served cocktails all day and use the pool. It’s a good life.

As for whether I’m tempted to ever go back to the UK? I’m so involved now with my life and work in Malta. I’m not going back any time soon.