For decades the story of Jamaicans and Britain ran in one direction: Kingston to London. Windrush, NHS jobs, London Transport, Brixton and Harlesden. But over the last ten years a quieter, more personal current has started flowing the other way – from London back to Jamaica.
This isn’t a mass exodus. Jamaica still loses more people than it gains overall: net migration is around -10,000 people a year, meaning more Jamaicans leave than return. But within that big negative number there’s a small, steady stream of people doing something radical: selling up in England and starting again in Jamaica, usually with property at the centre of the plan.
This piece looks at that movement using real figures and weaving in real-life patterns of people who’ve made the jump – often with a house key in each hand.
1. The numbers behind the ‘reverse Windrush’
You won’t find a neat statistic called “people leaving England for Jamaica” in any official table. What we do have are clues that, together, sketch the trend.
Fewer Jamaica-born residents in England and Wales
The 2021 Census shows that people born in Jamaica and living in England and Wales fell from about 160,000 in 2011 to 142,000 in 2021. Part of that decline is older first-generation migrants passing away, but part is people quietly going “back a yaad” – or moving on to other countries.
Returning residents – small but steady
On the Jamaica side, the Returning Residents programmes and Customs data tell another piece of the story.
- In FY 2015/16, Jamaica Customs processed and approved 998 returning residents, mainly from the USA, UK and Canada.
- A more recent release using Jamaica Customs figures shows that in 2023, 943 Jamaicans voluntarily returned to live on the island. Of those, 162 came from the UK, second only to the United States.
Those numbers may look small against a UK population of nearly 70 million, but they are real people, real container barrels, and very real house deeds changing hands.
A large diaspora watching the market
The Jamaican diaspora is estimated at about 3 million people worldwide, including roughly 800,000 of Jamaican origin in the UK. That means even if a tiny fraction of UK-based Jamaicans decide to return or buy a second home, the impact on Jamaica’s property market is noticeable – especially in hotspots like Kingston, St Ann, St James and St Catherine.
2. Why leave England – and why now?
Talk to people making the move and some themes repeat, whether they are nurses in Birmingham, IT workers in Croydon or semi-retired couples in Essex.
1. Cost-of-living squeeze vs. “a yard fi yuhself”
The UK’s cost-of-living crisis has made London in particular feel punishing. Rising rents, energy prices and a cooling property market all play a part. At the same time, Jamaica’s urban property values – especially in Kingston, Montego Bay and St Ann – have been rising but still look attractive in pound sterling.
If you bought a terraced house in London 20 or 30 years ago, the equity may now be enough to:
- clear your UK mortgage
- buy a detached or townhouse in Jamaica, sometimes in a gated community
- still have a cushion to renovate or start a small business
That “sell one house, buy two” logic – or “swap a cramped semi for a hillside view” – is a powerful emotional and financial motivator.
2. Climate, health and the search for time
After years of grey skies and 90-minute commutes, the appeal of island life is not just sun and sea. British returnees talk about:
- being able to sit on a verandah and see the mountains or the sea
- eating food that feels familiar from childhood – breadfruit, callaloo, mango straight off the tree
- having grandparents and grandchildren in the same country again
For some, it’s also about health. Warmer weather, less stress, and the ability to pace work differently – maybe renting out an apartment on Airbnb while doing a few days of consultancy online – has become part of the new migration story.
3. Roots and identity
The Windrush generation set out to “make life” in Britain; their children and grandchildren are now asking a different question: where do I actually want to belong? The discovery that Jamaica allows citizenship by descent – even through a grandparent – makes it much easier for British-born people of Jamaican heritage to formalise their status and think long-term about buying property.
3. Real estate at the heart of the move
Almost every London-to-Jamaica story has property running through it.
Case pattern 1: “Brixton to Kingston”
One widely shared narrative is the “Brixton to Kingston” journey: adult children of Jamaican parents selling or refinancing a long-held UK family home to invest back home. These moves often involve:
- Selling a London property that parents bought in the 1970s or 1980s
- Using the proceeds to buy land or a townhouse in Kingston, St Catherine or St Ann
- Either relocating permanently or splitting time between both countries
The emotional current is strong: finishing the story their parents started, but on their own terms – with better legal advice, clearer expectations, and fewer myths about “getting rich quick in Jamaica”.
Case pattern 2: Returnee professionals and their Kingston condo
Data from Jamaica Customs and media reports show that in a typical year, hundreds of returnees arrive with container loads of furniture and tools of trade. Many are mid-career professionals, bringing UK-earned pensions, skills and savings.
Their housing choices often include:
- New-build apartments in Kingston 5, 6, 8 with security, parking and backup water/solar
- Townhouses in Portmore or Spanish Town for easier commutes and lower prices
- Occasionally, rural “return to parish” homes in St Mary, Portland or Manchester
They tend to think in spreadsheets: comparing UK council tax with Jamaican property tax, freehold vs strata, and rental yields if they let out a unit to returning students or expats.
Case pattern 3: Non-Jamaican Britons drawn by lifestyle
It’s not only the diaspora. While the exact numbers are small, there is a visible sprinkling of British nationals without Jamaican roots who move for business, retirement or lifestyle – from guest-house owners in Negril to remote workers in St Ann. Anecdotal accounts confirm that “yes, there are a few white British people that have moved to Jamaica for both business and to retire”, provided they respect local culture.
For them, the ease of buying property matters. Jamaica’s real estate market is open to foreigners, with no blanket restrictions on ownership; the main requirement is a Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN) and the funds to complete the purchase and pay ongoing property tax.
4. The practical side: from London flat to Jamaican title
Behind every Instagram beach shot is a thick file of paperwork. People who’ve successfully made the move tend to share the same set of lessons.
1. Getting your status right
- British citizens moving to Jamaica are advised by the UK government to check visa rules, work permits and healthcare access carefully.
- Jamaicans and descendants of Jamaicans often secure or confirm their Jamaican citizenship first – which makes buying property, accessing duty concessions as Returning Residents, and dealing with banks far simpler.
2. Using the Returning Residents concessions
The Returning Residents programme allows eligible Jamaicans (and some spouses) to bring in household goods and tools of trade with duty concessions if they are coming home to live permanently after at least three consecutive years abroad.
That often shapes the property timeline:
- Secure land or a house in Jamaica
- Ship a container from the UK once the property is ready
- Use the concession to furnish the home and, in some cases, equip a small business (for example, a beauty salon, small construction outfit or home office).
Customs data shows the scale: 998 returning residents processed in FY 2015/16, mainly from the USA, UK and Canada, with educational packages and dedicated units at the airports to guide them.
3. Financing the move
Most returnees don’t take out a brand-new Jamaican mortgage from scratch.
Common strategies include:
- Selling a UK property and buying in Jamaica with cash, avoiding double mortgages
- Keeping a smaller UK flat to rent out, using the rental income to support living costs or a small mortgage in Jamaica
- Using UK savings and pension lump sums to fund construction on family land that was left idle for years
Because foreigners and non-resident Jamaicans can get mortgages in Jamaica but face stricter requirements, many try to arrive as close to “cash buyer” as possible.
5. How the London–Jamaica pipeline is reshaping communities
This decade-long trickle of people – and their money – is quietly changing both ends of the journey.
In London and other English cities
The decline in Jamaica-born residents recorded between the 2011 and 2021 censuses doesn’t mean the Jamaican presence is fading – the British-born generations are still there – but it does show that the original first-wave migrants are reaching retirement and making new decisions.
Some sell long-held family homes in:
- Brixton, Harlesden, Tottenham and Croydon
- Birmingham’s Handsworth and Aston
- Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol, where Jamaican communities grew after the 1950s
Those sales feed into the broader UK housing market, freeing up stock in areas that are now highly desirable to new buyers.
In Jamaica’s housing market
On the Jamaican side, diaspora demand is one of several forces pushing:
- New apartment towers along Kingston’s skyline
- Gated communities in St Catherine, St Ann and St James
- Higher prices in some coastal and urban areas, especially where there is tourism and Airbnb potential
Reports on Jamaica’s real estate trends emphasise that, unlike parts of the UK where prices have stalled or fallen, many Jamaican urban markets are still seeing steady appreciation with room for growth, supported in part by overseas buyers.
That has upsides – investment, construction jobs, better housing stock – but also brings tough questions about affordability for local low- and middle-income families.
6. The less romantic side of the dream
Real stories also include the hard parts.
1. Bureaucracy, crime and adjustment
People who’ve actually moved are often blunt on forums and social media: moving to Jamaica is not the same as being on holiday. Some UK-based posters openly advise: “Stay in the UK, visit Jamaica – don’t move there,” citing concerns about public services, crime and the loss of the UK’s welfare safety net.
Others highlight:
- slower, more paper-based bureaucracy
- the need for strong security measures in certain urban areas
- culture shock for British-born partners and children who have never lived in Jamaica
2. Windrush scars and forced returns
Any honest account of London–Jamaica movement has to acknowledge the Windrush scandal, where some long-term UK residents of Caribbean origin were wrongly detained or deported to Jamaica.
Those were not voluntary “lifestyle migrants”; they were people uprooted from homes, jobs and UK properties, sometimes without the chance to organise their affairs. Their painful experiences sit in the background of every modern conversation about “going back” – a reminder that the same border that welcomes one person with a container of furniture can push another out with barely a suitcase.
7. Choosing Jamaica with open eyes
So where does that leave someone in London thinking seriously about the move?
The real figures say:
- Jamaica still has net outward migration, but
- hundreds of voluntary returnees arrive every year, including well over a hundred from the UK in 2023 alone
- the Jamaican diaspora is large and financially influential, with around 800,000 people of Jamaican origin in the UK watching, visiting and often investing
- the property market is open to foreign and diaspora buyers, and urban values have generally been rising over the last decade
The real stories say:
- some returnees are thriving – living in well-planned homes, running small businesses, and enjoying a warmer, more rooted life
- others struggle with bureaucracy, security issues, or the gap between the Jamaica they imagined and the one they actually have to manage bills in
- property decisions – what you sell in England, what you buy in Jamaica, and how you finance it – are often the difference between a comfortable “reverse Windrush” and a painful, expensive experiment
If there is a single thread that runs through the last decade, it’s this: London to Jamaica migration is no longer simply about escape or retirement. It’s about using bricks and mortar – in both countries – to rewrite a family story.
For some, that means selling a semi in Croydon to buy a townhouse in Kingston 8. For others, it’s keeping a flat in Tottenham while building a small villa in St Ann and renting one of them out. For a few, it’s just owning one little piece of land back home so that when they are ready, they have more than a plane ticket – they have somewhere to land.
Disclaimer
This image is an artistic creation generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence. It is not a photograph of any real individual, nor does it depict an identifiable person. Any resemblance to actual people, whether living or deceased, is purely coincidental. The illustration is intended for storytelling, cultural representation, and conceptual purposes only.