No marvel Kate Ferdinand is struggling in Dubai! Growing variety of Brits remorse shifting to the ‘soulless’ Emirate – and bemoan 80-hour working weeks and excessive price of residing

Rio Ferdinand‘s wife Kate has told of her regrets about their family’s move to Dubai – and there is an exodus of expat Britons choosing to return back home. 

Estimates suggest there are about 240,000 UK expats living in Dubai, with many attracted to the city by the 5,000 British firms operating in the United Arab Emirates. 

Yet despite an influx of Britons towards the UAE’s most populous city, there is now a reverse swing back to the UK – bolstered by TikTok hashtags and messages urging people to leave.

Kate Ferdinand told of mixed feelings about the place in an episode of her Blended podcast, breaking down in tears as she admitted ‘missing her family’.

She and ex-England and Manchester United footballer husband Rio relocated to Dubai last August – and Kate admits he is ‘loving’ life out there, with the former Three Lions star previously talking up the UAE lifestyle and criticising the UK tax system.

But the former TOWIE star told how while Dubai has been an ‘amazing’ place to live, she has ‘struggled’ with being apart from his two eldest sons Lorenz, 19, and 17-year-old Tate, who have stayed in the UK. 

Others have been giving their reasons for leaving Dubai and heading for home – despite the sun-soaked beaches, glamorous hotels and income tax-free earnings.

One returnee described the city as ‘so soulless’ despite being ‘beautiful on the eye’ – with others struggling under the pressure of 80-hour weeks and rising costs of living.

Prices in Dubai have risen 124 per cent since 2020 according to estate agents Knight Frank – with some British expats said to have been priced out as property is bought up by wealthy Russians after Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

There was a 420 per cent rise in enquiries about moving there from Britain in just five years to 2024, according to John Mason International Movers.  

And Olympic silver medal-winning boxer Amir Khan revealed last year he was moving to Dubai after a gunpoint robbery left him feeling too scared to stay living in the UK. 

Yet Dubai is currently the world’s 15th most expensive city to live in, having climbed three places in Mercer’s 2024 ranking – with the highest cost of living in the Middle East, caused by a 21 per cent jump in house prices.

It was exceeded by London, which increased nine places to 8th position. However, Dubai is still now more expensive than Tel Aviv, Miami, Chicago, Paris and Berlin.

TikToker Charlie Smith posted a video to the site in which he showed part of his journey putting the UAE behind him, saying: ‘I’m leaving Dubai, I’m coming back to the UK and thank the Lord I’m leaving.

‘This place is so soulless, so fake. Like, don’t get me wrong – what a beautiful place on the eye. But it is missing so much – you actually just feel nothing while you are here. It’s all empty, it’s weird.’

He told of last September having his ‘best month’, as he addressed the issue of ‘finances and success’. 

But he added: ‘Money isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. I just want to be around my family and friends and good people. I just can’t wait to come back.’

In a follow-up video after returning home, Mr Smith told his 2,000 followers: ‘I’ve been back in the UK for just over a week and honestly I feel so refreshed.

‘Having had some time to actually think about what happened in Dubai, I do think if you’re moving there with a partner, a family or a group of friends, you’ll have an amazing time.’

He told of being ‘in two hours of traffic a day, living in an apartment on my own’, adding: ‘It just got pretty dark at times, especially living on your own.’ 

Another TikToker Harleigh Reid, also presenter of food podcast Sonder & Salt, has documented in a series of videos her return from Dubai to Essex – while also uploading clips in which she answers questions about her decision.

Among her concerns have been the sight of unfinished construction sites across the city – as well as the noise of building work from early each morning.

She told her 2,800 followers: ‘I have had a ball – but I went to Dubai for an opportunity. That opportunity quickly turned into a dead end.

‘Life in Dubai is very hard. I was very fortunate to fall on my feet as I always do. But sustaining myself was starting look a little unstable.

‘I just started to look at my life and future planning of it there and being, is this what I moved here for, is this what I want my life to look like?

‘Is this better? Is this better than I left before and, yeah, the answer was no.’

She went on to list in a follow-up clip some of the disadvantages of life in the UAE, including a lack of free speech as well as ‘so many rules and laws around what you can say about the country, the government, the royal family’.

Ms Reid added: ‘It’s not that you can’t say anything, but they kind of remind you so often that people don’t say anything out of fear – because where is the line between a bad review and arrestable slander?’

She also advised people thinking of a move to the city: ‘Real estate agents need you to love Dubai – that’s literally their job, to sell you Dubai.’

Replies to her videos have included: ‘It’s a desert with no freedom of speech or religion, free education, free healthcare, social security, employment insurance, pensions.’

Another commenter posted: ‘The endless construction is draining. The relentless drilling sounds, the skyline littered with cranes.’ 

Kate and Rio made the move with the footballer’s daughter Tia, 13, from his first marriage to his late wife Rebecca, and their two children together – son Cree, five, and two-year-old daughter Shae.

Kate said in her latest podcast: ‘I feel like we’ve opened our eyes to a different world. But I love London, I love the UK. I love so many things about the UK. 

‘I do feel happy in Dubai, but I’m just missing a part of me.’

Kate added that the move has also helped Rio be more ‘present’ with his family, after he stepped back from his role as a pundit for TNT Sports last year. 

She added: ‘I think it’s an amazing place to live, I think it’s amazing for the children. The children are thriving and happy and living a life of just outside freedom.

‘Rio loves it so much. I am enjoying it, but I miss home quite a lot. I get upset. I miss the big boys a lot and I’m just struggling with that. 

‘I know this decision is right for my younger children and as a family we are settled there, but the boys are following their football careers. So they’re doing what they want to do otherwise they’d be with us.

‘But it’s very hard because we’ve been through so much as a family and we’ve always been together and that’s a huge adjustment.’

Kate added that she and her family have felt far safer in Dubai than the UK, although admitted she has even to missed the English weather.

She added: ‘If I could merge the two worlds together it would be absolutely perfect.

‘I think I miss people. I miss the rain. The cold, cool air on your face. I miss the culture of England. Certain types of people and all different types of people. 

‘That’s also something I like about Dubai, that my kids are being brought up with all sorts of cultures.’

She has won sympathy from one British expat, who has been living in Dubai for the past 11 years – while insisting he intends to stay.

Private aircraft engineer Ross Houston, 45, moved from the Midlands to Malaysia in 2011 thanks to an inviting job opportunity, then headed to Dubai five years later.

He praises what he describes as Dubai’s key advantages, including low crime rates, ‘incredible zero income tax’, ‘amazing’ weather and ‘first class’ medical care.

Responding to Kate’s comments, Mr Houston told the Daily Mail: ‘I guess my situation is different to that of families moving to Dubai – especially if younger members stay in their home countries.

‘One of the hardest things about relocating to a new country is leaving friends and family behind.

‘What I will say, it appears the UK is at an all time low – looking from the outside in. Keir Starmer is hated by everyone I speak to. Crime, rape, immigration, taxes and safety are out of control.

‘More and more people – especially millionaires – are moving to the UAE. Safety, zero income tax, good weather and super low crime rates make it so appealing.

‘So, yes, it’s extremely difficult initially for families leaving loved ones and close friends behind.

‘But given time I’m sure they will settle and be much happier here. It’s only a six-hour flight away.’

Kate Cross is a relocations and lifestyle consultant whose family moved from the UK to Dubai in 2010, returned to Britain six years later but became what she called one of ‘many other “Boomerang Expats”‘ when heading back to Dubai in 2021.

She told of planning to stay, being financially better off, as well as benefitting from ‘shorter flights to exotic destinations’ and ‘always meeting fascinating’ people thanks to a ‘melting pot of entrepreneurs from around the globe’.

She added: ‘Emotionally the biggest negative is missing those back in England. But I call my family every week and visit twice a year – and they come over when they can.’ 

The Daily Mail previously analysed the cost-of-living across factors such as eating out, transport and clothing to compare London against the UAE city – which is seven hours by plane with prices from £284 for one-way flights and £361 for a round trip.

Data from the crowdsourced database Numbeo suggests a three-course meal for two people at a mid-range restaurant is £80 in London compared to £57 in Dubai.

But an imported 330ml beer is half the price in London, at an average of £5.25 compared to £10.93 in Dubai – while a cappuccino is £3.74 in London against £4.67 in Dubai.

A McDonalds meal is roughly the same, at £8 in London compared to £7.65 in Dubai.

An average basic utility bill for electricity, heating, cooling, water and garbage for an 85 sq metre apartment in London is £236.75 or £183.23 in Dubai.

However, internet access is significantly more in the UAE, with a minimum 60 mbps connection with unlimited data costing £80.97 in Dubai or £31.53 in London.