EXCLUSIVE Inside the tiny island nearly 100 miles from the UK where no one pays income or inheritance tax... and you don't need a CV to get a job

Daily Mail​

24-05-2025

A tiny island nearly 100 miles from Britain with only three pubs, a population of less than a thousand and a ban on cars does not sound like the obvious location for the latest Gen Z revolution.
But for Jade Right, a 23-year-old from Oxfordshire, the idea of swapping island-life for the hustle and bustle of the mainland makes no sense whatsoever.
Surprisingly Jade, and an ever-growing cohort of twenty somethings from England to Australia, are flocking to idyllic and genteel Sark, 80 miles off the coast of Dorset.
Jade told MailOnline: 'I originally came here for a three-week holiday and stayed.
'It's easy to get a job in hospitality, CVs aren't a thing and employees treat you really well.'
The island, much to the amusement of older locals, has started to get attention on social media.
Gen Z has found Sark and clips of young people gushing about its beautiful scenery and unique way of life have started to flood onto TikTok.
But while some 20-somethings living back in the UK are swooning over the island's picturesque coastline - others have moved there with money on their minds.
Sark, like the rest of the Channel Islands, is considered a tax-haven where residents don't have to pay income tax, inheritance tax, capital gains tax or VAT.
Their tax form is one-page and takes five minutes to complete, asking residents to pay a property tax proportionate to the size of their home and a small personal capital tax.
These perks attract a range of people to the island, which Jade says is one of the many great things Sark has going for it.
She said: 'You've got people from different backgrounds but everyone's really humble, it's a massive community.
'There's a lot of tax avoiders, Germans come here and buy properties.
'If you travel in winter you don't have to pay tax but it's only £500 for the whole year, £67.10 a month and that's only if you're here in January and February.'
The main industry in Sark is tourism; their season running from March to October so the available jobs on the island, which are plentiful, are in hospitality or trade.
The last time a census was taken of the island was in 2022 and it recorded that the population was 562, doubling during the 'season'.
Several seasonal islanders will take advantage of the tax breaks to save and use their earnings to fund their travels over the winter.
Sark has started to make a name for itself on TikTok - helping Gen Z learn all about life on the island
Cerys Lockeridge, 24, has been doing that since graduating from university two years ago and loves island life.
'I was studying Events Management at university in Preston and came to Sark for my placement year in 2021,' she told MailOnline.
'No one had heard of it, the decision was last-minute and random.
'My mum was really worried when I first came here and then she visited and said it was fine.'
And Ms Lockeridge isn't the only Gen Z who has moved to the remote island after graduating.
The 'freer' lifestyle is what attracted Amie Strode, 21, to the island.
The Oxfordshire native visited Sark by herself for two weeks in October and praised the freedom that living on an island brings.
She initially planned to work in Sark over their tourism 'season' but now wants to stay for the winter - having been attracted by the prospect of parties round a bonfire and 'raves' at the harbour.
Most Gen Z on the island will tell a similar story, Josh Davis, 22, was studying at Manchester University and came from the big city to Sark to visit family.
Mr Davis, who grew up in Sark says he now finds it 'weird' returning to the city.
While a person walking across the practically empty 5.5 km-long by 2.5 km-wide island can anticipate vast green hills and sweeping views of the ocean, an Aussie accent is probably the last thing they would expect to hear.
But Molly McLaughlin, 27, is one of five Australians who recently moved to Sark and has lived there for five years because of the serenity and beauty the island has to offer.
She said: 'I always thought I wanted to live in a bigger city.
'But when I think about work-life balance and the sense of community there's nowhere else quite like it.
'I can't envision myself getting the quality of life I have now.'
Ms McLaughlin grew up in Australia and trained as a pastry chef moving to the UK seven years ago where she lived in both Yorkshire and London.
'I was living in London and hated how busy it was, cars, smog.
'So I googled all the chocolate shops and emailed asking for a job and they got back to me and I just went for it and came here.
'On Sark seeing the ocean every day, I can't imagine not living near the ocean now I used to work in a shop in Melbourne with one window and my view was an alleyway.
'It's a good place to save money if you're a young person and you want to make a lot of money quickly.
'For years it's been run by people in their 60s and 70s who didn't understand the power of social media but it will change over time.
'A lot of the older people once they meet someone different to them, if they participate in the community, they're accepted. If you work hard you partake in the community.'
The lack of crime is what Elsie Courtney, 79, who works at the island's only tourist office says draws people, especially young women to the island.
'We've always had a lot of solo female travellers,' she explained.
'Recently, we've seen an increase in single ladies coming.'
She added: 'I was born and bred here and we've had a lot of women come here, it's a safe place, it's a safe place for anyone.
'Sark is too small to do anything untoward because they wouldn't get away with it.'
The small community on Sark is all-encompassing, residents can't walk pass each other without stopping for a half an hour chat.
They regularly compare their lives to an 'Enid Blyton novel', where children have the freedom to explore the great outdoors and time feels slightly warped.
Most people will say they feel like they're 'living in the 90s' but with the only form of transport being walking, biking, horseback or horse-drawn carriage, it seems more like the 18th century.
The small island is ruled by tradition and its unique history is something locals are proud of.
In 1565, Helier DeCarteret was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I to colonise the island and defend it against pirates and a potential French Invasion.
He became the feudal ruler and Seigneur of Sark, a position that is passed through bloodline and is still implemented on the island.
Mr DeCarteret brought 40 men to live on Sark, dividing the land into 40 tenements, each tenement had a dwelling house, sea access and arable land.
Some smaller parcels of land were later split off from the tenements known as 'freeholds' and until 2021 the island had 40 tenements and 42 'freeholds'.
In 2021, land reform legislation was enacted and a further six 'freeholds' were separated from existing tenements.
The key issue with this system is that on an island where mortgages aren't available and properties are finite, it is extremely hard to purchase a home.
And any person looking to build on virgin land has to have been a resident of Sark for 15 years.
Luckily, newer members of the island say if you move to the island for a job most of them will include accommodation.
Others explained that it takes just one trip to the pub to find a member of the community willing to help you find a place to stay.
Sandra Williams, 60, works at one of the three pubs or social hubs on the island.
'You can go to any pub and see someone you know,' the Sark native told MailOnline.
'We're a bunch of alcoholics clinging to a rock but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
'I like the notion that people say it's like stepping back in time, we're civilised and we have all the mod cons but we're just that little bit different.
'People work hard when you come here it's very seasonal people work long and hard hours, a lot of the social aspect comes from going to the pub, it's where people hang out.'
Despite the community being extremely tight-knit, there is no free welfare system in Sark.
In fact, the nearest hospital is an hour ferry ride away and emergency vehicles are pulled by tractors or horses.
There is no dentist but you can find a small medical centre on the island as well as one doctor and nurse.
While their services are monetary, residents do tend to help each other out when it comes to urgent medical care.
'The no vat on alcohol and tobacco is massive benefit because a lot of the revenue goes to the island and the actual island resources,' explained Ms Williams.
Instead, residents say the biggest downside of living in the island is the lack of McDonald's and a 'decent Chinese'.
Those who own boats are expected to travel to Guernsey and pick up orange chicken and noodles for the entire island.
It is that cold-school community driven attitude that every Sarky (the affectionate term for residents) says makes it an amazing place to live.
Ed Stone a 37-year-old accountant who works remotely and spends his free time leading Kayaking, co-steering and star gazing tours, couldn't picture himself anywhere else.
'It's so quiet and peaceful and has an island feel to it and no cars is one of the biggest things that attracted me here in the first place no traffic changes the feel,' he said.
'Work and have a better quality of life/ to me the biggest attraction is the adventure on your doorstep.