Maybe moving to Bush Hill Park

[AlexaLondon]

Hi there,

We have started to look at houses to buy in Bush Hill Park. We rent in Hackney at the moment. I liked Enfield town as a centre and the transport links. The schools seem to be good.George Spicer is now outstanding apparently. Can anyone tell me what it's like as an area? Has anyone moved there in the last year or two? Any regrets?! Any dodgy bits?

Thanks!

Hi there!

We're literally in exactly the same situation as you - though, perhaps slightly further along as we're due to complete on a place in the next month or so. Same experience - like the town centre, decent transport connections, great houses, good schools, plenty of restaurants, decent pubs, cinema, one of the oldest street markets in the country, theatre etc. There's even Enfield Dairy, to replace our milk delivery.

Also love the fact that we have so many great parks, Forty Hall, and Capel Manor gardens on the doorstep. It's a complete mystery to us why similar houses in Leyton go for £200,000 more. Fully expect this to change when the new trains arrive on the Enfield to Liverpool St line this year, and stations receive further additional investment.

We're in the catchment for George Spicer and Raglan. We still have to visit them, but they seem like really nice school communities. GS isn't Outstanding, but Good is perfectly o.k for us as long as the children are happy; Enfield schools also seem to have more play space - Raglan has a massive field, and a very strong focus on sports and extracurricular activities. We're moving from an Outstanding, oversubscribed primary, with far less play space and no focus on sports, so we think we're gaining something on balance.

Appreciate this isn't exactly what you were looking for, but hope it helps a little.

Good luck with the search!

From a born and bred Enfieldian:
Bush Hill Park is a good, solid place to be. West is best: historically, the west side of the railway track was far better perceived and much more respectable than the eastern side. However, you’ll get more for your money in the eastern section and there are some nice, smaller houses, but it does feel much more gritty and less suburban. Don’t stray too far from BHP station though, if you can afford it, and avoid getting too close to the A10 and towards Ponders End. The Roman Way estate is also not somewhere I’d be choosing to walk through on my way home, though the roads between there and Southbury Road are fine (perhps more Enfield town than BHP).
Houses close to BHP station are a long walk to major bus routes, though a local bus does pass through.
Primaries are good - George Spicer and Raglan are the most desirable but both are pretty big. Not sure about BHP primary which was in the doldrums 5-10 years ago but may be better now?
Think about secondary catchments if relevant in next few years, as these are trickier depending where in BHP you are.
Feel free to PM if you need to.

Thanks so much for this! Sorry for my late reply. I think we may have missed the boat price wise. Since looking around we have either been able to afford somewhere on a dual carriage way or somewhere near the A10/near the Roman estate. Very helpful advice Enfield Lady.

We have goneback to the drawing board but haven't completely taken BHP off the list yet.

Shame as you really sold Enfield to me, Enfieldbound!

@alexalondon.... what’s your budget? What are you looking for? We might be able to find you something!

£400,000 for a 3 bedroom house (eek!). We were initially looking for a 2 bedroom house but we have a 3 year old and after seeing the size of the houses we realised we probably need more room.

You're going to really struggle west of the A10 on that budget. Irritating because you're not a million miles off something around Bush Hill Park (the actual park area). For about £40k more, you could get a three-bed doer-upper with a downstairs bathroom. Might also be worth looking at the top end of EN3, near Forty Hall. Otherwise, definitely worth looking a the two-beds around the park, and converting the loft in future.

This one has three beds (just):
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71029370.html

There are a couple of 2 beds in your preferred area I would consider:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72252965.html
And
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64577203.html

Another thought:
Not BHP but a more desirable EN2 postcode and under budget . It has 2 proper bedrooms and a bonus loft room. They’re very tiny houses but the street is adorable and the quiet pub next door an incredibly quirky survival with a cockney piano singalong on Sunday afternoons. There is a green with kids play area just across the street: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65500889.html

Another here, very nearby. Nicely done up and with the possibility to go into the loft in future:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72168182.html

Two more in EN2:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72444140.html
And
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67558928.html Which needs a bit of love but well under budget and could be very cute.

Thank you! All of these look lovely and I know the areas from when we first explored Enfield. Ideally that’s where we would be.

I will have a look. Thanks for sharing.

You may have a preference for being close to the trainline back into Hackney, but personally I would choose EN2 over EN1 every day of the week.
Good luck with your search, whatever you decide.

** unless the EN1 house was significantly better than anything you could afford in EN2 of course.