Moving to Enfield

[Family2love]

Hi all, I was hoping for some advice. We are looking at houses this weekend at Enfield. I’ve been drawn to houses around the Willow Estate in Enfield Town as they seem reasonable, the area looks nice, it’s close to town and a station (don’t know if that’s a good thing or not!). I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback about living around the willow estate or recommendations for any other areas in Enfield. We are looking for a 3 bed house and our budget is around 530k. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

I don't know the specific estate you mention but I do know Enfield Town generally and I really like it. It has a very very suburban feel with it's own little high street and shops etc., in fact to walk around you'd probably imagine you were in a small town in the Home Counties rather than inside the M25. There are some lovely streets of victorian houses and pretty parks etc. A nice area for a family I'd say without being super fancy or fashionable. It is definitely an advantage to be within walking distance of the station although that overground line from Enfield Town into Liverpool Street is quite long and trains are only every half hour so if commuting you'd need to make sure you didn't miss your train - it is the end of the line however so good chance to get a seat. The train does go through Seven Sisters also so you can change to Victoria Line which is handy... the train does take you through probably some of the roughest areas of N.London (Edmonton, Tottenham, Bruce Grove etc.) and you can get some low level rowdiness on the trains esp when school kids are on - doesn't bother me but it might worry some I suppose particularly if your kids will be using trains alone. Goes without saying to avoid the trains when Spurs are playing as that's the train route to White Hart Lane!

I think it is zone 5 so your train ticket will be more expensive than
if you lived closer to town, just something to take into account.

If you like the area you could also look slightly further to the west of the A10, so the Gordons Hill and Chase Side areas, similarly suburban, bit further from shops and amenities but the train line there takes you into Kings X via Finsbury Park so good on the transport side. Or if you are prepared to go further west still out of Enfield altogether, you can probably afford parts of East Barnet, around Oakleigh Park and New Barnet which again is a similar kind of area?

This is so helpful @maxelly thanks so much. Willow Estate is probably made up by the estate agents but it’s the roads close to Willow Road which is in the catchment area of all the main good schools.

Rowdiness doesn’t bother me at all. I grew up in Hackney lol and I currently live in Croydon. However, we are planning our family and want somewhere family oriented. I will check out Barnet too. Thanks so much

The Willow Estate is well known locally, it's not a term made up by agents! It's a big area of 1930s housing in EN1, bordered by Carterhatch Lane, Churchbury Lane, Southbury Road and the New River. The houses vary in size and status but many have off road parking (usually at the expense of their front garden) and some have quite nice, large gardens, especially the corner plots. Third bedrooms tend to be tiny box rooms, but many will have had loft conversions. It's a quiet and perfectly respectable area with a very suburban feel.
The northern parts, nearer to Carterhatch Lane, are quite a serious hike to Enfield town though, and the station if you're commuting that way. Also while it's not unsafe to walk at night, the roads are quiet and winding so it depends if you or older kids will frequently be making their own way home on foot at night. I don't think any buses run through the area?
An alternative would be to look in the cheaper areas of the generally more desirable EN2 postcode. Chase Side (lots of well regarded restaurants and eateries around here, and a great artisan bakery), or Lancaster Rd, slightly further from town and stations and slightly rougher round the edges but closer proximity to country parks and green belt.

Thank you @Enfieldlady that’s really informative. The places at willow road were lovely. We looked at some other places and Enfield properties have such character. We also looked at A couple of places on Farr Road. Similar to what you are saying we heard that EN2 was a very desirable part of Enfield but compared to Willow Estate it seemed run down. I wanted your opinion on that area as we’ve always heard it’s more desirable but I didn’t get that feel. As we loved the house but wasn’t sure about the area

Personally, apart from the parking, I would pick Farr Road over the Willow Estate. There's a better sense of community I think - it's less car-based so people walk more and are more likely to know their neighbours. Neighbouring Lancaster Rd is a bit rough around the edges but absolutely no more than Baker St and the Southbury Rd side of Enfield town, both bordering the Willow Estate.
The "best" area around Enfield town is Chase Side and Bycullah Road areas, but the catchment primary school, Chase Side Primary, isn't so good at the moment. If you have young children, you might consider "finding God" as most of the schools in that neighbourhood are church schools. The most desirable high school in the area seems to be Highlands School which has a catchment of less than a mile - but there are new schools, secondary and primary - set to open on the Chase Farm Hospital site within the next year or two.
Do feel free to PM if you want thoughts on specifics.

Hi there
I am moving to Enfield in the next couple of months and we are looking at Matlby drive EN1 and really need some advice and tips about the area . Hope you can help us. I have 2 little boys so just wondering is the area a nice and safe for a young family and also what would you recommend about primary school ?. Around us we have Enfield academy heights(EN3) it has an outstanding rate but according to other posts in here then EN3 is not a great area for kids then we have Wroschester (en2) and Eastfield primary school (en3), forty hill c of e (en1). please let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much