Good/bad areas near Hanger Lane Stn?

[NewToLondon25]

Hi everyone! I am a bit of an inexperienced poster so please bear with me!

We are a family of 4 hopefully moving to London in time for me to start a new job near Hanger Lane station (Ealing) in September. The children are 5 and 2 and my husband will need to commute to Central London 2-3 days per week and otherwise will be WFH.

We are looking to buy a property but we only have a budget of around £450k so we know that we will only be able to manage a small flat. Obviously the more space we can get the better, but we would like to get the children into a good school a relatively short drive (15-20 mins preferably) from my work, and to make sure that the area we choose is safe and family-friendly. We would also need a small garden or terrace as we have a dog.

Neither me nor my husband have ever lived in London before, but we have always wanted to and we are ready for the adventure. We would just like to ask for some local knowledge or advice on which areas to aim for or avoid. Or indeed whether we are mad to be considering this given our circumstances and financial position! Our combined income will be around £110k per year.

I would be so grateful for any help as we are getting the feeling that the areas that fall within a feasible radius of my work vary massively.

I have attached a screenshot of what Rightmove shows as the wider area we think we are looking at, but we are open to anywhere that meets the criteria above.

Avoid anywhere in Brent.

Avoid Alperton, Perivale, hanger Lane itself (not a nice area) or Acton.

North Greenford is OK, though schools are not great. Has lovely parks such as Horsenden Hill.

North Ealing / Pitshanger is nice, close to Hanger Lane. Good schools.

Ealing Common is also quite nice, close to Ealing Broadway so useful for shopping/ cafes etc.

Anywhere further into Ealing will be a difficult commute as the traffic is bad.

Have a look at Hillingdon, Ickenham, Ruislip or Eastcote. All are on Piccadilly line which stops at Park Royal which is a 5/10 min walk to Hanger Lane. Decent areas where you will get more for your money.

@SpikedTea this is really good info thank you!

I think you're going to struggle to get anything big enough in those areas. Even if you look in the less nice parts (e.g. Acton) you're going to struggle to get anything with two beds and a garden.for that price.

I think you're probably better off looking further out and commuting in.

Ealing is lovely though. Lots of good schools.

@NuffSaidSam we thought about commuting in but the problem is that from what I can tell the earliest the children could start breakfast club would be 07:45, and I would need to be at work by 08:15 at the latest really. I don’t have to do the morning school run every day as DH will be WFH some days, but I have to be able to do it some of the time. We have seen plenty of 2 bed flats with gardens on Rightmove within budget, but we haven’t viewed anything in person yet and they might all be dodgy areas 😬 we also thought about childminders but they also don’t seem to start until 7:45-8ish (if they do drop-offs at all), and not guaranteed to serve the school we get places at. Maybe it is all a bit unrealistic

Try Northfields, Pitshanger village, just north of Haven Green & Ealing Broadway has some really lovely (internally) 2 bed ex council flats, but the gardens are communal, if any.

Hanwell has some lovely parts in the older streets towards the canal, but I think they are mostly small houses rather than flats.

Little Ealing towards Brentford and the M4 might be easier to find 2 bed garden flats. Those should still get you into Little Ealing or Mount Carmel schools. Above Northfields tube station is normally catchment for equally good Fielding school, just don’t go too far towards Weat Ealing and Uxbridge Road.

Around the Grange school in South Ealing, ugly houses but well located. I would be careful of which neighbours your choose through, look in their front gardens first. Manky sofa and and old mattress…give it a miss ;)

it’s been a few years since we looked there, ended up finding something outside Ealing instead.

DH used to share a flat during the week for many years in Highcroft Avenue in Stonebridge Park. The houses looked as if they were semidetached but had actually been built as a set of four flats, each with a small garden. Occasionally if he had to work at weekends and couldn't come home we'd go and stay with him - the kids were very small at the time. I have no idea about schools but the immediate area was quiet and friendly - there was a tiny park very close by with play equipment and underground stations were also nearby.