Advice needed – where to live in North London?

[MissTea]

Hello all!

I'm 23 weeks pregnant and currently live with my husband in Finsbury Park.

We're trying to sell our flat so we can move to a bigger flat/house before the baby is born, but I am not sure where would be a good place to move to in terms of good schools and other new mums of a similar age (I'm 30).

Considering Crouch End and have heard that Muswell Hill is nice but don't know it at all.

I would really appreciate any advice on where in Crouch End/Muswell Hill we should be aiming for (we're looking for a 2-3 bed with outside space for 350-400K). Or any other nearby areas that are nice...

I would also be interested in your opinions on good local primary schools and their catchment areas.

Thanks!

From a recent thread, I've read stoke newington, crouch end and east finchley are family friendly, as is muswell hill tho quite pricey.

Maybe try posting in property/diy threads?

Good luck!

Muswell hill is nice but lousy for public transport. East Finchley is nice and family friendly. Not sure about prices these days though. We moved from a 2 bed flat in E Fnchley into a 3 bed house in N Finchley which we then sold Jan 2007 for £400k, so not sure what you could get in E Finchley for that price now.

Hi
Good luck with trying to move - it's hard work. We tried to move to East Finchley in the summer (from NW London) but couldn't find anywhere we could afford. Then we looked in Southgate - there are lots of lovely Edwardian properties there, and it's cheaper than E Finchley. The schools are great, and the transport's good too - Picaddilly line and mainline trains serve it well. It's worth a look.

Winchmore Hill is worth a look - might be a bit cheaper and there's a fast train link to central london.
Muswell Hill is pricey but lovely. I find Crouch End a bit too urban but it is very family-friendly.

Thanks everyone - very helpful! Does anyone know Crouch End well? I would be really interested to hear your thoughts about whereabouts in Crouch End would be a good area to move to, in terms of good primary schools, affordable property, transport and a safe, child-friendly area (a lot to ask, I know!).

I live quite near Crouch End, it's a lovely area. Coleridge Primary School is extremely popular and I believe it gets the best results in the borough. It's massively over-subscribed though and you'd need to live virtually on the doorstep, although they've been expanding the site so perhaps will also expand their intake. I've also heard good things about Weston Park which is between Crouch End and Stroud Green.

Transport in Crouch End isn't ideal. There's no tube (the nearest is Highgate or Archway from Crouch End Broadway), although the overground has good links to the City (at the Hornsey End). The area as a whole is pretty expensive though, but if you go a bit further out towards Muswell Hill and Alexandra Park, prices are somewhat cheaper (the N8/N10/N22 borders).

In terms of it being a child-friendly area, there are certainly lots of families around. There are good swimming facilities at Park Road leisure centre and Highgate Wood is nearby with a really good play area and lovely cafe in the summer.

Thanks for the info rockinsockbunnies. If you were moving to the area, which bit (i.e. around which streets) would be your number one choice, and which bits would you avoid like the plague? So hard to flat-hunt online without knowing the area well. I'm guessing the harringey ladder is best avoided, but what about the streets to the east of the broadway (nelson, denton, inderwick, etc)? There seem to be a lot of flats going round there. Is it any dodgier than the area to the west of the broadway (which i get the impression is more desirable)??

Thanks so much for all your help - it's brilliant! xx

Ferme Park Road is lovely and in general that area is very good for families. Weston Park School is there too which is good. A downside of living on Inderwick Road is that Hornsey School for Girls (Secondary School) is on that road and the area is very noisy as they arrive/leave(some of them are a bit mouthy and trying to get on a bus there in the morning/at half three is a nightmare!).

Ferme Park Road acts as the N4/N8 border, so one side is Haringay and the other Islington (Finsbury Park), so depending if you have a preference for postcode or local authority then you need to be aware of which side is which.

If you want to get a general 'feel' for that area, the W5 bus runs through it in all directions (leaves from Archway, finishes at Sainsbury's on Green Lanes).

The area west of the broadway is more expensive most of the time, but Avenue Road in N6 which is about a 10 minute walk to Crouch End broadway has a wide variety of flats and houses and is a really nice road to live on and is also west. If you go further west, then Muswell Hill/Alexandra Palace are nearby, the latter being very good value for money and a very nice area.

Another area you might want to consider is the Crouch End/Highgate/Archway border, in particular the Whitehall Park conservation area which runs just below Hornsey Lane. It's closer to Archway tube, has some lovely houses, is near Highgate village (which is great) and also isn't too far from Hampstead Heath. House prices tend to be cheaper there compared to Crouch End and there are lots of flats/houses with gardens. Some suggestions are Cheverton Road, Hornsey Lane, Fitzwarren Gardens, Whitehall Park, Gladsmuir Road.

Hope this is of help

Whitehall Park is a bit of a schools blackspot though, apart from Ashmount which is moving anyway.

It's a secondary schools blackspot as well, unless you fancy St Aloysius, which most people don't tbh.

Thanks RockinSockBunnies and frogs - that's exactly the sort of info I was after

A few children living in Whitehall Park area go to my DD's school, Brookfield Primary, which is very nice. And I believe that a few living in that area may have found a place at Coleridge, although it is very over-subscribed.

I agree about Secondary Schools though, there's definitely not many in the area that are much good (which is why we'll probably be moving out of London for better schools in a few years!)

The other problem with Whitehall Park (although it's lovely) is that all the houses are sliding down the hill. Baaaaaaaaaad.

And the secondary schools are crap.