Is Pinner/Hatch End a nice place to buy a house?

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Hi there, hubby and I have been house hunting recently. I have been in the UK only for 2 years and my husband for 8 years. We don't know much about places around London apart from those within zone 1 & 2. Currently we live in Putney.
We would really love to buy a house in a green villagey place, our budget is about £450 max. We were looking at Surrey but are am bit worried about the travel from there. When we visited Pinner we found it equally beautiful and green with a nice high-street and the tube makes it such a perfect choice.

We are trying to strike a little bit of a difficult balance when it comes to the community as well. I wouldn't like to be living in a place which is too ethnic, like Southall or Tooting (although I love goignt here for the food!), because I come from Delhi which was a a lot like London and a place for everyone not just a certain community. On the other hand I don't want to go to a place where I am the only Indian and everyone will stare at me inquisitively. This happened to us at a pub in Chobham on our way to see Virginia Water. I know that Pinner has a lot of Indian families from the school admissions list. I would love to hear comments from people who live in Pinner area or know anything about it, Pros & Cons.
Thanks a lot..

I have lived in Pinner and now live quite close to it. I love it. It has a good tube link, lots of nice restaurants/cafes and a decent mix of shops. Schools are mostly very good (if that is a consideration) but you will need to live relatively close to them to get in.

Hatch End has tonnes of restaurants (quite bizarre how many in a small stretch of road). Nice houses and leafy streets, but the train link is not as frequent as the tube.

Both areas have quite a high Indian population so you wouldn't stand out at all.

The downside is that it is quite expensive because it is sought after. Pinner is more expensive than Hatch End. You could get a 3 bed semi in Hatch End for 450k, you might get that in Pinner if you were further from the tube.

PM if you want more info. I don't want to say where I live now as it will out me but I would also recommend it.

Thanks Louey. Your description is totally spot on. We are noticing exactly what you've said in the Pinner/Hatch End area. Hatch End slightly more affordable, but has a slower link into the City.

Its very important for us to be near a good school, and be near a nice green space where one can go for a walk or a run. That makes these areas very attractive to us.

In terms of Primary Schools, would you know which ones are the better state schools in the Hatch End and Pinner areas? I do have some idea based on Ofsted ratings, but wonder if I should be looking at something more than just Ofsted while considering schools.

Thanks again for your help.

owww you mad eme all nostalgic. I loved in Hatch End when I was a kid. Our road ended in a field which was the green belt and our garden backed on to a big park. Twas great then (many moons ago)

still remember the chinese restaurant on Pinner high street where we went for all important occasions

school was rubbish though, was called Grimsdyke Primary and we named it Grimsdump Slimary

twas a long time ago (gets out walking stick and flase teeth)

actually seriously, we sold our house in spring 1976. Summer 76 was very very hot, and the clay under the houses shrank and our old house pulled away from its semidetached neighbour and fell to pieces.

So if you buy a house there, be very careful about getting a survey