Is Hanwell, West London, unsafe?

[lozzie55]

Hi everyone,

I've been following some posts about Hanwell, West London, as my husband and I have planned to move there when we return from overseas in April.

We were previously in Twickenham, and really happy there, but it's too expensive for us to buy a 2-3 bed house. We spent a day in Hanwell when we were visiting recently and loved it - it felt villagey, friendly, seems to be surrounded by green space, has lovely pubs and has plenty in terms of shops and amenities. Perhaps stupidly, I joined a Hanwell friends FB group which I thought would start to give us a sense of (digital) community, but all it's done is worry me - every day people post about robberies, muggings, stabbings and crime in general. A Google news search is just a grim. We didn't feel unsafe at all when we visited, and I can't tell if I'm just getting an onslaught of negative news or if it is actually dangerous. I don't mind a bit of London grit (I've lived in New York and London, so I'm used to the quirks of big cities) but I do mind feeling too unsafe to walk the dog on winter evenings. Am I getting a skewed view or is Hanwell unsafe?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Hanwell is lovely. Ignore the incessant whingers on Hanwell friends. I've come off there because of the unrelenting negativity of it's members and because I didn't recognise my local area in it's posts.

I've lived her for years. I've been burgled once (not a rare occurance in London) but have never felt unsafe, my kids walk to and from school and go to the park or their own.

www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/

Go onto the Met Police website for actual facts.

Facebook groups are always full of whingers, don’t know Hanwell though but it never features on the news as far as I can recall.

It looks like a Y10 boy was stabbed outside school earlier this month but did survive.

OP, if you go into the Met police dashboard, you can filter by types of crimes and then go onto the safer neighbourhood map to see what the area is like as well as the neighbouring wards.

Thank you so much everyone - really appreciate it!

I've just moved out of Hanwell and it's fine. Certain bits are lovely, certain bits are ropey. I would live there again.

@wearsmymoney on Instagram lives there and loves it.

Hanwell is completely safe and Beautiful. Been born and bred here and theres always been a positive vibe
We've great eateries cafes and landmark pubs, inundated with greenery and as for Dog's Hanwell is Dog Heaven. Within a space of 100 metres, you'd probably see 3 different sets of people with there dog, countless upon countless people with little ones and pro dog walkers.
I dont think another village/town in the SE could equal it. Trust me, theres a big vibrant friendly dog community. Kid's wise, its bliss too
Please ignore the Trash talk. Hanwell is totally beautiful and unique. God I can go on and on.
For starting a family its ideal as its extremely popular here. Then you got Ealing Town barely a couple of miles down the road which has just Exploded in the last 3 decades. You could mistake it for Madrid, S France even picturesque Belgium on hot sunny days. We've also been consistently voted or been runner's up for having one if the Greenest Borough's in London for the last many decades too.
There's always much ado about something and all sorts are always going on, especially Seasonal (summer) times, dont get ne even started on Christmas, it truly becomes a stark contrast to Summer, your magical winter wonderland.
I actually holiday at home in Hanwell half the summer with the family, imagine that, co habit S France yet spend most of our Summer home in Hanwell, that's the love for it and it actually feels like your in a Town on the Continent.
We've got so many gorgeous places on these Isles, there's really no reason to go abroad for holidaying.

I must say I've never heard of it as having a particularly bad reputation. One of the better parts of West London I would have said.

It’s lovely. One of my best friends has lived there for years. Good pubs and the annual festival