North London - which area?

[GreenPalmTree]

Hello all,

Have lived in south London for 10 years, due to a work change now seeking a new home which provides an easy commute to Cambridge and an easy commute to central London…

Preferably want to stay within zones 2/3 and don’t want to leave London (so not St Albans or Essex, or Hitchin/ Royston)

Areas on radar include Angel, De Beauvoir Town, Kentish Town/ Gospel Oak/ Dalston.

Budget £1m to £1.5m, need at least two bedrooms, would prefer a house but if an amazing period maisonette with outdoor space could consider it. Can also consider modern properties if a full house / mews.

Struggling at the moment to figure out what areas are lovely, and attainable. Don’t mind a renovation project!

Also struggling with expectation management as we have the horrible problem of trying to move from a cheaper area to a more expensive one.

Any suggestions or wisdom welcomed!

Definitely the Stroud green road side of the station. There are some lovely streets around there and Stroud green itself has some great restaurants.

The other side of the station is a bit more rough and ready for maybe 1/3 of a mile before you start to get closer to Stoke newington and Highbury where it gets nicer again.

I'd also maybe look at the area around Arsenal and between Stroud green road an Holloway Road which has some nice residential streets (do bear in mind the stadium though)

If you live on the FP side of Stoke newington (use the Brownswood Pub as a reference) it's about a 15 min walk or a bus to Finsbury Park so I do think it's worth looking at

Brilliant, thank you all- looks like there are some options, thanks for the links to the properties as well!

Stoke newington very pricey...awful traffic...but lots to do....eating out etc....never liked finsbury park...used to live near the station....over our business...a real magnet for weirdos and drunks....unless it has all changed a lot i would avoid anything near the station...it was grim.

Earsup, Finsbury Park station has been remodelled on the Stroud Green side - there's a Picturehouse cinema, cafes and a new tube entrance. So along with the Park Theatre being right there, it has changed a lot! Having said that, I'd still prefer to be up the hill towards Crouch End and near Harringay Station.

Depends on your priorities, but if kids were on the horizon and you needed to regularly commute to Cambridge, I'd be trying to keep that journey as direct as possible (because you'll want to get back to childcare as quickly as possible and allow for potential delays). So I wouldn't consider areas far enough from the station that you'd want to take a bus, change lines or do a 15 min walk (which is quite long for zone 1/2). I wouldn't consider Stokey or de Beauvoir due to the poor transport options. With your budget you could consider Bloomsbury or parts of Angel which are a short walking distance to King's Cross. But it would mean a maisonette rather than a house.

I would focus on walking distance to Kings Cross. Not the new builds behind it but the other side in Bloomsbury. Around the Brunswick Centre, Marchmont Street - Russell Square and Regent Sq. or in the other side the area around Exmouth Market. But more expensive then FP and surronds.

Hornsey, easy to get to Finsbury Park by train or bus. Decent schools and lots of nice parks.

With that budget, I'd head straight for the area around Lauriston Road a.k.a. Victoria Park Village. It's wonderful. Right next to Victoria Park (with it's amazing farmers market on Sundays), great independent cafes, shops and restaurants, and a strong community feel.

It's an easy journey straight on to the A12 / M11 if you're driving. If not, it's a walk to Bethnal Green tube/train and connect to more trains at either Stratford or Liverpool St.

This is just over your budget but how amazing would it be to live here??!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119081639#/?channel=RES_BUY

Actually, just looking and that house is walking distance from Stratford station, Westfield, the Olympic Park (and all the new developments at East Bank including Sadlers Wells, the V&A and London College of Fashion) plus the greenway and the hipsters of Hackney Wick as well as Hackney flats and multiple canals that you can run/cycle alongside taking you straight to Canary Wharf/Thames or out to the M25 and on to Epping Forest.

I've lived in Finsbury Park, between the station and Crouch End, for over 20 years. It's a really good part of North London to live in.

The area has changed massively in that time, for the better. The station area is incredibly busy and a bit chaotic, but as others have said, if you head away (either up Stroud Green Road or Blackstock Road) there are loads of streets of nice Victorian houses.

Food and drink in the area is great, transport connections are excellent into central London and out to Cambridge. It's got a two-venue theatre, the new block of flats over the tube has a Picturehouse Cinema in the basement too.

Your budget would probably get you a nice 3-bed house, maybe a 4. There are a lot of 2-storey terrace houses in the area, especially on the Islington side of Stroud Green Road.

Another vote for Victoria park village, it’s absolutely lovely and walking distance to Bethnal Green tube and various overground stations. I’ve been looking at flats with my daughter and if she had your budget would definitely pick it over any other part of East London.
Having said that I do personally love North London around Crouch End as I grew up there and it’s still very nice.

stroud green/ crouch hill or other environs of finsbury park.
well connected for both london and cambridge.
and interesting area with good housing stock.

Surprised at all the Crouch End love. I worked there for three years and found it a ballache transport wise - rail connections from Hornsey not very frequent and often cancelled, a 25 minute walk to trains and tube at FP and the W5 bus is a shambles - insipidly Nappy Valley (though maybe that’s what people like?) and didn’t really rate any of the shops for anything you’d actually want to buy as opposed to novelties and luxuries.

Wouldn’t be my first pick as a childfree adult - and possibly not with small DC either, my friend who used to live on Ferme Park Road discovered she was unlikely to get a place for her DD at either Coleridge or Weston Park primaries despite being just streets away and so moved away from the area.

If you're happy with a maisonette, I would recommend Angel. Being able to walk to Kings Cross to get train to Cambridge is one advantage, but you can also walk into central so easily. Walking into Covent Garden on a Saturday or down through the city to the river for Tate Modern. Another north Londoner who moved south, who misses being able to walk everywhere!
I do like Dalston/Tufnell Park/Stokey etc too, but they just aren't as central if you are attracted to the idea of walking everywhere. I worked in Kentish Town for a bit and not as keen on it as an area.

Danbury Street, Angel, London, N1
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117953348

Close to the canal, very nice area.

Halton Road, N1
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114905348

Pied Bull Yard, Islington, London, N1
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118720787

Good for Kings Cross.

I would highly recommend Highbury, N5. Great shops, and transport links, schools and a place in London where neighbours Genuinely know and look out for each other

Some great additional suggestions! I definitely feel I need to take a look at Stroud Green / Crouch End ideas but have to say my initial gut feeling is uncertain.

As said I have a number of friends there who love it, but I’m also seeing this as a bit of an opportunity to maybe feel a bit more central?

I live in the Green leafy burbs at the moment, south east London zone 3/4 but with great transport links. I love it here but also think being able to walk, scoot or bike to kings cross or the other London stations to Cam without hassle would be life changing in terms of time saved.

I love the idea of being closer to the Heath, love outdoor swimming and have been to Parliament lido and the ponds before.

I think where I’m at the moment is probably more drawn to Angel and Tuffnel Park, my DH is being more practical and more of a fan of some of the areas suggested closer to Finsbury park.

Highbury is an interesting one, I know the areas near the fields are lovely, with the walk to new river and Canonbury, but also seems to be a lot of slightly grotty HMO doer upper houses on the market at the moment. Is that a good thing or bad? Match day considerations at Arsenal are important too.

Regarding Victoria Park areas - I lived for a time in Bow before Hackney Wick became hip! I do know that area but should have a revisit. I think it’s probably a bit pricey for the location and our immediate needs, but always happy to be convinced otherwise. Some of the houses near the park are incredible.

Plan is to go for some walks around town - then zone in a bit more precisely.

Thanks for all the continued wisdom!

If you want to be close to the Heath, Highgate? Can get the 210 bus to FP station for your train to Cambridge. Obviously it’s no more central than the other places mentioned though.

Tufnell Park is a bit of a nothingy area IMO. Angel is lovely in places but those places tend to be hugely expensive- the cheaper bits aren’t so great but obviously it’s more central. DH lived there for years and you can easily walk into town which is fab.

Highbury is lovely but really only down the road from FP so they sort of blur into each other, likewise Crouch End/FP and Stoke Newington/FP.

In favour of Highbury you feel like you're close to central London - you can get a bus to the Barbican and the Overground is there as well as the tube so you can get to the East End really quickly. On the downside, Highbury Fields isn't much of a green space IMO.

If I was moving back to north London I'd choose Muswell Hill, or Highgate. I'd steer clear of Dalston though, it was on the up for ages but it's getting more dodgy. I know of two muggings and an attempted car jacking in the past couple of months of people within my wider social circle.

What about Belsize Park or Primrose Hill OP? If I was child free I wouldn't live in Muswell Hill or Highgate. Those are both on the Northern Line and easy access to King's Cross. Plus lovely greenery at Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill. If you're ok in a flat there, you'd get a really nice one

Angel's great too, but no greenery which is why I wouldn't really want to live there.

kentish town for the heath and ponds.
good connections transport wise.

kentish town is very mixed, lots of council housing, including street properties, also middle class people doing up good victorian houses.
but prices have gone up since the french school arrived.

I used to love Hackney Village ( Lauriston) but having been forced to live elsewhere there is no way you’d get me back. Too crowded and the transport is dreadful-that’s partly linked to the crowdsI suppose.

Will you be getting the train to Cambridge? I'd definitely go for Hampstead/Belsize park/south end Green rather than the areas you've suggested if you don't have children. Much nicer and leafy. And pretty quick to KX