House in North London - budget £1MM

[LeilaSaintClaire22]

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well! My fiancé and I are looking to buy a house around London in the Northern area(s).

I love NW, I've lived around Paddington, St John's Wood, Maida Vale and Royal Oak. It's beautiful, green, diverse and it has good schools. It feels like a village. I'm not British and somehow I felt right at home there.

My partner wants to be closer to his friends who live around Islington and further North East. I am personally not a fan of Islington: it feels like a "cité-dortoir" (literally "dormitory town") for bankers, lawyers and accountants. To me it felt like most men there were brooding on work.

Either way, we both agree we want to live somewhere:

• green
• with good schools
• friendly neighborhood culture (open to foreigners like us)
• further out in NW or NE London
• with a good commute to central London
• with a village feel

To give you an idea of what I'm after, I like St Albans and I liked Chislehurst (the houses there were HUGE and not necessarily pretty but it was so leafy and diverse and friendly).

Let us know if any of you have recommendations and what you believe our budget will be able to get us.

Thank you so much in advance for your help and I hope you will have a lovely Sunday night at home with your families!!

Leila

west hampstead is a lot cheaper than St John's wood and has great transport connections (Thameslink / jubilee / metropolitan lines)

Islington is also nice - lots of bits with good community especially around stoke newington

crouch end is popular with families on a bit of a budget (transport is less good).

are you looking for schools? they are quite different in different areas.

What about stoke newington?

What size house do you need?

Have you looked NE at Wanstead / South Woodford / Buckhurst Hill? Might fit the bill

Mill Hill? Very much has the village/green vibe. You would need to check catchments as they can be tricky round there.

What is a "village feel"?

I live in Islington and I don't recognise your description of it at all! It's a huge, diverse (in all ways) buzzy place with lots of great shops, cafes and restaurants of all types and budgets. It's very central too - I can cycle to eg Oxford Street in 20 minutes.

Tufnell park (quieter than Kentish town , more family vibe) close to Hampstead Heath

A house for 1million in Tufnell Park? Do you think that’s doable Twiglets1?. The little two up two downs tend to be 1.25 mill.

Another one here who doesn't recognise your description of Islington...

What do you mean by "further out"? Zone 2/3/4?

Kentish Town/Tufnell Park or Crouch End/Muswell Hill etc would fit your bill but you won't get a house for £1m, are you happy to consider flats/maisonettes?

I’m thinking of a little terraced one ... maybe it’s possible if OP looks hard and is prepared to do some updating 🤔