Living in Hampstead Garden Suburb

[househunter93]

We are exploring various family friendly neighbourhoods in London, and the latest one we’re debating is HGS. I came across these two houses that I loved the look of:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145120424

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145409861

The houses look relatively reasonable compared to other parts of London which I was surprised by, and I couldn’t figure out why.

I’d love to hear from people who are familiar with the area - what are the pros and cons of HGS? Are transport links a pain? Is it a good place to raise young kids? What is safety like?

If I had stayed in London, i would have liked to stay here. Brim Hill is lovely, as is the little park and ease of access to Golders Green, the Heath and Hampstead proper. The dual carriageway is a pain, but the area was very family oriented with lots of quirky bits and nice walks in the evening.

Thank you @SecretBanta! Would you say north or south HGS is nicer? I notice that Brim Hill is in the north and fairly close to East Finchley station which looks convenient.

I think south HGS is nicer and, if you can be near to Temple Fortune, all the better. It is full of beautiful houses and lovely gardens but it is quite distinct as an area in that there are tight restrictions on what residents can do to their homes. When it was built as a social experiment, it deliberately did not have shops and certainly not a pub!

Having looked again, I vote for Willifield Way

HGS is as safe as anywhere can be. That’s no issue at all.

It’s also incredibly boring. I don’t mean it doesn’t have pubs with poetry slams, funky street food or any other trendy nonsense. I mean it has nothing. Literally nothing. Just houses.

For very quiet, self-contained families and older people I can see that it works. But I’d want a corner shop at least.

The first house is actually quite small if you look at dimensions of the rooms...it's more of a cottage than a house.
So it is pricier for money than say Ealing/Northfields, where there are more shops and multiple transport links.
Pitshanger lane Brentham Garden estate has some houses comparable sizes but cheaper...and it's also a conservation area. Northfields is not a conservation area but has lovely houses and v well connected, parks schools etc

poor transport links is probably the no1 reason why these are cheaper than other comparable areas of London.

@Nettleskeins Yes we’ve explored Northfields too, we really like the area around Lammas Park. But they are mostly terraced houses with no off street parking, and I didn’t find that there were that many shops around the high street either. Perhaps we need to spend more time there? Ealing Common / Broadway seemed to have more things going on but didn’t have that little village-y feel that we love! Will check out Pitshanger Lane and Brentham Garden Estate, I don’t know much about it.

I love Hampstead Garden Suburb, it's not gritty but I love the heath extension and it's so pretty and calm

@WhatsTheUseOfWorrying thank you! I don’t really mind that there are no pubs. I think Golders Green has some pretty interesting restaurants, but is that too far for it to feel local? I’m quite happy with it being mostly residential but I suppose I’m wondering if it will be social - ie will there be other young mothers, play groups, playgrounds etc.

Ah that’s how I feel! I love the village-y sort of vibe and that it’s so near the Heath. I guess I’m mostly worried that it’ll feel a little isolated and inconvenient with the transport links, I’m wondering if there are any nice HGS roads that are closer to either East Finchley station or Golders Green so it isn’t quite as painful.

Why not look at East Finchley? I like it there. If you now get posters promoting Muswell Hill and Crouch End, ignore them!

HGS is much nicer than Muswell Hill or Crouch End!

@Davros thanks! is East Finchley as nice as HGS? From my Rightmove searches it seems more expensive than HGS, and there aren’t many semi detached/detached houses within budget. I quite like Muswell Hill and Crouch End but they’re not great for transport links either.

This is very Enid Blyton-y but fascinating re the history of HGS, OP. Have you looked on youtube for a walk through HGS-that will give you a real feel for the area 🤓

@househunter93 East Finchley is totally different to HGS, much more urban and doesn't feel quite like typical suburbia. Whereas HGS feels super suburban. HGS isn't for everyone but it's very pretty and calm

The house is nice but it's not that big for £1.2m

@SecretBanta Wow, thank you, I watched the whole thing! Love documentaries like this, it was marvellous. I get the sense that there is an older demographic and that it’s a very quiet, suburban place with not much going on, but has a truly fascinating history and a very tight knit community. Beautiful too!

I couldn’t say about playgroups and the like. But I’d be a bit surprised if there was much of a young parents’ community in HGS. I’m happy to be told otherwise though.

The pupils at Henrietta Barnett school (which is super selective) come from miles away: it’s not really a local school in that sense. There are one or two state primaries in the area I believe (Brooklands?)

There used to be classical concerts in the square every summer but apart from that I’ve never heard of HGS community events. Again, though, I don’t live in HGS and someone could well say differently.

There is some greenery around HGS, including the Heath, so park outings could certainly be done.

My main objection to living in HGS though is that you’d have to travel for absolutely everything. There is not a single grocers, hairdressers, newsagent, cafe, coffee shop, restaurant, pub, bank, post office etc etc in the entire place.

Depending on where in the ‘burb you live, Golders Green could be a decent drive away.

I've found it's mainly older people. The types that never go out, as there is nothing to do except go to the park/ heath. There is no ameneties in walking distance. It feels kind of isolated, and not very London-like. Which I guess could be nice for some people. I'd imagine social activities for Mums, kids, younger folk would be very limited indeed. So people drive in and out but it hasn't got a village or a centre at all.

Well it’s not right to say there are no amenities at all. There are shops along Falloden Way, including a Co-Op on the corner with Ossulton Way, in easy walking distance of the first house OP linked. But I agree there isn’t a village feel and you’d be driving pretty much everywhere.

There are young families OP, and Brookland is a very popular primary. But many of its children are driven in and traffic is awful at drop-off and pick-up times. I would say that part of the Suburb, north of Falloden Way, feels rather cut-off by the big road.

There is a cultural and community life in the Suburb, with the Proms at St Jude’s being a very popular example (a summer festival of music). People seem to be generally good neighbours, and care about each other and their neighbourhood. But it is most definitely suburban with all that entails, and lacks the buzz and diversity of other parts of North London.

As I said before, if you can get near to Temple Fortune then that's a good high street, although quite a few shops are closed on Saturdays.

That’s true, though I think to have good access to shopping or transport you do have to live at the fringes of the suburb, which cuts down the options a lot.

(I agree with whoever talked down Muswell Hill and Crouch End though. Way, way overpriced and overrated for a cheese shop and an art cinema.)

@WhatsTheUseOfWorrying@Davros@JessyCarr@SecretBanta@BobbyBiscuits thank you so much for all this insight!

Just wanted to post an update here, in case it’s helpful for anyone else with similar questions that I had.

We explored HGS today and really loved it on the whole! Here were my pros and cons (many of them v similar to what has already been listed):

Pros

1. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. The charm and character of the neighbourhood really blew us away, it was even quainter and lovelier in person than in photos! It is springtime though, and my fiancé said we shouldn’t let all the budding magnolia and cherry blossom get in the way of our judgment, ha.
2. Near Hampstead Heath. Especially Kenwood House which I love.
3. Close knit community feel. I was surprised by how many passersby smiled as we walked past. It definitely did not feel like London and I really liked the warm neighbourly vibe!
4. Good schools. I was pleased with the options, from Brooklands to Hampstead Garden Primary to the incredible Henrietta Barnett. Also further north is London North Collegiate.

Cons

1. Isolated. This is a big one that many of you mentioned here. The most beautiful parts of the suburb, and indeed the ones within our budget, were very remote and had no good transport links. We realised that a sweet spot was found in properties on the edges of the suburb near tube stations - eg Corringham and Rotherwick Road near Golders Green station, or Brim Hill and Edmunds Walk by East Finchley station. This guarantees more amenities within walking distance too.
2. Older demographic. I did notice that the general demographic skewed older, which made me worry about finding a community. I saw only one young mum with a stroller the entire afternoon. While I don’t want to be in ‘yummy mummy’ central like Clapham or Balham, it would be nice to feel like there are at least some other young families to connect with.
3. Quiet square. This is a weird one but the main square was so quiet, even on a Sunday afternoon, which kind of creeped me out! I probably wouldn’t choose to live in this particular part of the suburb as it felt a bit too sedate. I was surprised there weren’t more families or residents having picnics on the green or strolling around, especially on a lovely sunny spring day.

So there are my initial impressions! :) On the whole it is definitely still one of the best London neighbourhoods we have explored just because of how utterly charmed we were by the whole suburb, but I need to explore the demographics to suss out whether there is a strong community for young families.

Thanks all!!

I used to live in HGS and then a few months in Finchley.

There were shops and a nice Italian restaurant, but it is a couple of decades ago.

There used to be 2 busses that went to Golder's Green, one was a hail and ride so no actual bus stops.

If you do move there many of your neighbours will be Jewish which might explain why the square was quiet. The weekend is a bit back to front in that Shabat is Friday night to Saturday night so often people are often doing activities / classes / shopping on the Sunday.