Richmond or Haringey?

[Barnet9876]

Hi all,

I wish to get some advise here. I’m likely to move to London next year with 3yo and 7yo. I’m struggling between Richmond vs Haringey. Both got good primary and secondary school.

Richmond: barns primary, deer park, Waldegrave etc..
Haringey: musewell hill primary, Rhodes, Fortismere.

In terms of the transportation, we are generally fine cos they are within 1 hr journey to central London.

my questions are:

1. whether you will go for Richmond or Haringey? And why?
2. anything I should also consider? Any special things about these two location?

thanks so much!

this initially made me chuckle as Richmond is obviously so much more expensive/ classier than Haringey it seemed a strange question. But then I lived in London 40 years ago so what do I know!

I don’t know anything about Haringey, but we live near Richmond and it’s lovely!
Great schools, lovely green spaces (Richmond Park and Bushy park).

They are big boroughs. The catchments for schools are different. You need to narrow down neighbourhood based on what you can afford and what you’re looking for. ‘1 hour to central London’ … from where? Not necessarily. But some places it’s rarely an hour journey!

Your post sounds like you’ve never been to London? if that’s the case it’s a big call. Come and visit, stay in the areas you like, make the journeys, travel to central, look at the school…!

Crouch End and Muswell Hill are lovely areas of Haringey but have no tube station.

Harringay is a very diverse area. It's not really comparable to Richmond, which is largely settled, white, rich, older. Crouch End and Muswell Hill are nice but transport is pretty difficult ( reliant on a lot of buses).
If I had a lot of money which would allow me to buy somewhere with a little more space - i.e semi detached or similar I'd choose Harringay for the vibrancy.

Blimey, if you have the money for a nice Richmond property, absolutely go there! Richmond's very classy and pricey, and essentially like a town in its own right. Good shops, good schools, but not very London, IMO. Pretty white and upper middle class.

I know Haringey well. It is much more 'urban'/ 'real city', with both lovely and much less lovely bits. Loads of money in Highgate, Crouch End and Muswell Hill, some punishing poverty in Tottenham and Wood Green. Melting pot of cultures, with some lovely and fiercely proud communities of all kinds.

Definitely a consideration, especially for Muswell Hill, where you would be reliant on buses, really. but Crouch End has Hornsey Station with direct links to central London.

I think you should look carefully at historical catchment areas. I don't know Haringey, but for instance you can't live near enough to Barnes Primary to get a place and also get into Waldegrave (which has a weird catchment anyway).

If you were thinking of Richmond I would either move to Twickenham, as close to Waldegrave as you can get if that's your target secondary, or think about somewhere like Teddington or North Sheen (different secondaries but they are good and I hear positive things about them). Schools in general in Richmond are very good. Even the less popular ones, especially at primary level, are excellent. Twickenham, Teddington and North Sheen are all a little cheaper than Richmond or Barnes in general.

The schools I know in Richmond aren't uniformly white or full of rich people. It's London, even if further out.

I'd also go and look at the schools in person if possible. A school can sound great on paper but feel different when you are actually looking round.

Also, where would you be working in London? If you have to get to Kings Cross every day then Haringey probably makes more sense. If you have to get to Waterloo or the West End, Richmond has a fast train that takes 15 minutes to Waterloo. If you have to get to the city, I'd think about somewhere else entirely.

They're very different boroughs.

I've lived both north and south of the river and they have quite different vibes. Those two boroughs even more so.

Please visit and drive around and get a feel for what you want.

I’ve lived in Haringey forever - when I was a teenager the catchment area for Fortismere was tiny, and it’s probably got worse, so that would def be a consideration

I've never been to Richmond, but it looks bloody gorgeous in Ted Lasso.
I lived in not that far from Haringey 40 years ago - it must have changed a lot if you're comparing it to Richmond!

Echo this exactly, I have lived in both Twickenham and Haringey (and was more the Wood Green side of Haringey!) and liked living in both, but they really couldn't be further apart. You'd need to have a very good idea of what kind of area and feel you're looking for and what you can and can't deal with.

Also, where are you moving from? And do you like it there?

If you are moving from, say, Cambridge or York and you like it I'd suggest you might like Richmond better than Haringey. If you're moving from Balsall Heath in Birmingham and you like it there, Haringey may feel more familiar as compared to Richmond. Or you might be looking for a change of atmosphere. Haringey and Richmond are really really different so you need to think about what you want from your new home.

Why these two areas specifically - they are so different!

an ex lived in Haringuey - nice enough but in my view nothing to shout about

Richmond really is one of the nicest and most expensive parts of Greater London - and therefore the Uk. We live near there - 3 bed flats go for multiple millions.

whats your budget?? And what are you actually looking for?

your post is a bit confused and seems like you could really rush this important decision

You have to live practically next door to Fortismere to get in so unless you're moving to one of the flats really nearby, I wouldn't move to Harringey just for Fortismere. There are plenty of other great schools in North London though. Probably in Richmond too.
I would go for Crouch End/Highgate/Muswell Hill if money were no object. But that's personal preference. Richmond is really lovely too.

The bits of Haringey which are in the tiny areas where you'll get into those schools are miles from a tube and housing costs £££££.

You won’t get into waldegrave living in Richmond unless you are in a tiny satellite catchment. Best off living in st Margaret’s or Twickenham

And fortismere has huge drug and pastoral problems

I think you’ve misphrased the comparison. Haringey is a huge area and encompasses swish bits like Highgate and Crouch End, but the area people think of as Haringey (actually Harringay) is not swish. So you’ve had a few misleading responses.

Both are lovely. You need to focus on smaller areas. School wise, do check how close you need to be as catchments (not really catchments) are tiny.

Agree. Harringay (Green Lanes) is a great area but v different to Muswell Hill.

Agree w others - don’t bank much on Fortismere. Not done the kids I know well. But there are lots of other good schools arojund there

If you can afford Richmond why would you even think of Haringey?

Thanks all for your advise, really helpful.

The reason why I considered haringey is that it has good primary school and as well as near to Barnet (BHS, QE boy). If my kid can’t go to those grammar schools, still allow them to have a good secondary school within the catchment. Of cos, there are good school in Richmond too. I heard something good about these two areas.

I have narrowed down to a few places. it’s a debate between twickenham/st Margaret VS coldfall, Alexandra park/ muswell hill. But looks like the former is desirable.

The re-location is due to the company re-structure with some housing allowance and hence a bit flexible in the budget. I have been to London for few times, but mainly in business districts, hence asking for advise for the residential area. Thanks!

I have narrowed down to a few places. it’s a debate between twickenham/st Margaret VS coldfall, Alexandra park/ muswell hill. But looks like the former is desirable.

They’re both very desirable- the people who’ve been surprised by you mentioning Haringey aren’t thinking of the right area, as we’ve explained above. But they are very different. Twickenham is much further out and more suburban- I’m not sure I’d describe it as London at all. Muswell Hill feels more like living in London (albeit a nice leafy bit of it). Prices are broadly similar.

You really need to spend some more time here.