Lets move to Hornsey, north London: pricey, yes, but not bad for these parts
Let's move to ...PropertySlightly more affordable than its posh neighbours, and it still has a ‘proper’ high street, nice parks and stout Edwardian pubs
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What’s going for it? I like a hill. I live on a hill. I get claustrophobic in the vast, mostly hill-free (or hill-lite) stretches of east or west London. I can’t see out. “Always buy on a hill,” an estate agent once told me, “won’t get flooded” – a bit of folk wisdom that, in our benighted times of April heatwaves, has an added urgency. It’s borne out in social geography, in the UK at least, where posh Johnnies tend to live on hills, all the better to escape the noxious fumes and hoi polloi. Most of north London’s hills – from Hampstead to Muswell Hill – have long, long been out of bounds for the likes of us. Hornsey, sliding down Lea Valley hillside and touched by Harringay and Wood Green, is still out of bounds, but, I don’t know, maybe on a good day, with the wind behind us, and saving all our pennies from the back of the sofa, we could club together for a roomshare. Its high street is still “proper”, with hardware shops and “continental grocers” alongside the inevitable incoming coffee palaces. There’s a nook of the old village by the parish church, nice parks, stout Edwardian pubs such as the Great Northern Railway Tavern, and, looming above all at the crown of the hill, the crouching bulk of Alexandra Palace. At least the view from the top is free.
The case against Still blooming expensive, just, in the way that London works, not quite as expensive as its fancier neighbours.
Well connected? Trains: on the Great Northern line to Moorgate in the City (20 minutes every 15 minutes) via Highbury and Islington (change to the tube) and Old Street; and north half hourly to Hertford (32 minutes). Driving: 15 minutes or so to the north circular, 25 to the M1 at Brent Cross and 30 minutes to the M25.
Schools Primaries: Campsbourne infant and junior, St Mary’s CofE, Rokesly infant and junior and Weston Park are all “good”, Ofsted says. Secondaries: Greig City academy and Hornsey School for Girls are both “good”.
Hang out at… The new Intrepid Fork for amazing cakes, or the fabulous Great Northern Railway Tavern.
Where to buy It’s a late-Victorian and Edwardian kinda place, so it’s not short of sizable townhouses and terraces, most expensive towards Muswell Hill and Crouch End (and around Priory Park), and in the streets towards Alexandra Palace. Park Avenue North and South is a classy address. Cheaper down the hill towards Wood Green. Terraces: four or five bedrooms, £900,000-£1.7m; three bedrooms, £650,000-£900,000. Flats: three or four bedrooms, £500,000-£825,000; two bedrooms, £350,000-£700,000; one bedroom, £300,000-£500,000. Rentals: a one-bedroom flat, £1,075-£1,600pcm; a three-bedroom house, £2,000-£2,300pcm.
Bargain of the week Four-bedroom, postwar terraced house, a bargain (for here) at £675,000, with purplebricks.co.uk.
From the streets
Louise Martell ‘A more down-to-earth high street than nearby Crouch End. Great pizza at Tomo.’
Laura Coates ‘Heron Hawker is perfect for houseplants.’
Holly Park ‘One Yoga London is a hidden gem.’
Live in Hornsey? Join the debate below.
Do you live in Bognor Regis? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, email lets.move@theguardian.com by Tuesday 14 May.
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