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Average costs: buying and renting
- Flat £295,000 or £1,037 a month
- Flat £383,000 or £1,303 a month
- House £708,000 or £2,226 a month
- House £937,000 or £2,402 a month
Righmove I October 2019
Nearest stations
- High Barnet
- Hadley Wood
- New Barnet
- Zone 5
- Zone 6
- Area guide
- Lifestyle
- Schools
Locals are calling Transport for London’s plan to build 450 new homes around High Barnet Tube station “the second Battle of Barnet”.
This is nearly 650 years after the Wars of the Roses and the first Battle of Barnet in 1471 that saw Edward IV of the House of York returned to the throne and the death in battle of the Earl of Warwick, who had switched his support to the House of Lancaster, which backed Henry VI.Estate agent Lawrence Henry of Statons says Barnet is proud of its history, and High Barnet — also known as Chipping Barnet — is a wonderful place to live.
“It is on the edge of the green belt with a wide variety of homes at all prices, five minutes from the M25 and with a 30-minute commute into the City and central London, and some of the best schools in the country.”With the arrival of new retailers such as H&M in the renovated Spires shopping centre, he also believes the local High Street is on the up. Home buyers include locals, incomers from more central areas of London trading up to a house with more space and a larger garden, and overseas buyers from Russia and China.There are few other places in London where the high street leads straight on to a common lined with fine Georgian houses.
A short walk away is historic Monken Hadley where next month St Mary The Virgin church marks the 525th anniversary of its restoration with six Son et Lumière performances celebrating Barnet’s history.There will be scenes from this summer’s re-enactment of the Battle of Barnet during Barnet’s Medieval Festival, with children from Mount House School dressed as battle standard bearers.
The audience will learn of prominent lawyer Sir Roger Wilbraham (1553-1616), who founded Monken Hadley’s almshouses; and of First World War hero Captain Charles Tempest-Hicks.A four-year Heritage Lottery-funded project involving more than 200 local volunteers, the Battle of Barnet celebration ran from 2015 until earlier this year.
Its greatest successes were the 72 banners strung along the High Street this summer in tribute to those who fought in the battle, and the Medieval Festival, set to become London’s largest celebration of historic battle re-enactments. Running since 2017, next year’s festival will be on May 30 and 31.
High Barnet is 11 miles north of central London, with countryside and Potters Bar to the north; Cockfosters to the east; Totteridge and Whetstone to the south and Boreham Wood and Elstree to the west.
The property scene
Period cottages in pretty Wood Street in the conservation area in High Barnet town centre include a three-bedroom home on the market at £900,000.There are Georgian houses around Hadley Green, while you’ll also find Victorian terraces in the town centre and Edwardian houses in the roads near the Tube station. Big detached mansions, some of them new, grace Hadley Wood.
Elsewhere are houses from every era since the Thirties, and more recently modern flats have gone up.The most expensive house currently for sale is a six-bedroom mansion in Camlet Way, at £6 million. A listed Georgian terrace house in Hadley Green Road is £1.7 million.
Statons estate agent Lawrence Henry says the fastest-selling homes right now are the family houses near the Tube.One of these, a three-bedroom Edwardian semi in Bedford Avenue, is on sale for £1,325,000.
New-build homes
The largest development is Brook Valley Gardens, the regeneration of the Dollis Valley Estate off Mays Lane. It’s a joint venture between Barnet council, housebuilder Countryside and housing association L&Q, with 631 new homes in traditional streets designed by award-winning architect Alison Brooks. Phases one and two of five are complete, with phase three available next year (020 8023 8403).Elmbank off Barnet Road in nearby Arkley is a Linden Homes scheme of 93 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and 21 three-, four- and five-bedroom houses, of which 24 homes are affordable. Five-bedroom semis are £995,000. Call 020 3811 6642.
Statons agent Lawrence Henry says there is a local trend to build luxury flats in blocks that look like traditional mansions.Statons is selling two such developments now, both in Camlet Way in nearby Hadley Wood: Criterion, by Spitfire Bespoke Homes, has eight two- and three-bedroom flats from £1 million and The Residence, by Heronslea, has two flats left of nine, from £1,495,000.With a modern design, Sambrook Court launches soon in Cockfosters Road, with 14 flats from £575,000. Call Statons on 020 8441 9555.
First-time buyers
Lower-cost homes provider at Brook Valley Gardens is L&Q (0300 456 9997); at Elmbank it is Notting Hill Genesis (033 3000 4000).
Renting
High Barnet does not have a vast choice of rental homes and there are few buy-to-let investors. Monthly rents start around £900 for a one-bedroom flat; £1,300 for a two-bedroom flat and £1,700 for a three-bedroom Victorian house in the centre.
A seven-bedroom mansion in Hadley Wood’s Beech Hill is available to rent for nearly £18,000 a month.
Staying power
Barnet is a family area — and with plenty of scope for moving up and down the property ladder, people tend to stay.
Postcode
There are two Barnet postcodes: EN5 which covers High Barnet and Arkley and EN4 which covers Hadley Wood.
Best roads
Camlet Way and Beech Hill have large detached mansions with carriage drives; the Georgian houses overlooking Hadley Green are sought-after.
Up and coming
At Hadley Highstone, a little-known settlement strung out along the Great North Road in the Monken Hadley conservation area, there’s a mix of period cottages and Victorian and later houses.A four-bedroom semi-detached Victorian house is on sale for £1.25 million; and a two-bedroom cottage for £599,995.
Transport
High Barnet is a short distance from the M25. High Barnet Tube is the terminus for one of the branches of the Northern line, so there is always a rush-hour seat in the morning. Trains from Hadley Wood and New Barnet take around 20 minutes to King’s Cross and half an hour to Moorgate. High Barnet and New Barnet are in Zone 5 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,400. Hadley Wood is in Zone 6 where an annual travelcard costs £2,568.
Council
Barnet council is Conservative controlled. Band D council tax for 2019/2020 is £1,545.41.
Thanks to Homes and Property for the post:- https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/area-guides/barnet-borough/barnet/living-in-barnet-area-guide-to-homes-schools-and-transport-links-a134526.html