What’s going for it? If you want to see the future, certainly for the next five years, come to Barnet. This, of course, is home to what used to be nicknamed easyCouncil, a Tory experiment in extreme outsourcing and self-flagellation, with the council embarking on the kind of drastic weight-loss diet usually reserved for cover stars on Take A Break. It hasn’t been that easy for some. There have been squats in closed libraries, and a fair amount of hullabaloo on the streets. Let’s just say we’re in Ultra Tory Land here. I’m clutching at the end of both straws and tethers to find things to recommend to you, should you fancy a jaunt up the Great North Road. It’s on a hill! Lovely views! Only the house prices are outrageous, even for London, so you won’t be able to stay for long. Super parks, too – they’re still free. For now.
The case against Downtown Barnet is terrifically humdrum, all chainy, with Specsavers, Superdrugs and takeaway curry houses. I’m guessing the posh stay behind their electric gates.
Well connected? Your choice of tube line terminuses: Cockfosters on the Piccadilly or High Barnet on the Northern, 40 or 30 minutes to central London. Trains: New Barnet to Moorgate (30 minutes); north to Welwyn Garden City (20). Driving: 10-15 minutes to the M1 and M25, 15-20 to Finchley and the North Circular.
Schools Primaries: Monken Hadley CofE, Christ Church, Cromer Road and All Saints CofE are all “good”, Ofsted says, with Foulds and Whitings Hill “outstanding”. Secondaries: Queen Elizabeth’s (boys) is “outstanding”, while Totteridge Academy and Jewish Community are “good”.
Hang out at… You can have your fill of Toby Carveries round here. Escape the chains at the Duke of York, an old coaching inn, and pity the horses that used to have to climb the hill.
Where to buy It’s all mansions and McMansions. Top dollar is the conservation area in Hadley, Hadley Green and Monken Hadley; by the time you get to Totteridge, you’re in oligarch-land. Also west, on and off Barnet Road, to Arkley, Rowley Green Lane and Arkley Lane. You will find normality, though, in little spots of Victorian terraces, like Falkland Road, and south and east, where you’re in suburban-semi-land. South in New Barnet, Oakleigh Park is nice, and around Lyonsdown. It’s cheaper towards Cockfosters. Large detacheds, £900,000-£2.5m, up to £5m for mansions. Semis, £400,000-£1.2m. Detacheds, £650,000-£900,000. Terraces and cottages, £375,000-£625,000. Flats, £250,000-£600,000. Rentals: one-bed flats, £850-£1,250pcm; three-bed houses, £1,500-£2,500pcm.
Bargain of the week A large four-bedroom early 20th-century semi, in need of refurbishment, £809,950, with Maunder Taylor via rightmove.co.uk.
From the streets
Valerie Kemp “The parks and green spaces are amazing. The worst thing is the congestion, especially on the Great North Road from New Barnet to Whetstone.”
John Worrall “High points on the high street include the excellent Victoria Bakery. Barnet College students add life to the area.”
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