# Probably moving to Burnt Oak / Edgware area



## porshiebo (Aug 18, 2008)

so as i was saying on this thread (http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=257437&highlight=porshiebo) i've been searching for a nice affordable place for me and my girlfriend (plus a few others) to live in, and now I think I've found just the house

it's between burnt oak and edgware, right next to edgware community hospital.  it's a brand new townhouse, 4bed and costs £420 a week, and we've got a lovely big double bedroom with the all-important ensuite, bathroom which my girlfriend insists on having (like most japanese she's never done houseshare before and wasn't easy about the idea- but when i told her we'd have our own bathroom she came around to it)

when i went and saw it, it was my first time in the area, and i walked from burnt oak station because it's closer than edgware (i still haven't set foot in edgware even once). so from what i saw, burnt oak is certainly a vibrant area with lots of ethnic groups and lots going on. i liked it because it had a community feel. before i finally decide to move there i do want to get some other people's opinions though - is it going to be safe for my girlfriend? she's japanese and it's her first time in england, she's of a quiet, sometimes anxious disposition - and being 5' tall and very petite she doesn't stand much chance of defending herself should, god forbid, any arseholes attack her. to be honest when i was walking around burnt oak station and the market, i got the feeling that she might feel threatened at night there - but can anyone who knows the area tell me whether there are much crime problems there?

if it's better to avoid burnt oak and night she can always walk home from edgware, which i hear is quite a mild place. most of the time she'll be with me anyway, but of course some of the time she'll end up on her own

thanks for your input!


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## ovaltina (Aug 18, 2008)

It's pretty grim. Don't know how much crime there is these days but BO doesn't feel like a very safe neighbourhood. 

Edgware used to be a nice quiet suburban town, but has gone downhill in the last ten years. There seem to be gangs of bored kids hanging around all the time and there's rubbish and graffiti everywhere.

Can't you find something in Hendon instead?


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## porshiebo (Aug 18, 2008)

ovaltina said:


> It's pretty grim. Don't know how much crime there is these days but BO doesn't feel like a very safe neighbourhood.
> 
> Edgware used to be a nice quiet suburban town, but has gone downhill in the last ten years. There seem to be gangs of bored kids hanging around all the time and there's rubbish and graffiti everywhere.
> 
> Can't you find something in Hendon instead?



 doesn't sound good. tbh i really don't care where i live if it's just me, but i want my girlfriend to be and feel safe so that she can enjoy her time here

hendon would be fine for us, and if you say it's nicer i might have a look there. the thing is that it's very hard to find places to rent with ensuite bathrooms, which as i said are a must for my girlfriend. so i'm really quite limited to what i can find on gumtree (can anyone recommend any other sites than gumtree btw?)


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## ovaltina (Aug 18, 2008)

moveflat.com is free and you can tailor the search, so you might be able to specify en-suite.

Finchley's nice too - so long as you don't get too close to the Strawberry Vale estate near the north circ.

Burnt Oak's not terrible, some of the little wooden clad 1920s council houses away from the tube are quite nice, but BO broadway feels a bit intimidating.


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## porshiebo (Aug 18, 2008)

ovaltina said:


> moveflat.com is free and you can tailor the search, so you might be able to specify en-suite.
> 
> Finchley's nice too - so long as you don't get too close to the Strawberry Vale estate near the north circ.
> 
> Burnt Oak's not terrible, some of the little wooden clad 1920s council houses away from the tube are quite nice, but BO broadway feels a bit intimidating.



as it happens, this house is just off the broadway, in a new development next to the hospital

i'm going to go and look at the place again this friday. wherever we move, we'll be living there for a good two years, so i feel it's worth putting in the time to try and find the right house in the right place. we also found a nice place in harrow-on-the-hill that we might yet move to


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## ovaltina (Aug 18, 2008)

porshiebo said:


> as it happens, this house is just off the broadway, in a new development next to the hospital
> 
> i'm going to go and look at the place again this friday. wherever we move, we'll be living there for a good two years, so i feel it's worth putting in the time to try and find the right house in the right place. we also found a nice place in harrow-on-the-hill that we might yet move to



Yeah I know exactly where you mean - that's where the hospital used to be!

I haven't seen what they built in its place but can understand wanting a new build with an en-suite, and 425 pcm is cheap as chips. Is that each or total?

Harrow on the Hill's not a bad town centre. Lots of shops and it feels quite safe. Avoid Wealdstone though!


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## sally_sally (Aug 18, 2008)

porshiebo said:


> so as i was saying on this thread (http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=257437&highlight=porshiebo) i've been searching for a nice affordable place for me and my girlfriend (plus a few others) to live in, and now I think I've found just the house
> 
> it's between burnt oak and edgware, right next to edgware community hospital.  it's a brand new townhouse, 4bed and costs £420 a week, and we've got a lovely big double bedroom with the all-important ensuite, bathroom which my girlfriend insists on having (like most japanese she's never done houseshare before and wasn't easy about the idea- but when i told her we'd have our own bathroom she came around to it)
> 
> ...


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## sally_sally (Aug 18, 2008)

porshiebo said:


> as it happens, this house is just off the broadway, in a new development next to the hospital
> 
> i'm going to go and look at the place again this friday. wherever we move, we'll be living there for a good two years, so i feel it's worth putting in the time to try and find the right house in the right place. we also found a nice place in harrow-on-the-hill that we might yet move to




Go to Harrow on the Hill, a lot nicer and very good connections for London. 

Sal


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## davesgcr (Aug 18, 2008)

Only know Colindale in "daylight" and it seems OK ish (lots of brownfield development going on for sure) - Burnt Oak has always had a bit of a bad press since it was built. Hendon seems fine from my experience 

If you can afford Harrow on the Hill go for it - apart from the good vibes of the Hill etc - it has a really good fast Met line service ( + Chiltern) which beats the Northern line anyday ......


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## Oswaldtwistle (Aug 18, 2008)

Harrow on the Hill is a good area, and an ideal compromise between 'nice area' and 'still within reach of London proper'


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## porshiebo (Aug 18, 2008)

> *sally_sally
> *
> To be honest mate, it is a complete shit hole. Have a look at the place at nightime. Colindale down the road has loads of new flats. They have built 3500 and are having problems shifting them.
> 
> ...



That's pretty clear!  Thanks for your input

If I don't start hearing some good things about Burnt Oak soon, I can't see us moving there...


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## ovaltina (Aug 19, 2008)

sally_sally said:


> please dont go to Burnt Oak you will rue the day you did.


nail on the head


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## lenny101 (Aug 19, 2008)

I went to Burnt Oak for work and thought it seemed safe and peaceful compared to most of inner London. However, I was only there for a few hours so my opinion means fuck all tbh. I much prefer inner London.


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## porshiebo (Aug 19, 2008)

davesgcr said:


> Only know Colindale in "daylight" and it seems OK ish (lots of brownfield development going on for sure) - Burnt Oak has always had a bit of a bad press since it was built. Hendon seems fine from my experience
> 
> If you can afford Harrow on the Hill go for it - apart from the good vibes of the Hill etc - it has a really good fast Met line service ( + Chiltern) which beats the Northern line anyday ......



well the place we're interested in at harrow on the hill is even cheaper - 276 p/w for a 3 bed apartment. me and my g/f will be paying 110p/w between us. the bedroom we'd have there has an ensuite and all - and it's 3 minutes walk from the station, just behind the big shopping centre

the thing is though, that we were meant to move in there last month, but the tenants never bloody left! despite promising the landlord they'd be out on the 29th of july they hadn't found a place yet and also hadn't payed the rent, so the landlord was a bit stuck. apparently they're moving out on the 29th of this august now. but giving what happened last time, it'd be foolish to assume they're definitely going to move then, and i have to be looking at other options

i thought about signing the contract for the burnt oak place, but seeing what you guys have said about it i think i'll hold out and wait for the harrow one, and maybe do some more searching in the meantime...


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## joffle (Aug 19, 2008)

I have spent alot of time in Hendon, its safe enough, but a bit dull. I still think you should check out Walthamstow if you are on a budget and want easy access to central. I have never felt unsafe here, I am in a nice big, cheap old house 2 minutes away from walthamstow central tube. You can eat really cheaply because of the market and be at oxford circus in 20 minutes on the victoria line, liverpool street in 17 minutes on the overground if you want to go to the trendy areas around brick lane/ shoreditch. Good night buses back too. Granted, there isn't too much going on but you can get places where there is stuff going on easily, without having to sit on the metropolitan line for seven years to get in from Harrow. 

Me and my mates moved here after uni as the difference in price with other areas a little bit closer in is incredible. My first house in Walthamstow, this time last year cost me 260 a month.


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## mhwfc (Aug 19, 2008)

joffle said:


> without having to sit on the metropolitan line for seven years to get in from Harrow.



The Met Line isn't so bad for Harrow to Central London, get off and cross the platform at Finchley Road for the Jubilee or change at Baker Street for the Bakerloo and it's 20-30 minutes from most places in the West End, and has direct trains to Euston Square and Liverpool Street too, though they can take a while to negotiate the Circle Line.

As I see on your other thread you're after a place with easy access to Euston for UCL, there's also the option to walk/ get a bus to Harrow and Wealdstone for the fast London Midland service into Euston which only takes about 12 minutes.

It's nowhere near as convenient as Walthamstow for the nightlife in places like Islington or Brixton though.


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## yield (Aug 19, 2008)

sally_sally said:


> To be honest mate, it is a complete shit hole. Have a look at the place at nightime. Colindale down the road has loads of new flats. They have built 3500 and are having problems shifting them.
> 
> Dont take your Japanese girl friend to Burnt Oak, *it is one of the most dispriting and dangerous  places to go in the UK*. I repeat please dont go to Burnt Oak you will rue the day you did.



Burnt Oak is not *that* bad. Nowhere near as bad as Neasden/Willesden/Harlesden. Yes it's dull and dirty but I've never had any trouble in Burnt Oak or Edgware. Edgware is definitely less middle class than it was 10 years ago. Lots of rich people have moved to Mill Hill I suppose. 



ovaltina said:


> Harrow on the Hill's not a bad town centre. Lots of shops and it feels quite safe. Avoid Wealdstone though!



Even Wealdstone is okay. Go to the Rileys there and never had any grief. 



mhwfc said:


> The Met Line isn't so bad for Harrow to Central London, get off and cross the platform at Finchley Road for the Jubilee or change at Baker Street for the Bakerloo and it's 20-30 minutes from most places in the West End, and has direct trains to Liverpool Street too, though they take a while to negotiate the Circle Line.
> 
> It's nowhere near as convenient as Walthamstow for the nightlife in places like Islington or Brixton though.



The Chiltern Line to Marylebone is fast too. Another good thing about Harrow is the Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone if you get caught in town late. (eta as mhwfc said in the edit   )

I'd choose Harrow over Burnt Oak. Burnt Oak isn't Compton though!


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## ovaltina (Aug 20, 2008)

True, Wealdstone and BO are not _terrible_, but they're by no stretch of the imagination places most people would choose to live in, whereas Harrow, Hendon and Finchley might be. They just feel a bit run down and horrible.

I think given this chap's gf has never lived in London before and is apprehensive about walking home etc, it'd make more sense to pay a little bit more (or less if poss) and go for a nicer area. I could imagine her feeling quite isolated in BO.

Harrow, on the other hand, has a couple of shopping centres, a cinema and some ok pubs (the trinity has live bands, free wifi and a friendly landlord). And you can get into town in 25 mins.

I reckon you should tell your Harrow landlord to pull his finger out and get rid of the existing tenants, or you'll be forced to sign on another property. He won't want to go through the expense and hassle of finding new tenants.


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## porshiebo (Aug 20, 2008)

joffle said:


> I have spent alot of time in Hendon, its safe enough, but a bit dull. I still think you should check out Walthamstow if you are on a budget and want easy access to central. I have never felt unsafe here, I am in a nice big, cheap old house 2 minutes away from walthamstow central tube. You can eat really cheaply because of the market and be at oxford circus in 20 minutes on the victoria line, liverpool street in 17 minutes on the overground if you want to go to the trendy areas around brick lane/ shoreditch. Good night buses back too. Granted, there isn't too much going on but you can get places where there is stuff going on easily, without having to sit on the metropolitan line for seven years to get in from Harrow.
> 
> Me and my mates moved here after uni as the difference in price with other areas a little bit closer in is incredible. My first house in Walthamstow, this time last year cost me 260 a month.



I am actually really up for moving to next to Walthamstow Central tube, and went and viewed 3 properties there last week. Problem is that none of them had ensuite bathrooms, which as I mentioned is the one thing that my girlfriend is really particular on. If the place i saw next to the station had had an ensuite, I'd have signed the contract there and then.



mhwfc said:


> The Met Line isn't so bad for Harrow to Central London, get off and cross the platform at Finchley Road for the Jubilee or change at Baker Street for the Bakerloo and it's 20-30 minutes from most places in the West End, and has direct trains to Euston Square and Liverpool Street too, though they can take a while to negotiate the Circle Line.
> 
> As I see on your other thread you're after a place with easy access to Euston for UCL, there's also the option to walk/ get a bus to Harrow and Wealdstone for the fast London Midland service into Euston which only takes about 12 minutes.
> 
> It's nowhere near as convenient as Walthamstow for the nightlife in places like Islington or Brixton though.




That's exactly right - for my UCL-going purposes the met line is good, faster than the northern line - 25 mins to Euston Square. And the fact that there is the Chiltern line is good, because it's a backup in case the Met line breaks - whereas in BO, when the Northern line breaks, you're stuck.




ovaltina said:


> True, Wealdstone and BO are not _terrible_, but they're by no stretch of the imagination places most people would choose to live in, whereas Harrow, Hendon and Finchley might be. They just feel a bit run down and horrible.
> 
> I think given this chap's gf has never lived in London before and is apprehensive about walking home etc, it'd make more sense to pay a little bit more (or less if poss) and go for a nicer area. I could imagine her feeling quite isolated in BO.
> 
> ...



Agreeing with you about a nice area for my gf, and about getting the landlord to pull her finger out - she seems a bit too soft on the current tenants, who have been paying neither the rent nor the council tax properly. I get the impression that she hasn't chased them because she's hoping they'll make up the rent if they stay a bit longer.

I just sent her an email, hopefully will have some good news from her. But I hear that the tenants have moved out, _if _they actually move out, I'll be feeling like I'm in limbo with the Harrow place.


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## ovaltina (Aug 20, 2008)

porshiebo said:


> she's hoping they'll make up the rent if they stay a bit longer.



Well she's going to lose you as a tenant unless she sorts it out. Buyers market for renting at the mo...


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## HackneyE9 (Aug 20, 2008)

FFS - your girlfriend needs to get a grip with this 'ensuite bathroom' thing. When in London, and all that.


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## porshiebo (Aug 21, 2008)

HackneyE9 said:


> FFS - your girlfriend needs to get a grip with this 'ensuite bathroom' thing. When in London, and all that.



it's not going to happen, and i think she's kinda sensible actually - she wants her own bathroom not out of some cleanliness neurosis, but because it'll be easier for housemate relations (the main point of contention is going to be cleaning she thinks)

a lot of couples i know like ensuites moved to places with ensuites, for basically the same reasons


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## Fidel (Aug 23, 2008)

Lots of mushies in Burnt Oak park.


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## joffle (Aug 26, 2008)

hmmm after this weekends antics in the stow i bet it looks less appealing. that stabbing was under 100 feet from my door.


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## porshiebo (Aug 26, 2008)

joffle said:


> hmmm after this weekends antics in the stow i bet it looks less appealing. that stabbing was under 100 feet from my door.



yeah true was thinking the same

but maybe i can ask for cheaper rent now?


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## mhwfc (Aug 27, 2008)

yield said:


> Another good thing about Harrow is the Euston to Harrow & Wealdstone if you get caught in town late. (eta as mhwfc said in the edit   )



Ah yes, the 0200 (0134 Sunday-Thursday) to Watford Junction, a little "lively" sometimes but it beats a night bus 

Just avoid standing or sitting near suits who look a little "unwell" from some office do.


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## ovaltina (Sep 2, 2008)

Bump! So what happened then?


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## joffle (Sep 2, 2008)

Yeah, we all fought our corner for our favourite corner of London for the poverty stricken/cheapskate. Where did you end up?!


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