Holloway road, London. HELP!

Lly

Anyone know the area? I'm considering putting an offer in on a flat there. It's a really nice flat, spacious 1 bedroom thing 1 minute from holloway road station. Thing is, I've been reading mixed reviews of the area ... long story short, it has a reputation of being fairly rough ... but the flat is so nice and extremely good price for it's size. I am not sure what to do. I mean, it's like 10 minutes walk to really posh places to go out in, and the tube is right next to the flat.

God, buying a flat is a stress!

I'm thinking that living in a less reputable place might be worth it if i can get a great flat out of the deal and i can't imagine it's really so rough that i'll get mugged during the 1 minute walk to my flat. I was there at 8pm and it seemed absolutely fine, and whilst I would like to go there at say 11pm just to check it out I also don't want the flat to get bought before i put an offer in.

Gimme advice!

Lewisham

Don't know anything about Holloway Road, but I have done the same thing in Bristol; nice house, rough 'hood.

To be honest, if you are close to nice places, I wouldn't be too concerned. If you were in the middle, it's more of a problem. People that get into trouble in rough places in the UK, in my experience, are the people that are in troublesome social circles anyway. I'm not scared of walking through somewhere like St. Pauls in Bristol before midnight because the only people getting shot there are drug dealers and buyers.

Lly

The fact that your username is lewisham is ironic. I was looking at a flat in Lewisham (south london) and it was fucking rough ... i ran away!
Thanks for the input. I'm slowly swaying towards buying it and ignoring the less-than-great neighbourhood. Hell, I'll be spending most of my time inside the flat, not walking the streets anyway.

Rook

I used to go to a clubing along that road, so whilst I've never lived there I have walked through at 11-12/3-4am alone and felt fine. There are definitely far worse areas of London (by several degrees of magnitude).

Lly

Ok that's what i needed to hear. Thanks rook

Lewisham

Lly wrote: »

The fact that your username is lewisham is ironic. I was looking at a flat in Lewisham (south london) and it was fucking rough ... i ran away!

I always hear that repeatedly. Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen my nickname as a derivative of my actual name.

Plus side: It has no numbers, and apparently I am the only person on the interwebs willing to be associated with it. It's easy to register for things when you really do have a unique handle

Nima

I'm around there a lot. Its a bit of a grotty area (well, very) but there is islington down the road, which is a bit nicer, and a park, and a swimming pool, and a waitrose, cinema etc... the pub by the station is pretty nice too.
On the downside, there have been stabbings/ shootings near or in the station.
On the plus side, I've never seen any, and I've never felt threatened there really. And it would be a great place to learn spanish, as I think most cafes on that road are Spanish owned.

Szechuanosaurus

Well, someone seems to 'like' it.

Upmystreet have a profile of the N7/Holloway Road area. Use the navigation on the left under Local Area to find out more about different aspects. It's seems to have much higher crime than the national average with high numbers of unemployment, but on the other hand it sounds like a pretty diverse place with a high number of students and attractions for young adults.


They say when buying a property the three most important aspects are location, location and location. Of course, different people prize different locations over others. Some people like to be close to the center of a city, others like to live in the country, some people like to be close to their work, others like to be close to shopping or night life. Some people like to live in young, vibrant communities whilst others like to live in quite family areas. I don't really know where you fit in to that, but I'd suggest having a read over the profile on upmystreet and deciding whether it sounds like your sort of place or not.

Lly

Thanks guys. I've decided that it's too nice a flat to be put off by the area, so i've put in an offer. Should be an exciting few weeks! (this is the first time i've bought a place so it's all weird to me)

Hopefully i can avoid the stabbings and shootings. Maybe I should take up some form of martial art just in case ... except i'm lazy so probably won't

Nima

Good luck

Also, I was thinking:

You said it was a pretty decent sized flat.
Well, what you have to consider is, is Holloway road an area that is going 'up'? Is it being developed?
If the answer to that is yes (and I think it probably is), then a decent, station adjacent flat is going to be a great investment.
So, I think its a good decision.

Heliosphan

i know the feeling Lly, i moved to a new flat a few years back that was tremendous, huge place built around the victorian era if not well before, in a less than fancy area but i've never looked back as i love the flat, and look at it like this if anyone gives you shit at least you can say you live "in Da Hood".

so good luck to you mate!