“You want us to move to where? Are you high? You’ve got to be kidding me. You can move there if you want but I’m staying right here, mista.” That was my then fiancée (now wife)’s reaction in 2008 to me proposing Harlesden as the place for us to buy our first property as man and wife.
Harlesden? The dreaded H? Previous winner of ‘No.1 place in the UK for gun crime’? Yardieville? Ok, so it wasn’t going to be an easy sell, but there was some method to my madness. Here goes…
We had been renting in Shepherd’s Bush when we decided it was time to buy our own place. We had no money for a deposit but were still able to borrow up to £260,000 (that’s right, back in the day when you could get 100% mortgages, baby!).
Our set of criteria was simple – we needed a 2 bed flat no further than west/north west London’s zone 3. So where could we get for our money? Previous up-and-comers like East Acton, Acton, Kensal Green had clearly already up and come because you couldn’t even get a studio for our budget! Next up was Willesden Green – nice looking, definitely on its way up but the most we could afford was a 1 bed flat.
What was left? The trinity of North Acton, Dollis Hill and Harlesden.
After some coaxing, my fiancée agreed that the best way to decide was to actually visit these areas. No offence, but North Acton felt too much like an industrial wasteland and Dollis Hill was way too quiet. It only took 5 mins of walking around Harlesden for my fiancée to feel comfortable enough to put her pistol back on safety and it only took another 30 mins before she decided that she wanted to live here.
Given that my wife is from Jamaica and I’m from Nigeria, this is perfect. There must be more plantain on Harlesden’s high street than on any other in London. And you can haggle in the shops here! As for location: Bus 18 takes 20 mins to get you to Portobello Road; bus 187 is 10 mins to Kensal Rise/Queens Park; you take the Bakerloo line tube to central London; and the overground train from Willesden Junction gets you to Shepherds bush in 5 mins or to Clapham in 25 mins.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Harlesden has completely shed the edginess of its past (it hasn’t) but I believe that comes with the territory when you live in almost any part of London. I’ve lived in Kilburn, Shepherd’s Bush, East Acton and Westbourne Park and didn’t feel much safer there. There’s a real feeling of community in Harlesden. I know my local barber and fishmonger, Roundwood Park is fantastic and people in the street really do say hello. Harlesden’s even beginning to get shout outs from major estate agents like Foxtons and national press. We’ve been living here for 3 years now and (fingers crossed, touch wood) we don’t regret the move at all!
This is Harlesden 