Is this the best place to buy a house in London?
LOW HOUSE PRICES AND LOW CRIME RATE PUTS HILLINGDON AT THE TOP OF THE LIST
BUYING a house in London is a huge deal.
Getting on the property ladder is every London renter’s dream.
Once you have done the saving and the scrounging, you then have to figure out where to buy.
Lots of things are important, like where you work, where you have ties and what type of house you want to live in, but really we’re all looking at two major factors – is the area safe and is it affordable?
A new report says Hillingdon is the best place to buy in London and the seventh best in the country, thanks to low house prices (for London) and a low crime rate.
In fact, Okay Lah, the property platform, found Hillingdon had just three reported crimes per 100 people living there.
That is the lowest number any local authority in England achieved.
Local authorities like London boroughs and district councils were all ranked on the two criteria and Hillingdon was even in the top 10 places to buy in England.
No other London borough made that list, so what’s so attractive about Hillingdon?
Hillingdon could be terrible. It is right at the edge of the city and a massive chunk is taken up by Heathrow Airport and the noise and traffic that goes with that, but the statistics disagree.
House prices in the borough are at an average of £441,563 and nowhere in the UK has less crime, although many areas have the same level.
Harrow and Hounslow also have the same crime rate, but are more expensive, with average house prices of £501,879 and £528,542 respectively.
Remember, this list is not comprehensive, so there may be a reason why you do not want to move to Hillingdon or buy a place there.
So, where else should you be looking?
Neighbouring Harrow is not far behind Hillingdon, while the other areas to make the prestigious list include Croydon, Bexley and Barking and Dagenham.
Interestingly, South Bucks, Dacorum, Watford and Hertsmere, all of which are near parts of Hillingdon, were among the worst places to buy in the country.
Although no London borough made it to the bottom 10 in the country, all of them were in the south-east of England.
Councillor Douglas Mills, Hillingdon Council’s cabinet member for community, commerce and regeneration, said: “Over the past decade Hillingdon has got safer because we take a zero tolerance approach to crime and anti-social behaviour.
“Our Youth Offending Service is reducing the likelihood of young people offending or reoffending and has been cited as an example of good practice by the Home Office.
“We’ve also introduced tougher penalties to tackle environmental crime that can so easily blight neighbourhoods.
“We will continue to work closely with the police service, health service and probation service to keep Hillingdon a safe and pleasant place to live, work and visit.”