Bargain buy: one of the cheapest Zone 3 addresses, Harlesden is getting a housing and transport makeover
Heading north from Paddington up the busy Harrow Road is a demographic odyssey through London: past prosperous and pretty canalside Maida Vale, through unassuming Kensal Green, reinventing itself as a neat address for young families priced out of Queen's Park, and on to gritty Harlesden, one of the cheapest Zone 3 addresses.
Once avoided by homebuyers because of its notorious gang crime, Harlesden is changing, while the wider area is set to benefit from significant transport upgrades.
Among the newcomers recognising its potential are White City-based BBC staff and junior City workers in search of low stamp duty two-bedroom affordable flats under £500,000, housing association fair rents and shared ownership deals.
Harlesden has a hard urban edge, but its vibrant town centre is getting a facelift, part of a £5 billion initiative to regenerate Stonebridge council estate, replacing its grim towers with hundreds of mixed-tenure low-rise homes and a community hub.
Remix and Helix is the latest launch — two blocks with apartments facing on to inner courtyards.
Prices start at £399,950. The low-deposit Help to Buy scheme is available, making the flats more affordable. Call Hyde New Homes on 0800 002 9580.
Local estate agents speak optimistically of major development activity under way at nearby Park Royal, for decades an industrial zone but now being opened up for housing and amenities.
Yet it is Old Oak, a 195-acre swathe of train tracks and depots and the site of a giant new transport hub linking Crossrail and eventually (in 2026) HS2, the high speed rail line between London and Birmingham, that will, one day soon, set the seal on regeneration in Harlesden.
Beyond Harlesden lies Dollis Hill, a solidly suburban enclave of mainly Edwardian and interwar houses, connected by the Jubilee line to central London and Canary Wharf.
The area wraps around 86-acre Gladstone Park and is finding favour with bargain-hunting young couples hearing the patter of tiny feet.
Gladstone Village is a new microneighbourhood where housing association Octavia Living is selling stylish four-bedroom houses priced from £895,000.
Flats will be available later. Call 020 8208 8355.