Downsizing in Friern Barnet: What You Would Actually Release
Selling at the £650,000 Friern Barnet average and buying at £455,000 releases about £169,800 after costs. Fees, stamp duty and moving take roughly £25,200 of it.
The introduction costs you nothing. If you go ahead, we may be paid a fee by the firm we introduce you to. There is no obligation.
Selling at the £650,000 Friern Barnet average and buying at £455,000 releases about £169,800 after costs. Fees, stamp duty and moving take roughly £25,200 of it.
Running the downsizing numbers in Friern Barnet
Start with the gap. Selling at £650,000 and buying at 70% of that, £455,000, leaves £195,000 before costs. Costs are the part people underestimate.
Agent fees at 1.5% are £9,750. Stamp duty on the purchase is £12,750. Total £25,200, leaving £169,800 in hand.
Where the sale proceeds go
The commercial page for this town sets out the introduction itself: Equity release in Friern Barnet.
Downsizing against releasing equity
A lifetime mortgage at 65 on the same property would release about £221,000. Downsizing nets £169,800. The difference is that downsizing costs you the house, and equity release costs you the estate.
Over twenty years that £221,000 release grows to roughly £778,726. The downsizing figure does not grow at all, because there is no debt.
Bands, stock and timing
Council tax follows the property, not the person. Band D in Friern Barnet is £2,133, and a smaller home may sit in a lower band. Check the band before you offer, not after.
Downsizing works best when you are not in a hurry.
What a move within Friern Barnet looks like
The schools families ask about here are Friern Barnet School, St John's CofE Junior Mixed and Infant School, Holly Park Primary School and Coppetts Wood Primary School. 3 local schools were rated Good or Outstanding overall at their most recent graded Ofsted inspection. Ratings age between inspections, so read the latest report before you rely on one.
On getting about: Arnos Grove to King's Cross St Pancras takes about 20 min.
By price, Friern Barnet ranks 133 of the 320 London locations we cover, at £650,000 against a county average of £732,469. Band D council tax here is £2,133, against an average of £2,121 across the towns we cover in the county.
Moving within London rather than out of it keeps you near family and known services. The average price across the county towns we cover is £732,469, against £650,000 here.
Is Friern Barnet right to stay in?
Friern Barnet is an established, leafy, residential north London suburb.
The full local guide covers schools, transport and the market in detail: Friern Barnet property and area guide.
- An established, leafy, relatively good-value Barnet suburb
- Piccadilly, Great Northern & Northern lines all nearby
- Good local schools
- Friary Park, Halliwick Park & the New River path
- Landmark heritage (Princess Park Manor, the Town Hall)
- No Underground station of its own
- You rely on stations a walk or bus away
- Traffic and noise on the North Circular (A406)
- London prices for the space
- Flats, conversions & new-builds need lease checks
| Who it suits | Out of five | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Families | ★★★★☆ | Good local schools (Friern Barnet School is Good; St John's CofE and Holly Park are Good primaries), Friary Park and Halliwick Park, Edwardian and interwar family houses and a relatively accessible Barnet price, a strong family suburb, though Barnet is competitive for places. |
| First-time buyers | ★★★★☆ | Purpose-built, mansion-block and converted flats and ex-local terraces (often around £350,000 to £500,000) offer one of the more affordable ways into the London Borough of Barnet, near the Piccadilly line and Great Northern, though house prices are still firmly at London levels. |
| Buy-to-let landlords | ★★★★☆ | Steady rental demand from professionals and families, a good stock of flats and terraces near Arnos Grove, Bounds Green and New Southgate, and relatively accessible entry prices make this a practical buy-to-let area, check yields, licensing and the lease carefully. |
| Upsizers | ★★★★☆ | Handsome Edwardian and interwar semis and detached houses around Friary Park and Friern Barnet Lane give real family space and gardens at a relatively accessible Barnet price, with schools, parks and improving connections, if not a Tube on the doorstep. |
| Commuters | ★★★☆☆ | No Underground station of its own is the honest weak point, but the Piccadilly line (Arnos Grove and Bounds Green), Great Northern (New Southgate, into Moorgate and King's Cross) and the Northern line (Woodside Park) are all a walk or short bus away, giving several routes into town. |
Friern Barnet is known locally for Princess Park Manor & Colney Hatch, and Friary Park. The landmark Princess Park Manor, the Grade II listed former Colney Hatch Asylum, later Friern Hospital, once one of the largest institutional buildings in Europe, now converted into flats, a striking piece of Friern Barnet's heritage.
Practical detail for Friern Barnet: the N11 postcode district, no station of its own; Arnos Grove & Bounds Green (Piccadilly line) and New Southgate (Great Northern) to the east; Woodside Park & Totteridge & Whetstone (Northern line) to the west, a walk or bus away and nearest A and E is North Middlesex (Edmonton) or Barnet Hospital (Chipping Barnet), verify with NHS.
Friern Barnet has history behind the price. In Medieval, An ancient parish of north-west Middlesex named for the friars of the Order of St John, with St James' church and a rural village around Friern Barnet Lane.
Friern Barnet at a glance
| Downsizing line | Friern Barnet figure |
|---|---|
| Sale price, local average | £650,000 |
| Purchase at 70% of value | £455,000 |
| Estate agent at 1.5% | £9,750 |
| Stamp duty on purchase | £12,750 |
| Legal and moving | £2,700 |
| Total costs | £25,200 |
| Net released | £169,800 |
| Lifetime mortgage alternative at 65 | £221,000 |
Figures are local averages used for illustration. Confirm your own numbers before acting on them.
Ask about Friern Barnet
Three details is all we need. You are told before anything is passed to a partner firm.
Your checklist
- A real valuation of your home, not the £650,000 average
- The council tax band of the property you are buying
- Total moving costs of about £25,200
- The equity release comparison, in writing, before you decide
The introduction costs you nothing. If you go ahead, we may be paid a fee by the firm we introduce you to. There is no obligation.
Check broadband before you make an offer in Friern Barnet
Broadband speeds can vary street by street in Friern Barnet, so check the exact address before you commit. Ofcom's free checker shows which broadband speeds and mobile coverage are available at any UK property.
We can introduce you to a specialist who can combine your mobile, broadband and utilities into one bill. There's no fee for the introduction.
We don't provide these services ourselves. Switching household bills is not a regulated financial service, so FCA protections and the Financial Ombudsman do not apply. We'll only pass your details to the specialist if you ask us to. See our privacy notice.
Questions people ask
How much would I release by downsizing in Friern Barnet?
Is downsizing better than equity release?
What are the costs of moving?
How do I check broadband speed at a property in Friern Barnet?
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