This spacious and low-built neighbourhood area contains a beautiful mixture of architectural styles that includes Georgian houses, Victorian semi-detached terraces, period cottages, and modern builds. This largely-residential suburb is located at London’s northern border, meaning that a romp through the countryside or even along London’s Outer Orbital Path (LOOP) is right at its doorstep. Additionally, local amenities are plentiful along Barnet High Street. Connected to the heart of the city by both the High Barnet Underground Station and New Barnet Overground Station, this neighbourhood area is the perfect countryside suburb still within the boundaries of the city. The main drawback to this area is that house prices are exceptionally high, with rental prices being no different. Ultimately, this area is a great garden-retreat for those who prefer the quieter life, albeit at a very steep price.

This neighbourhood area has an extremely rich history dating back to over a thousand years ago. The first recorded building was a church constructed in 1080, when a number of small settlements began to cluster around the well-trodden trade road leading out of London to the north of England. The settlement began to transform into a thriving centre of commerce when it was granted a market charter by King John in 1199. Perhaps most notable in the area’s history was the founding of the bi-annual fair in 1588 by Queen Elizabeth the First. The fair is an annual horse and pleasure fair that still occurs to this day, on the first Monday of September every year. Today, the fair focuses less on horses and other livestock, but rather on sports, stalls, and other activities typical of a pleasure fair.

This neighbourhood was famously visited by Samuel Pepys, best known for the decade-long diary he kept as a relatively young man. Written between 1660 and 1669, the diary was first published in the 19th century and still to this day remains one of the most important primary sources on the history of the English Restoration period. It provides both personal reflection and eyewitness accounts of the greatest events that occurred at the time, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London.

Many local residents have complained about the deregulation of local industries as well as privatisation of previously council controlled institutions, which some say has led to short-sighted policy decisions. For example, the company Your Choice Barnet that was charged with running social care for adults had to impose large service cuts and receive a £1 million bailout from taxpayers meaning some local groups have campaigned to return to a nationalised model.

With broad plans to regenerate the borough of Barnet, adding 27,000 new homes and 30,000 new jobs in the next decade and a half, this specific locale is likely to experience intensive development. The high proportion of greenbelt land in surrounding areas means other areas are largely protected from development, with most projects taking place in town centres like this one. The most central recent project, Lightfield is a small residential development by Shanly Homes which provided 50 new homes upon completion in 2022. However, just south of here there are larger scale council-led developments centred around the Dollis Valley Estate. The aim is to create a ‘smart’ green suburb that is integrated within the Underhill neighbourhood. The works will introduce a new network of residential streets as well as a number of two and three-story houses with private and communal gardens - situating itself at the cutting edge of sustainable development, by introducing more housing without sacrificing green space. Similarly, the private Brook Valley Gardens project aims to provide 600 new homes over multiple phases of construction. However, the next phase is not expected to begin until 2028 with some locals concerned about over development in this rural locale.