Flats to Rent in Barnet

Renting in Barnet

Barnet is the borough at the northern end of the Northern line: both northern branches, to High Barnet and to Edgware, run above ground through it, as does the one-stop branch to Mill Hill East. On the ONS measure in the table above, Barnet's average rent is below the London average for every size of home, and below neighbouring Camden and Haringey overall. Council tax is a little above average: Band D is £2,132.60 in 2026/27, about £65 a year more than the London average of £2,068 (MHCLG).

Renting is common here. At the 2021 Census, 32.7% of Barnet's households rented privately, 52.7% owned their home and 13.5% rented from a council or housing association. The population had grown 9.2% since 2011, to about 389,300, faster than London's 7.7% (ONS). Barnet also had the largest Jewish population of any local authority in England and Wales: 56,616 people, 14.5% of residents (ONS Census 2021). It shows in the shops, schools and synagogues of Golders Green, Hendon and Edgware.

Licensing

Shared homes need a council licence across the whole borough. Barnet's additional licensing scheme runs from 27 October 2022 to 27 October 2027. It covers homes shared by three or four people who are not all from one household, on top of the mandatory licence for five or more.

Selective licensing, which would cover homes let to a single household, is not in force. The council consulted from 15 June to 15 September 2026 on a scheme for ten wards: Burnt Oak, Childs Hill, Colindale North, Colindale South, Cricklewood, Finchley Church End, Friern Barnet, Golders Green, Hendon and West Hendon. On 1 October 2026 it was still a proposal. Check the council's property licensing pages before you sign in one of those wards.

Along the Edgware branch

Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb

Golders Green station, in Zone 3, is the first stop in Barnet on the Edgware branch, with a bus station beside it. Golders Green Road has kosher bakeries, butchers and restaurants. Golders Hill Park, run by the City of London Corporation, has a small free zoo and adjoins Hampstead Heath; unlike the Heath, it closes at night.

To the east, Hampstead Garden Suburb was founded by Henrietta Barnett in 1906 on land bought from Eton College and planned by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker, with Edwin Lutyens's Central Square at its centre. The Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust must approve changes to the outside of houses. The Suburb has no station of its own: Golders Green, East Finchley and Finchley Central are the nearest.

Brent Cross, Hendon and Cricklewood

Brent Cross Shopping Centre opened in 1976 beside the North Circular. South of it, across the North Circular, Brent Cross Town is being built next to Brent Cross West station, which opened on 10 December 2023 with Thameslink trains. The scheme plans 6,700 homes and a Sheffield Hallam University campus, which the university says will open in 2027.

Hendon has two stations, Hendon Central on the Northern line and Hendon on Thameslink, and Middlesex University's main campus. Cricklewood station, also on Thameslink, is in Barnet, but the Broadway forms the boundary with Brent. Expect building sites around Brent Cross for years.

Colindale and Burnt Oak

Around Colindale station, blocks of flats have been built since the 2000s on land that was once Hendon Aerodrome, where the RAF Museum London still has its hangars. Some blocks are run as build-to-rent by a single landlord company; compare their tenancy terms and any extra charges with a private landlord's. Burnt Oak, the next stop north, has the Watling Estate, built by the London County Council between the wars, and the shops of Watling Avenue. Both are in the wards Barnet proposed for selective licensing.

Edgware

Edgware station, in Zone 5, is the end of the branch. Ballymore and Places for London plan to replace the Broadwalk shopping centre, the bus station and the bus garage with up to 3,365 homes, 463 student rooms, shops and a cinema, in 31 buildings of five to 29 storeys. Buses would use stops on the surrounding streets and a new garage under the buildings. Barnet's planning committee resolved to approve the scheme in July 2025, and on 30 March 2026 the Mayor's office decided not to take the application over. If you rent near the town centre, expect years of building work once it starts.

Along the High Barnet branch

East Finchley

East Finchley station, in Zone 3, is where the branch comes out of its tunnel from Highgate, which is in Haringey. The High Road has the Phoenix Cinema, built in 1910 and run as a community cinema by a charity, and Cherry Tree Wood is beside the station. Christ's College, a state secondary, is further west on East End Road, towards Finchley Central.

Finchley Central, Church End and Mill Hill East

Finchley Central is the junction for Mill Hill East, one stop away, where new homes have been built on the old Inglis Barracks site. Church End, around Ballards Lane and Regents Park Road, is the older shopping centre. Victoria Park is on Ballards Lane. Finchley Church End ward is one of the ten in the selective licensing proposal.

West Finchley, Woodside Park and North Finchley

West Finchley and Woodside Park are small stations on residential streets, and St Michael's Catholic Grammar School, a girls' grammar, is on Nether Street between them. North Finchley, east of Woodside Park, has no station; its shops and the artsdepot arts centre are around Tally Ho Corner, and buses link it to the Northern line. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk, a 10-mile path along the Dollis Brook from Moat Mount in Mill Hill to the Hampstead Heath Extension, runs just west of West Finchley and Woodside Park stations.

Totteridge, Whetstone and High Barnet

Totteridge & Whetstone station serves both places: Whetstone's shops are on the High Road, and Totteridge, to the west, is a village of large houses within the Green Belt. High Barnet station, in Zone 5, is the end of the line, below Chipping Barnet's High Street. The Battle of Barnet was fought just north of the town in 1471, and Queen Elizabeth's School, a boys' grammar founded under Elizabeth I, is on Queen's Road. Barnet Hospital is on Wellhouse Lane.

Off the tube

Some parts of the borough are nearer a National Rail station than the tube. Mill Hill, in the north-west, has Mill Hill Broadway station (Thameslink) on the Midland Main Line, Mill Hill School, an independent school, and the Mill Hill conservation area, the old village strung along The Ridgeway. In the north-east, New Barnet, Oakleigh Park and New Southgate (whose station straddles the boundary with Enfield) have Great Northern trains, which off-peak run to Moorgate via Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington; New Barnet is in Zone 5. Friern Barnet lies between New Southgate and the Northern line at West Finchley and Woodside Park.

Getting around

The Northern line's Edgware and High Barnet branches meet at Camden Town. Trains from either then take the Charing Cross branch through the West End or the Bank branch through the City, so check the front of the train. Thameslink from Mill Hill Broadway, Hendon, Brent Cross West and Cricklewood runs to St Pancras, Farringdon, City Thameslink and Blackfriars. Fares range from Zone 3 at Golders Green and East Finchley to Zone 5 at Edgware and High Barnet.

There is no Elizabeth line in the borough; change at Farringdon from Thameslink. The M1 starts at Staples Corner, by Brent Cross, and the North Circular crosses the south of the borough. Check a specific commute on the TfL Journey Planner before you sign.

Schools

Barnet has three state grammar schools: Queen Elizabeth's School (boys, Barnet), the Henrietta Barnett School (girls, Hampstead Garden Suburb) and St Michael's Catholic Grammar School (girls, North Finchley). Each admits by its own entrance test and rules, so living nearby does not by itself win a place. The comprehensives include Christ's College, East Barnet School, Friern Barnet School, Hendon School, Mill Hill County High School, The Compton School, Copthall School, Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls and The Totteridge Academy. There are also Catholic, Jewish and Greek Orthodox secondaries. Ofsted no longer gives a single overall grade, so read each school's latest report and its admissions criteria.

Parks and open space

Part of the borough is Green Belt farmland and woods, around Totteridge, Mill Hill and the northern edge. Hampstead Heath Extension and Golders Hill Park are in Barnet; most of Hampstead Heath itself is in Camden. The Welsh Harp (Brent Reservoir), on the boundary with Brent at West Hendon, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its birds. The Dollis Valley Greenwalk links many of the smaller parks between Mill Hill and the Suburb.

Safety

A borough average hides the differences between streets. Before you view, look up the street on police.uk, which maps reported crime by month, and compare it with the next few streets.

Who it suits

Barnet suits renters who want a lower average rent than in Camden or Haringey with a tube line straight to the West End or the City. It also suits families looking for a house with a garden in Finchley, Mill Hill or Whetstone. It suits less well anyone who must cross London east to west each day, since the Northern line points only south, or who wants to avoid building work around Brent Cross, Colindale and Edgware. Families aiming for a grammar school should read its entrance arrangements before choosing a street.

Useful links

Barnet Council: barnet.gov.uk (council tax, property licensing, school admissions)
Crime by street: police.uk
Journeys: tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey

The listings above are homes and rooms advertised by their landlords in Barnet now. If you are renting a room in a shared house, ask the landlord for the HMO licence number: Barnet requires one where three or more people from more than one household share.