What it's like to live in Enfield Town

Housing in Enfield Town is mostly the kind of thing you would expect from a north London suburb: terraces and semis on residential roads, purpose-built flats, and blocks closer to the centre. Across the borough, 17% of homes are social rented, almost exactly the England average of 17.1%, split between council at 10.4% and housing association at 6.7%. Just over half of homes are owned and 29.3% are privately rented.

The London Borough of Enfield is by far the biggest social landlord with around 10,455 homes. L&Q, Metropolitan Housing Trust, Origin Housing and Notting Hill Genesis also hold sizeable numbers, so swaps here can be across landlords.

Average weekly social rents in the borough for 2024/25 were £112 for a one bed, £132 for two and £154 for three. For London, that is reasonable, though your own rent depends on your landlord and property.

This is a strong patch for schools. Within half a mile you have St Andrew's CofE Primary, London School of Arts, St George's Catholic Primary, Chase Side Primary and George Spicer Primary. For secondary, Enfield Grammar School is a couple of streets away, with Enfield County School for Girls, Saint Anne's Catholic High School for Girls and Chace Community School all within half a mile too. That is an unusual amount of choice, though places are never guaranteed and you should check admissions for your address.

Green space is close by as well. Aldersbrook Avenue Recreation Ground is the nearest, with Library Green, St Michael's Green, Enfield Town Park and Enfield Playing Fields all around half a mile out.

The wider borough skews young: 21.9% of residents are under 16, above the England figure of 18.6%, and only 13.6% are 65 or over. You will not feel like the only family on the street.

Two stations sit close to the centre. Enfield Town, about a third of a mile out, and Enfield Chase at roughly 0.6 miles. Gordon Hill is under a mile, with Bush Hill Park and Grange Park a little further at just over a mile. Between them they give you a choice of routes into London, which matters if one line is disrupted.

On foot, the town centre is the big advantage. Pharmacies, pubs, the Palace Exchange shopping centre and the library are all inside half a mile of EN1, so a lot of errands can be done without getting on anything.

If you drive, you are near the top of London with roads heading north and out of the city, though town centre traffic and parking are what you would expect in a busy suburban hub. Buses run through the centre and are the usual way of reaching parts of the borough that the trains do not serve directly.

Enfield Town gives you a town centre rather than a parade of shops. Palace Exchange is the covered shopping centre, Town Market is minutes away, and there is a Lidl plus smaller independents including Nisa Local and Xquisite African Supermarket for everyday food shopping.

For an evening out, Cineworld Enfield is under a mile. Pubs cluster tightly around the centre: the Jolly Butchers, The Goose at the George, The Wheatsheaf, Mary Madden's and King's Head are all within a few minutes' walk of each other.

If you like to keep active, there is a good spread of options from PureGym and énergie Fitness to Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing and a reformer pilates studio, alongside Enfield Playing Fields for anything outdoors. Enfield Library is the main one, with Bush Hill Park, Enfield Highway and Ridge Avenue libraries further out. Community halls including St Stephen's Church Hall, Boleyn Hall and Enfield Highway Community Centre host local groups.

Enfield Town itself is a working town centre: retail, hospitality, schools and health services are all visible employers here, with St Michael's Community Hospital, The Cavell Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital all within about a mile and a half.

The borough-wide picture is honest rather than rosy. Across Enfield, 55.9% of adults are in work, just under the England figure of 57.4%, and unemployment runs at 4.7% against 3.5% nationally. Unemployment-related benefit claims stood at 7.2% of working-age residents in August 2026, against 4% for England.

The flip side is location. With several stations nearby and routes into central London, a lot of people here commute rather than work locally, which widens the range of jobs you can realistically reach. If your work is in the City or the West End, Enfield Town is a sensible base.