Quiet, leafy Langley offers plenty of open spaces and a family-friendly vibe
(Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)When Nisha Bilkhu moved to Langley, from Harrow, north London, she was astounded — and a little horrified — by how leafy and quiet it was.
Over the past 17 years, however, she has come to appreciate its open spaces and family-friendly vibe. And the opening of Crossrail has made getting to work a lot easier for Nisha, 43, an accountant, who needs to make regular trips into central London, and for her husband, Ranjit, 49, who works at Heathrow.
While Langley isn’t a picture postcode sort of place the compensation can be found in long afternoons beer garden of the Red Lion, the friendly local pub, and long walks along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal.
Black Park adds 600-plus acres of open space, and film and TV buffs will feel right at home since scenes from Killing Eve, creepy woodland sequences in several Harry Potters, and the eagerly awaited Great Expectations, starring Tom Hardy, have been shot there.
Crossrail journey times:
Langley to Paddington: 34 minutes
Langley to Canary Wharf: 67 minutes (including interchange at Paddington).
Langley to Heathrow: 36 minutes
Nisha and Ranjit have stayed put in Langley partly for the sake of their three children, Karan, 11, and Neha and Arjun, six. The local schools are excellent. They are also keenly aware that their four-bedroom modern townhouse, currently worth around £550,000, would be completely out of their reach further into town.
“The shops aren’t that great and its not the best place to go out to eat so it does lack that,” said Nisha, who often visits Windsor, five miles away, for its cafes and boutiques. She does, however, feel Langley is starting to up its game. First a Costa Coffee arrived and then a new coffee and brunch joint, Nashtaa.
For keeping fit Langley has a leisure centre with a pool, there are several nearby golf clubs, or you could try out wakeboarding or open water swimming — or just relax at the beach — at Liquid Leisure. Nisha is also a member of GoodGym (www.goodgym.org) which combines walking and cycling with community volunteering work in the local area.
For a bit of luxury there is The Langley, a boutique hotel set in a manor once owned by the third Duke of Marlborough, with 150 acres of formal gardens and parklands designed by Capability Brown, where you can take tea in the drawing room or take a treatment in the hammam.
Kendal Spencer, head of sales at Hilton King & Locke estate agents, said the village is catnip to families moving out of more expensive nearby areas from Ealing to Southall in search of more bang for their buck and a place at one of the area’s top performing schools.
Average house prices since work on Crossrail started
2012: £318,740
2022: £518,010
Growth: 65 per cent
Source: Hamptons
And the village has benefitted hugely from two of the key themes of the pandemic: working from home and the race for space. As a result prices have increased 15 per cent over the past two years.
“We have been run off our feet,” said Spencer.
For buyers, Langley’s top address is Langley Road where a substantial house with a big garden (ripe for extending) would cost an average of £750,000. On Tamar Way, south of the centre of the village, a three bedroom terrace would cost around £375,000 to £425,000.
Renters should budget £1,500 to £1,600pcm for a three bedroom house, or around £1,200pcm for a two bedroom flat.
The future for Langley
The biggest new development in Langley’s future is the redevelopment of Langley Business Centre, a dilapidated 16-acre business park, which will be replaced with a mixed use development featuring 60 new homes plus shops, pubs, restaurants, and a data centre plus offices.
