Possibly moving from London to Birmingham, need some help/advice

[Samsan1]

Hello everyone

So we need to move house because we need more rooms, we currently live in London bordering Surrey, would ideally love to move to Surrey but can't afford that. So the choice is between Crawley, Horley, redhill or Birmingham or close to Birmingham. Basically the areas above we could get a 3 bed but need a 4 bed so would need to do a loft conversation which of course is I'll cost a lot, which is one of the reasons we are planning on moving towards Birmingham as we can get 4/5 bedrooms in the same price.
I'm still a bit unsure weather to move to Birmingham as I just fear I might regret it. The area I live in has had many stabbings lately so I do want to move, do you guys think I'm crazy to leave London for Birmingham? Which of the areas above would you do?
Also what are the good areas in Birmingham? From what I've read south is good as well as Sutton Coldfield is this correct? I want excellent primary and secondary schools and a move family area. I'm trying to
Narrow down areas so we can head up there to check out houses, schools is the number 1 priority.
Also any other suggestions for areas outside Birmingham would be considered.
Sorry for the long post
Thanks

There's a 4 bed house in Stirchley. Which is an okay place. The people who suggest further-out areas never seem that fussed about commuting times and costs. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Stirchley/4-bed-houses.html

Look at Hagley village, on the train line to Birmingham. It's a large village with plenty of amenities and outstanding schools.

What part of the phrase £300,000 budget do people not understand? www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Hagley.html

The property threads are bonkers. It's as if somebody was saying, 'My weekly food budget for 2 people is £40' and people posted advising that it's possible to get really good steaks from Waitrose.

Or somebody said, 'I am absolutely skint and live in the sticks and need to earn some money part-time so my three children and I can leave my partner,' and people said, 'Why don't you think about moving to London and training to be a barrister?'

That stirchley house is a bit of an arse to get to the station.

Yes, wonder.
But maybe they're sick of people thinking "oh, Birmingham's a shithole, we can get a four-bed new build next to outstanding schools for £300k"?
Because this is about the fiftieth thread in the last year where Londoners have jumped on Rightmove and said "ooh, look at this four bed in Erdington/New Town/Perry Barr- Birmingham is affordable, let's go there" without the first realisation that
A) commuting in Birmingham is hellish (and expensive- no money lavished on Birmingham the way it is on tfl),
B) most schools wouldn't pass muster with Londoners (because again, London schools have had about double the funding of those in other areas to bring them up to scratch from where they were, but are now far better than ordinary schools anywhere else)
C) Good areas here vary literally from street to street, "Moseley" being a prime example if this, "Harborne" too (though this happens everywhere really)
D) Schools in Birmingham are filled to bursting point, with no sight of any reduction in the birth rate, but posters are always amazed that they may have to wait for a school place, and indeed will likely need to accept one in a less desirable school. Shock news- yes, even the independent schools have waiting lists

Birmingham has such a poor public image in the rest of the country- if it's such a great place to live, why is that?

Anyway, the OP has a Y7 daughter, so is going to struggle for schools. A FOAF just returned from abroad, and managed to get their DD into Turves Green girls, but it wasn't their first choice by any means.
Swanshurst may have a place, but it's an enormous school (2000+) and I know my 12yo would struggle in such a big school.

I live on the edge of Bournville in a 4 bed new-ish house that we paid 280k for a couple of years ago. Bournville is a lovely area, as is Kings Norton around the green, Kings Heath, Moseley, edgbaston.

School places will be a problem though. You are extremely unlikely to get your dc straight into a school because they are all full (and have long waiting lists in the case of my dc's primary!)

Birmingham has such a poor public image in the rest of the country- if it's such a great place to live, why is that?

Birmingham has a dysfunctional council that is being hammered by Government cuts, a poor transport infrastucture and the motorway round it gets clogged up.

On the other hand London also has major problems re congestion/pollution, and overcrowded trains. Housing seems even more insane and the extent of social inequality makes me feel very uncomfortable when I visit. (That's something which is there in all regional cities, but I think London has gone back to the Victorian era.)

The positives about Birmingham are plenty of green space in some parts of the city, a lot of friendliness - people are less stressed? - easier access to countryside. It's a more manageable size and there's a lot you can do culturally. It's also easy to visit friends pretty much all over the country because of its central location.

My friend lived in Northfield

Somebody has to, it's not an area I'd like to live in though.

This is in Aldridge which is north west of sutton coldfield. You may need to work out transport as I really dont know where in Birmingham you will need to get to or how long a commute you are looking at. However this is the road my friend lives on and her dc love the local schools and have done very well there.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72380684.html

This is the cheapest new build I could find in Lichfield but the primary school it comes under isn't the best.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53333511.html

if it's such a great place to live, why is that?

It's one of the friendliest cities in the U.K. - your xpect yoir neighboirs to knock, they wouldn't think twice about helping you out.

I was a Sutton girl but moved to Tamworth 15 years ago. Purely for the more house for your buck reason. Our house equivalent in Sutton would cost another 150k!
They are building loads of new houses here at the moment, there's a big development in Polesworth which was originally a small village, so quite a rural feel. My kids go to the secondary there which is classed as outstanding and I'm really happy with it.
It's tight by junction 10 of the M42 and my dh commutes to London several times a week, he gets the 7.15 train and is walking into his office at 8.45!
There is a massive retail park with an M&S, John Lewis, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Next.
We're very happy here and wouldn't consider moving back to Sutton with everything we have on the doorstep here. Pm me if you want any more info.

Lichfield is nice and about 35 minutes train commute. I would definitely look at train stations and base your search around there. I have lived in Erdington, I loved it, ut the schools aren't great and I wouldn't live there with kids.

This isn't a new build and would require a drive to the station or a bus into Birmingham, but good catchments.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53831004.html

Same for this one

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72495506.html

Streetly is nice, and has very expensive and more reasonable areas. The secondary has a good reputation these days I think. This one would be in catchment but again a drive to the station. However buses are always an option.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64043653.html

There are more options if you were to go for a 3 bed.

And you will get a lot more for your money in Lichfield

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49368741.html

Chardonnay just likes at Tamworth the houses look amazing, any particular areas to avoid? How about primary schools? Catchment areas?how far from
Birmingham centre ?

Thehandsmaidtail Lichfield's houses look amazing value , will definitely look into it thanks

Polesworth is a very good shout indeed.
Good secondary school.

Olton has changed a fair bit. I've been teaching around Solihull for over twenty years....the schools in that area always struggle compared with the Tudor Grange type. Though tbh they still have had plenty of bright children getting excellent results so it's fine. It's not as 'naice' as other bits of Solihull, though.

Yes, there's seems to be some sort of myth that the nice bits of anywhere outside the home counties means you can get s big new house for not much money.

The truth is that much of the Chiltern line is now commuter belt and people work in London from Leamington, Banbury, Warwick etc. House prices shot up over the last decade. Ours has gone up stupidly in that time.

Solihull had always been quite nice, and the posh bits have some very high concentrations of millionaires etc like Alderley Edge etc outside Manchester.

Just because it's not London doesn't mean you get loads for your money. You get more....but the nice bits are still expensive, sadly.

There's industrial towns like Rugby and Nuneaton that are cheaper....but they aren't so nice. You pay your money, you take your choice.

Lichfield is v pretty and I'd live there. Definitely look further into it.

Missmarplesknitting thank you, yes I guess that's true, I'll look in to polesworth and Lichfield as well as Solihull and Sutton thanks

My DH commutes into Birmingham city centre from Malvern on the train.

I wouldn't go back to Brum if you paid me.

Try Worcester, Bromsgrove, Blakedown, Wolverley, some parts of Stourbridge.

I'd avoid central Tamworth and go for one of the villages on the outskirts, Polesworth, Seckington, Newton Regis,There is a very good private school in Twycross. Brum is 20 mins on the train, about 25 to drive but not in rushhour, then it can be up to an hour.
You'd have to look at the individual schools for their catchment area, sorry I don't know that info. We are in Staffordshire but Polesworth is in Warwickshire so technically out of area but many children from our village go there as we are so close to the border. There is an excellent primary attached to the school too.

Be careful in Lichfield. Its actually one of the most expensive areas to live in the country.

The 4 bed detached posted by @TheHandmaidsTail comes under the catchment for the least desirable and worst performing schools at both primary and secondary. You won't get a place at any other schools from there because every good school in Lichfield is massively oversubscribed, in the case of The Friary by 125 children with 4 days of appeals this year with very few, if any gaining a place based on last years appeals.

Chardonnay thank you that sounds good, I'll have a check, what's the name of the school that has a primary attached to the secondary? That sounds great

Specstrager, thank you I will look into those areas

Reinette really ??😮😮I didn't know that's thanks for that