Where to live in Birmingham?

[Taskmasterlover]

Only post on here to get some responses. Looking to possibly move to Birmingham sometime next year - want to be within a 30-40 minute public transport commute ideally. Budget is £450k for a 4 bedroom house, want a nice family friendly area, happy with new builds.

Any suggestions of areas? Thanks

Edgbaston is beautiful. And the city centre is developing and thriving now.

Anyone mentioned Halesowen? Not technically Birmingham, just a bit further down the A456 Hagley Road from Harborne and Quinton. The area immediately past Quinton is especially nice. Good schools and buses.

Sutton Coldfield, Kings Heath and beyond, Solihull and the outskirts . Also bearwood. If you have kids and they will be using public transport to either go to city centre, then bear in mind that they will end up going through some of the inner city areas. Be careful on the buses. As for the inner city areas, unfortunately there is Quite a lot of segregation. Handsworth although a inner city area has a far more mixed variety of ppl then small heath and alum rock.

@Missileduvet

Anyone mentioned Halesowen? Not technically Birmingham, just a bit further down the A456 Hagley Road from Harborne and Quinton. The area immediately past Quinton is especially nice. Good schools and buses.

The only the only issue with Halesowen is the lack of a train station for a town of its size - although depending on which bit you live in, it’s reasonably easy to get to Old Hill or Rowley Regis.

Have you considered Warwickshire? Leamington, Kenilworth, Warwick, Stratford all commutable to Birmingham. Great schools and close to pretty much everything!

It's not in the city but is within around 24 min drive and has a local train station. I'd recommend Balsall Common in Solihull. Close enough to benefit from all the city has to offer but far enough away that it's a lovely village with excellent schools and homes

The streets around Moseley Village are nice, as is the side of Kings Heath closest to Moseley Village. There’s a bus every 4 mins or something along the 50 route or you wait ages and five turn up at once
Bearwood has some lovely parks and houses, I’m guessing the metro will continue to expand up the Hagley Road eventually too? Which will be great for commutes.
Edgbaston can be very different from one road to the next, as I guess any place can be in a big city. Literal crack dens along one road and million pound houses on the next, you’d really need to do your research but some lovely houses there too.
Handsworth and Winson Green are useful for the tram stops and also bus connections - there’s some truly beautiful houses in Handsworth. They have great community vibes too.
Solihull and Sutton are a bit meh - nothing vibrant about them and quite far on the outskirts of the city but good for schools.
The lower side of Balsall Heath, off the Pershore Road/Edgbaston Road has some nice streets and would be v convenient for a commute into the city centre.
Harborne is full of people who like to mention they live in Harborne at any given opportunity but the high street and houses there are lovely, so I probably would too!
I think east Birmingham is going to have huge investment due to HS2 station and the metro extension running through down to Deritend and onto Solihull. The only time I’ve gone to east Birmingham is to get to a Costco so no idea what’s on offer there though.
I’ve never been to Bournville either but have heard it’s a lovely area for families, has a village green, etc.
I keep hearing about Stirchley but when I’ve been there I’ve not seen what the hype is about tbh.

Has anyone mentioned Shirley? A much improved reputation in recent years.

Shirley is a very nice part of Solihull for families to live in. Great transport links by bus train and motorway. Close to Solihull and Bham centres and it has a vibrant high street too.
Close to good schools both primary and secondary.
I've lived in Moseley, Kings Heath and Shirley. Moseley is more bohemian and was great for night life when I was single, Kings Heath is a great family area but traffic and parking is absolutely horrendous. I currently live in Knowle but it's ridiculously expensive property wise

You're going to struggle to get 4 beds for under £450k in large bits of South Warwickshire. The 3 beds just gone up where we are are £430k, the 4 beds are £550k.

Shirley is a great shout.

Prices are going up very fast around the train line in Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks etc- I think partly because HS2 will make it more commutable to London. I'm not that fond of Sutton to be honest- the town centre is a bit wierd, you'd think it would be nicer for the amount of money there is around there but it's just... not! Same goes for Four Oaks and Mere Green.

I grew up around there and also moved away to Uni and haven't returned, despite the fact that all my family are there and more jobs. Although, as another poster points out, I've never lived there as a parent of course.

I agree with everyone who says Sutton C.F. town centre is rubbish! The Gracechurch centre used to be halfway decent back in the 90s but it’s not these days (I last visited in autumn 2019). Shame.

It’s possibly because B’ham city centre is less than 20mins by train and drivable too (although absolutely nightmarish at rush hour).

Kings Heath is nice, although the north end of the high street is rather run down now. Moseley's alright. Both have buses but no train stations. I agree that even within a certain area there might be dodgy streets. You're looking for a four-bed; watch out for anywhere where loads of the 4-beds on the street are HMOs.

The inner city areas are overwhelmingly ethnic minority.

Transport will depend on exactly where you live and work. A fairly short distance could still be an hour or more if things aren't convenient.

Sutton Coldfield is not Birmingham. Move there if you want every actual Brummie to think you're a posh git :-P

We live in B30 - so Bournville, Cotteridge, Stirchley area. I’d recommend. Lots of lovely housing at various price points, great community spirit and ever improving amenities. Access to the Cross City Line from either Kings Norton or Bournville stations (KN station is definitely Cotteridge, not KN). Good schools - Cotteridge and Bournville Villages Primary are well regarded plus faith schools locally too. At secondary you have Kings Norton Boys and Kings Norton Girls, which are both very good.

Moseley and Kings Heath both have nice areas, but are definitely more mixed so you will need to be careful with your housing search.

Solihull and Sutton are meh. I wouldn’t consider them. Could be anywhere.

I'm trying to get out of the hell hole and someone is moving here by choice!

Birmingham is a shithole and i can say that having been born and bred here.
Would absolutely not move here by choice.
Yes there are some lovely, affluent areas but these,IMO,are still too close too the dumps.
The shitty areas are spreading too and areas which were lovely when i was a child have changed.
Plus points are public transport is good and shopping.

OP most posters are mentioning places that aren't actually Birmingham-solihull,DOrridge,Knowle
Yes these are lovely middle class places to live. However,still too close to Birmingham for me. These will eventually become rough too.
Bournville and harbourne are very nice.but very close to dumps too.

What @FloconDeNeige
Said x a million

Maddathanmad Yes Birmingham is getting shittier.

@safariboot

Sutton Coldfield comes under B’ham City Council. I know people who live there like to think it’s separate from the rest of Brum, but they’re kidding nobody.

No actual Brummies think those living in Sutton are ‘posh gits’! I’m an actual Brummie - born in Good Hope hospital in Sutton, lived in Erdington and went to secondary school in Sutton. I certainly don’t think it!

There was a thread on here recently where many people stated they hated living in or visiting Paris and were describing it as a complete hell hole. On the flip side, there are obviously many, many people who absolutely adore Paris. This happens with every city around the world. It’s all subjective - you may hate Birmingham, but there are millions of people who either live there, who plan to move there or who love to visit who won’t feel the same way as you.

I think if the OP moves to a non Birmingham area like Knowle,only goes to the city centre for the shops and nice cocktail bars and never has to Go to inner city bham for work (or any other reason )she will be fine!!

You could always look south too. Warwick/Leamington Spa is only a 30-minute commute on the train. There are loads of houses being built in the area.

@ipseity

Got it in one. I’ve lived in Paris; didn’t much care for it and prefer Birmingham!

DH (who is from Provence) hates Paris with a passion. He even moans when he sees a Parisien number plate! This is partially down to inter-region rivalry within France, however.

I lived in Erdington in the mid 90's and worked in Nechells and Aston. I found it very unfriendly and I was frightened leaving work and waiting at Duddeston station in the dark. I wouldnt live there again. HOWEVER I have been to the city centre more recently and it is lovely. So if some other areas have improved as much then who knows. Even then Wylde Green, Boldmere, Four Oaks and Sutton were nice.

The Kidderminster house linked to earlier was simply beautiful. If Kidderminster is nice I would move into that in a heartbeat