Page 2 | Moving to West Midlands?

namechange110 · 2023-04-13T16:17:32+00:00

Posting here for traffic. We're looking to relocate to West Midlands from a smaller town in the North. We're south asian so want to know areas with a nice mix of cultures (areas other than Birmingham) and good school area as well as we have a young son. We'd look to rent initially, looking for a 2/3 bed with a max of £1000 a month but ideally at the £800 mark. Any ideas on good decent areas? Any areas to absolutely avoid?

stickybear · 13/04/2023 20:37

Tettenhall in Wolverhampton is really lovely, with nice independent shops and restaurants and good bus links into town. Penn, Finchfield, Goldthorn Hill also nice but not as pretty and villagey. Wolves town centre is pretty rubbish but there are loads of trains into Brum and there's the metro and good road links too, including out to some lovely countryside in Shropshire and Staffordshire. The uni (and the football club!) give it a bit more of a big city buzz than you'd find in somewhere like Kidderminster or Halesowen.

QueenoftheAngles · 13/04/2023 20:43

Chucknee · 13/04/2023 20:22

It really isn't. She's lived in Leicester, Birmingham and London and experiences far more racism in Leamington. Her children are the only 1 or 2 Asian children in their year. I imagine like anywhere different parts have different mixes but to say Leamington as a whole is multicultural just isn't true.

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I’m really surprised by this. I’ve lived in London Coventry Leicester and Leamington and Leamington is really diverse. It’s got a large Asian population who are well represented in terms of local government local sports and community groups and a big student population. I think it’s pretty diverse and welcoming.

Coventry is a not a particularly glamorous city but it’s got some really good things about it. I always think it has a lot of heart and it’s very diverse. I’d second looking at Finham Earlsdon, and maybe Chapelfields and Allesley and the new estates to the north west.

Original poster

namechange110 · 14/04/2023 00:38

Thanks everyone! Really helpful suggestions and yes I am going to have to extend the budget slightly but you've all given excellent suggestions so far!!

OP posts:

caringcarer · 14/04/2023 02:00

Hi OP, after living in the North, you will find West Midlands expensive. At some point last year I read that whites are now in a minority in Birmingham. I think you'd need to up your budget to £1100-£1200 pcm to get something nice. Moseley has a good school and a great cricket club. My son is a member. Might you consider living a little North of Birmingham. Tamworth is 20 miles North of Birmingham but has a lot of amenities for children. There are several villages around Tamworth which are nicer than Tamworth itself but still close enough to pop in regularly. Two Gates, Falsely, Wilnecote, Mile Oak are all good. I'd try to stay on the right side of the A5. The other side is a bit rougher but does have some nicer bits eg. Amington and Amington Fields. You will probably find rental houses are hard to find. There are about 13 people wanting each rental house.

aibuaibuaibu · 14/04/2023 02:01

Your budget is low.

aibuaibuaibu · 14/04/2023 02:17

caringcarer · 14/04/2023 02:00

Hi OP, after living in the North, you will find West Midlands expensive. At some point last year I read that whites are now in a minority in Birmingham. I think you'd need to up your budget to £1100-£1200 pcm to get something nice. Moseley has a good school and a great cricket club. My son is a member. Might you consider living a little North of Birmingham. Tamworth is 20 miles North of Birmingham but has a lot of amenities for children. There are several villages around Tamworth which are nicer than Tamworth itself but still close enough to pop in regularly. Two Gates, Falsely, Wilnecote, Mile Oak are all good. I'd try to stay on the right side of the A5. The other side is a bit rougher but does have some nicer bits eg. Amington and Amington Fields. You will probably find rental houses are hard to find. There are about 13 people wanting each rental house.

Yes in England white people make up 80% of the population. In Birmingham and Leicester white people are the minority. In London and Manchester less than 50% identified as white British.

So if you are Asian you'll be fine.

Ted27 · 14/04/2023 02:26

I'm going to give Coventry a plug here
It's vastly improved since I moved here in the 1980s.
It's never going to be great for shops but the town centre has been transformed and is looking good. Arts and cultural activity is thriving.
I disagree that Earlsdon is not a family area. There are two good primaries within 10 minutes walking from my home and good local secondaries. There is a great community spirit here with a lot going on for families. Within 20 minutes walk there is a fabulous park, cinema, ice rink, two theatres, a water park, transport museum, Herbert museum currently home to Dippy.
Yes there are a lot of students but I don't notice them particularly.
There is a lot of snobbishness about Coventry, people seems to like to knock it and put it down without knowledge of the city as it today.

Dalooah · 14/04/2023 03:04

I agree with PPs that although coventry doesn't have the 'glam' of Solihull or leamington you'll find plenty within your budget- granted maybe not in earlsdon/Finham but look slightly further out, Binley/villages towards rugby/.rugby there's still plenty of diversity, decent schools- rugby still has grammar schools if that's of interest, and think you'll find rentals within your budget. I know someone renting out their 4 bed home in Binley on a very popular estate for £1100.