Relocating to Worcester/Birmingham area

[goosin31]

Hello,

We (DH, 2 year old boy, dog and cats) are relocating from Hampshire to anywhere within a 1 hour commute of Birmingham airport. We need to commit to a property ASAP with another baby on the way early November. It is very difficult noting being able to come and spend time in the areas being 2 1/2 hours away (around work and having the toddler and dog in tow).

Can anyone advise on the 'best areas' - we have a budget of around 750k and want to live somewhere which has the best of both a rural feel and things going like a market town.

We have look at Droitwich and whilst we liked it when we drove through it nobody has recommended it yet as a place to live - so we are having doubts.
Also it doesn't seem to have brilliant schools - but seems to have plenty of things going on for toddlers. Is Bromsgrove a nice area? Which are the nice areas in Worcester? Better/worse than Droitwich? We don't want to live too rural (I don't want to have to push a pram down lanes) or too built up (need green spaces to walk the dog).

Of course I don't want to cause offence to anyone living in areas which may be mentioned I would really like some advice on where to live in that 1hour radius from Birmingham airport (My family live in south Wales so being South/SW of the city is a plus) and which areas to avoid. We want somewhere which has atleast a few shops etc, nursery's, and really good schools. We have DH's commute to the airport to consider and I am a secondary school teacher.

Thanks in advance for any help.

I live in Droitwich.
I can't comment on schools as we don't have children (for primary there are lovely small village schools around Droitwich). It's a nice place to live though and easy to travel to many different places within the region.

Your budget would get you a very nice house.
We bought our 4 bed detached (albeit a smaller 4 bed) for £250k 5 years ago.

I work in Solihull and a lot of days it can take well over an hour to get to and from work, so I wouldn't look much further south than Droitwich if you want to be within an hour.

There are nice villages around Bromsgrove and the southern side of Solihull borough (just north of M42) so may be worth exploring there. Fernhill Heath on the northern edge of Worcester may be another option as it has easy access to the M5.

@pinkpirlie Thank you for your reply that is very helpful. Just wondering, do you know Bromsgrove well? And if so would you says it’s similar to Droitwich? Or does it have more/less to offer in terms of things to do.

Droitwich seems to have plenty to do - we have only been able to drive through whilst rushing to view a house and making a 5hour round trip. And we have never been through Bromsgrove.

Try looking at Barnt Green, easier commute to Birmingham (has a train station and a nice village feel) - lots of lovely walks but near the motorway network. Really nice place to live.

Hampton in Arden, Meriden, Balsall common, all the villages round there are lovely. I honestly would try to stick closer to the airport given that you don’t have other ties. The traffic round Birmingham can be hellish so why make it harder than it needs to be?

Have a look at Alcester. Nice town, great schools, close to the country side but the civilisation of a town. Easy to get to M42 for the airport.

I'd avoid Bromsgrove and Redditch.
Droitwich ok for first schools but I've not heard great things about the high school. My friends who live there sent their secondary child to a different town but it was luck of the draw to get a place as out of catchment.

Alvechurch and Hopwood are nice. Close to M42. Alvechurch also has the railway which goes to New Street where you can change onto the Birmingham International train.

I grew up in Droitwich, my parents still live there and I've friends there who all love it. I hated it. Escaped when I was 19 and would never go back. Worcester is nicer and actually has things to do (I noticed you said there's plenty to do in Droitwich but I honestly don't know what! There's the lido and that's it). I'm not sure Bromsgrove is much better either from what I hear.

Balsall common and kenilworth are lovely BC is 11ish from the airport / 20min on train into Birmingham but a lovely village

11 minutes drive

Primary & middle schools are OK but the only high school in Droitwich is terrible - there are a few decent private schools of you can afford them. Most of the shops have closed and the high street is pretty depressing these days.

Bromsgrove is bigger and had more around the area. Of the 2 high schools - South is by far the better high school but massively oversubscribed and you must live in the small postcode catchment to get a place.

Alcester is nice and the school is good.

Bewdley is also lovely and the high school we've looked at there was good on paper.

@Waystation thank you very much, we will have a look 😀

@Sundaefraise thank you. Very helpful tip regarding the traffic. DH works shifts so hopefully he could avoid traffic at rush hour but still it’s good to know 😀

Have a look at Alcester. Not many places with a Co-Ed grammar school.

@winesolveseverything thats really helpful thanks. Yes we do have concerns about the high school and one of the middle schools and as you say, being out of catchment means luck of the drawer. It’s just tricky having to rely on only ofsted reports so that is helpful to know 😀

Thank you, sadly there don’t seem to be any properties there which are work for us but we will keep an eye out 😀

I am actually from alcester and it was a great place to be a child. Schools were good.

@Sundaefraise by any chance do you know what MIllison’s Wood is like? Many thanks

Have you considered Stratford upon Avon? About 40 minutes to Birmingham Airport and some nice houses in your budget

Brims grove is dreadful - it has a really weird small town mentality. I hated it. Ditto Redditch.

There are some nice places around the M40 / M42 corridor. Solihull is expensive but lots to do and easy commute.

I would avoid anywhere to the North East of Birmingham as that would mean an M6 commute. The M42 between the M0 and M6 junction can also be a bit of a nightmare at certain times of the day.

Agree RE - Hopwood/Alverchurch.

Barnt green is a nice but £££ for less in comparison or the above. Some areas in Catshill/Bromsgrove are nice. Kings Norton has some lovely houses but not rural and some places nearby can be not great.

Although if it’s rural just for dog walking, anywhere near the Lickey hills/Beacon is going to be good enough. I live a 5 minute drive from there and take my dogs, nice big places for a dog stroll!

I don’t know a lot about it unfortunately. I don’t think it’s got much in the way of shops, or pubs and it’s further towards Coventry so I don’t think it’s really got much going for it. Berkswell could be nice and I think that’s on the train line to Birmingham and has shops etc. There’s some nice countryside round there too.

…sorry ignore that last part Berkswell train station is actually in Balsall Common - which is really lovely!

I live 3 miles outside of Ledbury and love it! Ledbury has lots of independent shops, pubs, two curry houses, an Italian restaurant. It has a train station. Lots of good village primary schools nearby and one in town. There's a train station.
It's also the side of Birmingham you would like to be for getting to Wales.
It's a market town and I'm very fond of it.
Very close to Malvern hills which are excellent for walking. There are also footpaths immediately outside of town to go up into Eastnor / Wellington Heath (villages nearby).

Hallow in Worcester