Relocating from N Scotland to Midlands - Help!!

[member]

My brother has just accepted a job near Solihull & starts just after easter. His wife & three dc will remain in Scotland until the end of the current school year, then providing their house sells, they will be moving to the Midlands to join him.

Looking at a map, things seem quite close together in the Midlands but I'm sure that commuter traffic slows things up.

If you wanted a 4 bed detached for a maximum budget of £275,000, within a 45 minute commute of Solihull with access to good state schools (primary and secondary), where would you concentrate your search? Is there such a thing as a website that lists all schools in an area & their comparative sizes/results etc, or do you need to pick an area & investigate each school individually?

I don't think it matters whether the house is old or new, though having done major work themselves on a previous house, I think they'd rather that any work that needed done was of a cosmetic (decorative) nature. They currently live in a village with loads of outdoor space where their children have lots of freedom so the built-up nature of the Midlands will be quite a change for them & I think they'll need quite a generous garden to compensate!

Thanks for any direction that you can give - it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack at the moment.

there are some lovely areas near Solihull.

Try Worcester (probably 45 minute commute or Solihull) or around the Worcestershire area, Barnt Green, Alvechurch, Crofton Hacket are more villages which are also close to the Lickey Hills and Crofton Park which are woodlands, have great walks, parks etc. they are closer to Solihull..

Bromsgrove and Redditch are more towns but certainly commutable to Solihull around 30 minutes and close to large

Not sure about house prices or schools in these areas though..

Thankyou, making a note to check out schools.

Would the commute from Derbyshire - Lichfield/Burton on Trent be horrendous do you think?

The M42 can be a bit hit and miss. I commute from J10 to J4 (plus a bit each end) and that takes my 45 minutes. Vast majority of people where I work live closer - Kenilworth, Solihull, Shirley. If you are going to buy, check out the route of the proposed high speed rail link.

If I was you I'd look at Kenilworth - it's known for good schools.

Sorry, I meant to say depending on the exact place your brother is aiming for, Derbyshire to Solihull is a bit of a hike yes,

Solihull has some of the best state schools in the West Mids region (assuming you wish to exclude the independents and the grammars) so I would say that you might as well start your search in Solihull. Solihull (some of it is leafy surburbia) is right on the edge of the green belt and you can always move your hunt outwards from there.

That's brilliant, thanks for the heads-up 're the schools and it hand' t crossed our minds 're the new rail link.

Db has lived near Burton-on-Trent in the past & they still have friends in that area so not sure if he was considering there since it's familiar.

Sorry for autocorrect errors

Solihull is nice enough but does feel like a large town and is definitely a bolt on to Birmingham.

Warwick is a nice old town and Myton secondary school is good. There are trains direct from Warwick to solihull I think.

Kenilworth might be right up your brothers street. Very small town and fab secondary school. About 20 mins from Solihull. You could easily get a 4 bed there.

I doubt you'd get 4 beds for that budget in Kenilworth or Warwick to be honest, unless you are talking about a new build with a small garden and tiny 4th bed.

Also look Arden school in Knowle. Lovely area and fab school.

I think he might be struggling on that budget in Kenilworth too having looked at rightmove. Off to checkout Knowle...

I would have thought the same about Solihull re budget, but actually there are 4-bed houses in all those areas on Rightmove, ok some are new but you have to compromise on something. Shirley is quite good for local shops as well.