Birmingham - Edgbaston/Harborne

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My husband and I are planning on moving house and we are considering Edgbston/Harborne. We hope for our children to go to Blue Coat, and then ideally one of the grammars/independents for senior school hence why we have chose these locations. I am not the most familiar with these areas, and have read that Edgbaston has some really nice areas, but also some really bad areas (references to a red light district). It also seems that driveways/garages are quite rare in Harborne, and a driveway would be a necessity for us. We have a budget of approx £600k, and I was wondering if anyone can recommend the specific streets/areas we should be aiming for, and which we should be aiming to avoid? Also in general, would Edgbaston or Harborne be the better choice?

Are you definitely set on Edgbaston/Harborne? For 600k, you could afford a very nice property in Bournville which has equally good schools and imo is a nicer place to live with kids.

Stick to the harborne side of the Hagley road. The other side is a bit iffier in terms of red light district. I grew up in harborne and edgebaston area and throught it was a lovely place to grow up but you are right about drives in harborne. Have you considered Sutton Coldfield. Also lovely and with your budget there are a lot of houses around. Don't know so much about the private schools but there is highclair and there are loads of kids that get the train to king Edwards edgbaston as the train line is easy. Grammar schools in Sutton and in my experience the state schools are much better than harborne and edgebaston.

There are homes with drives in Harborne- you may have to wait some time for the ideal one to come up, and some will be over your budget. Perhaps rent initially, whilst you wait? Personally I would aim for walking distance for primary school. A house on Somerset Road, opposite Blue Coat, with drive was up a few months ago for £650k. Needed work, but fantastic position.
You could also look at Moor Pool (Ravenhurst Road, Park Hill Road, Pereira Road, Wentworth Park Road etc will have drives in the main, Margaret Road, The Circle etc unlikely to have drives)
Some houses on Greenfield, Margaret, Ethel Road have drives, also St. Mary's Rd, and Abbey road, but they will be above your budget.
If you go for edgbaston, you'll need to drive up, but you'd find something on Calthorpe estate for your budget. However, it's all housing, no real community or centre in the way Harborne is.
How old is your child? So you have a place secured at Blue Coat? It fills up very quickly, and the waiting list can be very long- what would you do in the meantime for schooling?

"So" was 'do', sorry!

Also, where do you both need to get to for work? The commute into the city from Harborne is a bit of a nightmare. Easier from Edgbaston tbh.