BRomsgrove

[Superfez]

As brief of a summary as i can...

Fiancée (would have been married. if not for cv) and I are strong,y considering having a child. As part of that we are going to have to move, currently in a bad catchment area on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield.
We are looking to move to bromsgrove as my parents are Stourbridge and Halesowen (helpful with child) and the fiancée works close to the airport. Bromsgrove works well as a central point to have support but not to make the journey to work ridiculous for her.

We want to go detached (always been a desire of mine) but clearly are focused on the schools. I have read loads saying bromsgrove is nice in certain parts but that doesn’t help me to narrow down a focus area.. we have a budget of around 300k probably be closer to 320/325 by time we come round to actually doing this. Would need either 3 decent sized bedrooms (fiancée mom and dad visit from Cornwall) or a 4 bedroom house. I am keeping an eye on new builds in the area and we are 18 months away from moving. But we need to start being realistic and getting all the info we can.

Really appreciate any guidance on areas within bromsgrove, schools etc.

The most desirable bits of Bromsgrove are around Aston Fields / Finstall. They are in the catchment for the best schools (South Bromsgrove High and some First schools) and are handy for the train station for the commute to Birmingham. Of course this is reflected in prices.

The trouble with the south side of town though is that you have to fight your way through traffic jams to get to the M42 junction and onwards to the airport. You could alternatively consider Droitwich: the High school is OK, I believe, and you could hop on the M5 at junction 5 to totally by-pass Bromsgrove. There is a lot of new building going on in Droitwich at the moment but, again, it is on the wrong/south side of town.

Thanks so much for the reply flourypotato.
The google maps estimation is 30 minutes from aston fields side and marginally shorter finstall. If we wanted 4 beds we would have to go to stoke heath or stoke prior... are these areas not so good?

Droitwich could be a choice as we did consider wychbold as an option but we struggled to understand which secondary school would be used. And if we went with wychbold it would likely mean driving up into bromsgrove for a secondary school and as such defeating the point.

You mentioned traffic jams. Is the route up to the m42 really bad?
As in would being in finstall or aston fields make a worthwhile difference on the journey upwards?

Thanks so much for the help.

The google maps estimation is 30 minutes from aston fields side and marginally shorter finstall.
I don't believe that. Google Maps work out their travel times based on live data. Have you just googled that at mid-morning in the middle of a semi-lockdown!?
I'd say that it would probably be at least 45 min or more like an hour.

Stoke Heath is OK, I think. It's a bit nothing. Stoke Prior is OK but getting a bit far away from the centre of things.

we did consider wychbold as an option but we struggled to understand which secondary school would be used.
Wychbold is in Wychavon district, the high school would be Droitwich. Type a postcode into this website and it will tell you your catchment school.

You mentioned traffic jams. Is the route up to the m42 really bad?
It can be. They are supposed to be improving the A38.

Flourypotato!
I may be guilty of a little google maps search. I did change it to leave at 8am, it said usually 35 to 45. Hopefully that work on the A38 works out to improve things, thanks for sharing.
The catchment area site is really useful so thanks for sharing that too! Already been throwing all sorts in!

Planning a drive over in a few weeks to get a taste for the area. Decent change in circumstances last night means the budget is likely to be more 275 towards the 300 which may push us either into a semi detached or into stoke heath area which appears to be slightly cheaper than aston fields. Really appreciate the guidance shared.
Can't promise I won't be back as we get closer to the time of buying!
Thanks

Agree with all of this, south bromsgrove is the desirable high school and we are planning a move across town to get into the catchment. Much of bromsgrove is nice though so I think there are plenty of options.

What about Studly? I think the high school there is good, it isn't far from Bomsgrove and there is nice countryside surrounding.

Is it nice?

We had a look around studley and it seems uninspiring.

We did like the sounds of studley. However it is a little further for my parents and not really any closer on the commute.
A review of the area may help though
It is also slightly more on the price side than the areas of bromsgrove (actually it may not be loads more but as a small catchment area there are less choices to compare through some simple right move checking)!
Any further guidance and thoughts are welcome! Thanks for the idea!

I just noticed my typos!
I go to Studley occasionally as a friend lives there. Her house is beautiful and looks out of a field that had lambs skipping about last time I visited so I may just be thinking it's great because of that! There are some lovely houses though, few shops, pub and plenty of countryside. My friend's daughter went to the high school and they both say it is great.
Alvechurch is a bit further than Bromsgrove but has a station for an easy commute, good primary, nice housing 2-3 good pubs and a nice community feel. Not sure which high school it is served by though.

Alvechurch seems to enter a whole new price tier which would be no good for us. Could be good for others.

For anyone who knows Bromsgrove, more guidance if I can ask.... as above potato said some of the nice areas. But nobody has said areas that are 'bad'.
However. I have come across these 2 houses on rightmove and wondered if anyone could advise on why they are the same price... when one is a detached a house and one... well isnt!
The detached seems to look like it is better to me also based purely on images etc. On the articles attached.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71299227.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70954239.html

Thanks in advance!

Thought I would add this in.
It has been reduced but just another one for anyone who knows the area to give some guidance on.

They do all have the same catchment area for secondary schools.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77094706.html#_map-view

The first one is in Aston fields near thr trendy bars etc and right by the station. The second is a bit further out and less interesting location. Exceptionally ugly house in my opinion.

Third one is similar to thr second. I think the pricing is accurate.

Thanks for the thoughts 'fartyface'...
We are doing a drive round on sunday before turning our attention to saving as many pennies as possible (other than the wedding and honeymoon of course)!!

If you need a first school and want quiet living, but don't mind being slightly cut off, stoke prior would work, lived there my whole life, but stoke heath, Aston fields and finstal are nice too tbf.