Where to live in Birmingham

[Mirrorxx]

I’m hoping to get some local knowledge/opinions about Birmingham. We are considering moving from Manchester to Birmingham and want to go and have a look around and view some houses as soon as we can. Can anyone suggest what areas to look at? In Manchester we like didsbury and sale so similar kind of areas.
We would like a 3 bedroom house, good commute to city centre and good local primary schools. Ideally we would be able to walk to some nice parks and cafes etc. our budget is around 350-425k. Any suggestions?

Solihull is worth a look. It's a 20 minute bus ride to Birmingham city centre, you have a choice of primary schools and there is lots of green space.

Could you look at Worcestershire or the Black Country?

We don’t want the commute to be more than about half hour so wouldn’t go too far out. Plus we currently like centrally and don’t want to change that too much

Bourneville Village has nice properties but is close to the centre. Harborne is also okay as is Kings Heath. Personally I'd move further out and commute in - somewhere like Warwick or Stratford Upon Avon. Don't forget that Bham is a Grammar school area and you now need to be in the catchment area for those - they're very competitive too.

I have family in Stratford and the commute is just too far. We just prefer city living to small towns.

Kings Heath is lovely.

That budget probably won’t get you much within 30mins commute from Birmingham. I agree with a pp about commuting in. Leicester, for example, have Red Rows within this price range within two areas that are 10mins drive to the nearest railway station. The total journey to Central Birmingham end to end would be approx 1 hour, which is what it would take from the outskirts anyway but you get bigger houses and far better schools for your money.

@LindowMan I have seen a couple of nice houses in Kings Heath and i read a train station is opening. The only issue is most of the houses seemed to be smaller 3 bedroom terraces for around 300-340k. Are there many larger houses?

Solihull.
Moseley
Hall green
Shirley
Knowle
Harbourne
Sutton Coldfield (some parts avoid Erdington side )
Coleshill
Shustoke
Cheswick green
Dickens heath
Bournville
Edgbaston

Sutton coldfield
Erdington Chester rd side
Wylde green
Boldmere

If you like Didsbury and Sale then around south Birmingham is probably where you should look. So Moseley,Edgbaston, Bournville, Harborne,Kings Norton,Kings Heath, Hall Green etc. All of those have a few less attractive parts - but so does everywhere - and some serious house prices in parts of Edgbaston particularly.
Birmingham is very green and leafy, especially in above mentioned.

Whenever someone asks this question the next response is always Solihull! I like Solihull but you'll pay more for the same house.

Always finish these post an opportunity to knock certain parts of an overall lovely city. The OP is obvs not going to buy in a deprived area with a budget like that!! 🙄

Any way we live in Sutton Coldfield (Erdington side) 😉 great primary schools. Shops are 2mins Walk and train or bus into town is less than 15 mins.

Happy searching

*find

Most of Erdington is lovely. Have a look down Poppy Lane, Grange Rd, orphanage rd, moor end lane areas on streetmap

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93914765.html#_map-view

10 min walk to train st. Direct train to BHAM centre and London the other way. There is a Park on that road and another one round the corner. Good primary on same road as house and catholic primary round the corner. 10 min walk to Sainsbury, small tesco and small cluster of local shops, plus hotel restaurant/bar, bar/cafe and a Costa, balti. Also down road from Knowle which is 30 min walk/ less than 10 min drive with loads of cafes.