Moving from London to Midlands - where do we go?!

[RoseR124]

Hello!

We are moving to the midlands in July from South West London for my husband’s job. We have a 3 year old and 1 year old. Where should we go?! We have family in West Midlands but not sure it’s the place we want to be. Has anybody done the move/research and recommend anywhere. I like Warwickshire but not sure if there are other places we should explore? Looking for somewhere that has walkable local amenities and has a bit of a London feel.

Thank you!

I’m in the West Mids. Whereabouts is your husband’s job and where are the family? And what’s your budget? Warwickshire is lovely especially round Stratford but I wouldn’t say it’s a london feel!

Birmingham has some lovely areas. Lots going on and the people are friendly. Good public transport too.

I'd have thought Moseley (Birmingham) your best bet for a London village (eg Dulwich) feel.

Where is his job?

What kind of lifestyle location would you like?

I love Warwickshire, but it doesn't feel like London at all. I've lived in Leamington, Warwick and Stratford. All lovely places, albeit not cheap for the nice areas, and in no way comparable to London. I'm not sure you'd get a real feel of how they usually are by July, either - Stratford and Warwick usually have a lot of tourists, Stratford especially, which aren't there at the moment. You'd want to be very sure that you were happy with how busy and hectic it can be, and what effect that has on commutes/roads, before you bought. I don't mind it, it's second nature to me, but a lot of people find it too busy.

I'd second Moseley if you want a London village feel... maybe Edgbaston or Harborne too, depending. Then you'd be close to Birmingham city centre for the City things, too.

Warwick, Leamington, Kenilworth and Stratford all very nice. Stratford would be a no for me because of the tourists though, on a nice day like last Saturday it can be brought to a standstill, gridlock

Birmingham city centre is great for shopping and the above mentioned are only a short car/train journey away. I don't think you'll find anything close to a London feel other than Birmingham (the second city)

Leamington has good schools but the best are private, the rest, particularly primaries, are scored quite low by Ofsted

Dorridge, Knowle, Solihull are nice

West Midlands is a large area. We are on the very edge of it, a couple of miles further and it's the South West! So it all depends on where the job is located. Can you share?

Leamington is gorgeous!

Harborne feels almost exactly like affluent bits of SW London to me. Not cheap though.

Where’s the job? West Midlands are pretty big with some journeys that I wouldn’t ever consider driving on a regular basis. If you tell us where the job is we can help more.

Knowle is a lovely little village .

Thank you all so much! His job is randomly in West Bromwich but he’s up for a commute for us to find the right place.

My family live in Sutton Coldfield but not sure we want to be there. Just want somewhere which has a nice feel and local pub/shops/coffee shops. It’s going to be such a transition from London but know there will be lots of positives. Just get used to walking for a coffee and parks etc. We also need to find a good primary school and nursery as I’ll be going back to work soon. So much to do feeling slightly overwhelmed but really want to find the right area. Budget is around £750k for a 3bed+ property.

Thanks again!

Oooh, but Sutton Coldfield is really nice! Huge park is fab and lots of amenities etc. Schools are good too. I have a few friends who live there. Harborne as pp has said is v london like, nice high street, lots of parks and Warley woods nearby and great primaries and closer to the city centre than SC. Bournville is v nice too with good schools. Or further out, I know the south west side better, Halesowen and Stourbridge both nice but wouldn’t say either have a london vibe.

Leamington Spa, Solihull and Sutton with that budget.

It’s such a hard one, just need to have an explore I guess. Does anybody have recommendations for nurseries in either Sutton Coldfield or Leamington Spa. Will need to find one pretty soon so thought I’d ask.

Thanks

Some of the areas off the M6/M54 junction are nice and some are classed as Staffordshire so lower council tax. Coven/Brewood/Codsall/Perton but depends on the time of his commute as the M6 can be a pain but time it right and he will fly up and down the M6 to those locations

And with that budget you would get an amazing home

The commute (if he is driving) will be along the m42 and m5 northbound. Not a fun commute. Sutton Coldfield would make more sense. Harborne, Edgbaston or Moseley would make sense if you want a nice part of London feel. The house prices in those areas can be higher than you'd expect Birmingham to be though.

Leamington Spa would suit you 100%. Lovely parks, schools, nurseries, nice town, lots of restaurants. Brilliant houses in the north of Leamington in your budget with a London feel. Great transport links too - just over an hour to Marylebone and 30 mins to Birmingham on the train. Near to Warwick and Stratford which are beautiful places for a day out.

I would say Solihull, Dorridge, Knowle area would be a close second

Sutton Coldfield is not nice,I lived there for 18years.It is soulless,just a suburb of Birmingham.

What about Lichfield, as a curve ball? There's loads of really nice villages around Kidderminster so a bit better for a commute to West Brom but doesn't tick the mini London vibe box. But that said somewhere like e.g. Chaddesley Corbett has lovely local shops, pubs parks etc so if that's all you're wanting to replicate you might not need the city 🤷‍♀️

We live south of the river in Stratford and love it. We’re surrounded by beautiful riverside walks and great schools. My DH commutes to Castle Brom and both ways the journey is less than an hour even at rush hour. Living here you just learn how to work your day to day life around the tourists. We avoid the river in a sunny weekend afternoon but if you’re an early bird it’s beautiful and peaceful until around 11 when the day trippers arrive. I’d advise living close enough so you’re walkable to town so you don’t sit in traffic at the weekend. Town does get busy with visitors but it’s far from unbearable and we love it here. We have farmers markets, food festivals, river festivals Victorian Christmas markets. It’s a great place to bring up children.