Moving out of London to the West Midlands

[Lifesense]

I currently live in London and are looking to leave. We don’t want to leave but we want a bigger home and our money doesn’t go far in London/South East. We have recently sold our house and have toyed with the idea of the West Midlands as I went to university in Birmingham and really enjoyed the city as a student and have been back with DH. He loved it too.

Our budget at the absolute most is £900k. We need somewhere with good rail links to London/Birmingham - commuting once/twice a week (no longer than 90 minutes on the train)/enjoy city life. No schools needed right now but would like to have good schools, not really into country life (I wouldn’t mind living in a busy village but living somewhere where I can’t walk anywhere isn’t for us), basically somewhere that has life and I’m not isolated!

I have been looking at Sutton Coldfield, Harborne, Solihull and Cheltenham (know this isn’t in the West Midlands) as I am most familiar with these areas. Can someone recommend which place is the best and recommend somewhere? Thanks

I live in Lichfield,direct trains to London Euston,I moved here from Sutton Coldfield and it is so much nicer.

If commute to London is still important then look at Leamington/ Warwick areas. Out of the places you listed Solihull would be quickest commute. Harbourne obviously much more in the city. It really depends what is important to you in terms of facilities, schools etc. £900k will get you something very good in any of those areas.

@JazzyBBG I have been edging towards Solihull. Solihull isn’t too far from Birmingham International station either so I could get Avanti from there or Chiltern from Solihull.

@480Widdio thank you! Will look at Lichfield

I live in Solihull and really
Like it, don't forget also OP that HS2 will be based at Birmingham International too so very easy for London in future.

Knowle is a really lovely village a few miles out of Solihull if you wanted something more quaint. If you prefer city life Moseley is lovely with a couple of great pubs and an amazing arts and music scene!
If you were also considering Cheltenham, have you thought of Worcester? It's a great city and has decent transport links to Birmingham and London.

I looked at Worcester but the train takes too long and concerned about floods there!

I looked at Knowle, Dorridge, Leamington, Warwick and they all fit the bill. More so Dorridge & Leamington. HS2 is a massive draw to me as it’s meant to be in Solihull. Thanks all for the suggestions

£900k will get you a nice house in the majority of the SE

Leamington Warwick or Solihull will all tick your boxes and affordable for your budget. I’m from Leamington, I’d move back there in a second if my work was the right side of London for the commute.

Make sure you check HS2 route so you don’t suddenly end up with a train line at the bottom of the garden!

Have you looked at rugby - incredibly convenient commute

@FurierTransform £900k would not get you this anywhere in the SE: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109326374#/?channel=RES_BUY

I have discussed with DH and think Solihull will be our home. It ticks all the boxes and saw a few houses I love!

@CloudPop thank you!

@Magstermay so true! Thanks for that

When you say "SE" what do you mean? Because you can buy something like that just outside London in lots of places

@SD25

When you say "SE" what do you mean? Because you can buy something like that just outside London in lots of places

Mainly Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and Wandsworth (where I live currently)

I used to live in London and moved to Birmingham. We lived in an area called Quinton for a couple of years but the transport links were awful. I'd always like Solihull so we moved to Shirley in Solihull a couple of years ago. I love it. We're close to several train stations to get to Birmingham as well and the m42 is close by.

I grew up in Knowle. It's OK but little character. The secondary school might be different now but at the time was a very bland exam factory. Moved to the Catholic school in Solihull for 6th Form which had lower exam results but so much more going for it.

Solihull is obsessed with being Not Birmingham and that's about it. And a really big shopping centre. Otherwise also super bland.

I think it all depends where you've lived previously.
I've been in Knowle for nearly 4 years and love it here.

Balsall common is nice - technically Solihull but a CV postcode

@DappledThings thank you. What do you think of Dorridge? Is it similar to Knowle? I have a friend who lives in Dorridge and she loves it. Solihull isn’t part of Birmingham is it? So why are they obsessed with saying they’re not part of Birmingham? Is there anywhere else you can recommend within the West Midlands?

@StarCourt thank you. Is Dorridge or Knowle nicer, in your opinion?

@wouldukissafrog didn’t think about there. Thanks.

Solihull isn’t part of Birmingham is it? So why are they obsessed with saying they’re not part of Birmingham?
Because it is so close to Birmingham people sometimes think it is a suburb and there a large number of people in Solihull who think that matters. When I lived there there was an actual petition to get the telephone exchange changed from 0121 so it wouldn't be mixed up with Birmingham. Used to crack me up how much people cared about the border.

Knowle/Dorridge/Bentley Heath are all kind of one sprawl these days.

There's nothing particularly unpleasant or offensive about any of those places, but nothing distinctive either. If I was going to move back that way it would be into Birmingham for more life and diversity. Or to a proper Warwickshire village for a rural life. Knowle is fine. It's just very meh!

@Lifesense I would say Knowle as the high Street is great and there's so much you can walk to. ( I may be biased as I'm just off the High St )
There's a Tesco Express in the precinct ( which has just had plans submitted for a huge revamp )
Lots of great restaurants, pubs, beauty salons, cafes and the lovely church.
Sainsburys is in Dorridge though and their park is better than Knowle Park.

@DappledThings oh how interesting. Not sure what the problem with being part of Birmingham would be as it has some very expensive houses there and it’s an amazing city! Very strange too about the dialing code . I can see how it would be annoying to be labelled as Birmingham if you aren’t part of it. I am still considering Harborne but thinking about logistics with commuting. Thanks for bringing this up.

@StarCourt sounds lovely! I have now arranged for a viewing in a few houses dotted around Solihull including Knowle and Dorridge so can’t wait to see what the area is like. Thanks for the help.

As someone previously said Lichfield is lovely.
Harborne is very overrated, I moved from away three years ago and don't miss it at all!

We moved from London to Solihull seven years ago and we are very happy here. Schools are excellent and the house you linked above on Sharmans Cross Road is in good catchments. Knowle and Dorridge are lovely but your money won’t go quite as far; something about crossing over the M42 makes them feel more like Warks than West Mids despite what the postcodes might say. Do note that HS2 will go through Birmingham International which is to the north of the borough (confusingly Solihull is both a town and a larger metropolitan borough council area) and about 10-15 drive from central Solihull. If quick access to HS2 is a priority then look at villages like Catherine-de-Barnes and Hampton-in-Arden; the latter also has its own railway station.

Happy for you to PM me if you like. Incidentally I’m yet to meet anyone who much cares about the delineation of Solihull and Birmingham beyond the practicalities of bin collections 🤷🏼‍♀️

@YippieKayakOtherBuckets thank you! That is really helpful. I visited Dorridge, Knowle & Solihull and really liked the area. Me and DH will be happy to live anywhere there. Interesting about Hampton in Arden - will consider that too. Thanks.

Haha! It’s good to hear not everyone is obsessed with not being part of Birmingham!