Where to buy a house near Birmingham?

[FreddoBaggyMac]

We have just found out that DH's job is moving to Birmingham and the likelihood is we're going to have to move pretty quickly - before the end of the year. It's going to be hard for us as we have four small children (all under 6)and no family or friends around there and we don't know the area at all, and also DD1 is really settled at her primary school here which is just a few minutes walk from our house...

Anyway, we need to look to the future and I'd be really grateful for any advice anyone can give me about buying a house in that area. Which areas are good, which to avoid etc... we have no idea at all as we've never even been there.

We basically want to be in a nice area for our DCs to grow up in and as short a commute to Birmingham as possible for DH. We need three bedrooms and a study and would like a garden. Most important, we need to be walking distance to a good Catholic primary school. We prefer older style properties (Victorian or earlier) but we need somewhere that doesn't require any renovation (or preferably even decorating!) as we just won't have the time for at least five years! Our budget is going to be around £250k.

Have heard that Bournville is nice - but there seems to be lots of areas within Bournville, I think Bournville village is going to be too expensive for us. Have also heard good things about Edgbaston, Harborne and Moseley - but again I suppose all of these places have good and bad areas within them... Have also thought about living further out (Whitwick, Malvern?) but perhaps the commuting time would be too long?

I'd be completely grateful for any advice from anyone as we're really stuck - we're not even going to have much opportunity to go and look at houses as we'll need to move quickly and have our DCs to consider (not easy to househunt trailing 4 DCs behind you!)
If anyone could provide me with links to houses for sale that might be suitable for us I'd be eternally grateful!!

Thank you in advance.

You are Leonie.
I wouldn't recommend the Ditch either, I ran like the wind (though I was fiercely proud of it in front of my Bromsgrove mates as a teen ).
Best bet Op is to visit potential areas and try and get a feel for them, not just for a weekend, go in the week as well.

An update on Norton.
I was in near-Bham-centre today and had to get to Stourbridge. The drive took me 40 minutes: the traffic was light today so it took less than the usual 50 mins but it never takes the 1hr20 that your DH quoted freddo. I had a quick detour to look at Norton - the school is based in a naff 60s estate, I don't think that you would like to live there (ie East of the Norton Rd).
The nice houses are West of Norton Rd eg this one in Eveson Road ref MSP00403 if the link doesn't work. Just under a mile from sch.
Alternatively, the area north of South Rd (called the old quarter I think) is full of Victorian stuff. Gasp there's a 3bed here for 160k. Another for 240K Both less than a mile from sch.
The OQ is nearer to the town centre & its amenities and, I think, the RC churches

OQ to station also about 1 mile.

How about this?

Quite a short commute to Birmingham and near some fab countryside at Sandwell Country Park and Sandwell Valley Farm.

victorian semi

4 bed semi

B'ham has more canals than venice too

Fascinating fact of the day

This is turning into a really interesting debate. I can turn Leonie's argument on its head: why daytrip to somewhere lovely when you can live there fulltime?
DH and I have lived in Bromsgrove for 20 years whilst commuting to work in various parts of Bham (including the north side) so it can't be that onerous. Meanwhile, I can just step out of my door to go for a country walk.
If you have a car, Bromsgrove is fantastic because it is near to several motorways so you can easily get to anywhere. So I live in greenery but can daytrip to Birmingham, Merry Hill or Solihull for shopping. Or I could nip down the M5 to the seaside. Or the M40 to Warwick, Stratford or London. We can easily get to the Cotswolds or the Welsh Marches. It is not even that difficult to get to the north side so we can do the Peak District, Manchester, Liverpool or Sheffield in a few hours. Brummies have to fight their way out of town before they can start the journey!

Thanks again everyone for all this greta help.
I've been feeling really down this morning after dropping dd off at school and chatting to the people I've got to know well and will have to say goodbye to soon
... so it's great to see there are hopefully so many friendly brummies in my future!

masonicpixies - that Lichfield character house you linked to, does look really interesting... not sure it's totally the kind of character I'm looking for (!) but it would def be worth a look if it's still for sale in a few weeks time.

Thanks Tilly yet again - Cannock is a no I think!

Leonie I am SHOCKED by the fact you are an American... are you sure??

Whereyouleftit - yes, am still interested in Lemington, but don't want to get too excited about it yet as it's one of those places that I think we should only look into if DH doesn't have to go into the office full time (I really hope DHs work give him some more info by the end of this week!)

Wychbold thanks so much for the useful infor on Norton. this is the house I love there, even though it's not an older house I think I could live with that, there would be so much space for us and the garden is great... we'd have to knock the price down a bit though (another thing depending on what we find out about DH's job and the salary he'll be getting). Will have a look into the areas you mention.

Nappyaddict - those houses you link to look fab, can't believe the prices. Can anyone tell me about the area that they're in(west Bromwich)(are you out there still Tilly?!)

This is a summary of where I'm at: when we come down for a visit we'll concentrate on looking at Norton and around that part of Stourbridge, Bromsgrove, Bournville, Harborne, Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield. If we find out DH's office hrs are going to be fewer and more flexible we'll extend the search to also look at Malvern, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa and Wombourne (which is probably not really an option but I just want to go there!!)

Today I want to look at a few ofsted reports to see if any of the schools in the areas I'm looking at seem particularly outstanding, as that could definitely swing it for us. Also need to do something about putting this place up for sale, and spend some time with my poor neglected DCs!

Hi Freddo, this is an interesting thread for me too! We are moving to Birmingham in approx 2 years time. We are a military family and after this posting we are buying, DH's next post is at the Uni so we are looking to buy around Birmingham somewhere! We are looking at commutable villages, at the moment we are looking at Malvern but it changes week by week

I am really unsettled here (Bucks). We have been here about a year but it feels so temporary. Having said that I am now starting to make some really nice friends but I can't help thinking about when we will move on . It's sort of holding me back IYSWIM

Anyway good luck with your quest to find the right area. I will keep reading all the good local advice

There's a gorgeous house for sale in Stourbridge on rightmove for £250k, with a converted cellar which DD1 would love! It's on Park rd though which is more Hagley area and probably not walkable to the school on Lea Vale rd (is that right?)

Hi Freddo - sorry you're feeling a bit . I'd be gutted to have to move. I have so many friends here. I'm sure you'll be fine though - we are a really friendly bunch generally

That house in Norton is great. Wychbold is right - where the actual school is isn't that nice but the location of that house is good and the school is walkable. The Old Quarter in Stourbridge has just the type of houses you are looking for and might just be walkable to the school in Norton. I personally think you "lose" a tiny bit of the community/village feel that being in Norton has, as well as it feeling a little bit more built up. Still lovely though.

As for the one's Nappyaddict linked to ........... well..... you know I'd said where I was from hadn't been mentioned and I wouldn't recommend it...........it has been mentioned now To be fair, you'd probably struggle to meet friendlier people, but the area itself is probably best avoided.

Your list looks good now. The only thing I would possibly add/change is perhaps move Lichfield (and possibly Bromsgrove ?) to the longer commute one (i.e. viable if dh is in 3 days) and if you're considering Sutton Coldfield, then I'd look at Solihull as well. Similar "feel" and similar prices (personally prefer Solihull to S.C. but very much a personal thing rather than any real reason for it !)

I'd be more than happy to act as your "South Side" tour guide if you need one - particularly Stourbridge, Solihull and Harborne/Bournville areas (I've lived in all of them at some point)

Thanks Tilly!

Glad this thread is helping you as well McDreamy - feel a bit guilty getting all this great free advice (although DH thinks Tilly is going to be knocking on the door to collect her fees when we arrive in Birmingham )

Its more Wollaston, which, in itself is ok, but Park Road isn't a nice bit. Also a good 25 min walk I would think

Your DH can sleep soundly Freddo...... unfortunately in the current climate, we haven't had much call for residential acquisition work, so we've had to concentrate on commercial (mainly retail) stuff. It pays the bills but I really miss doing resi stuff - its much more fulfilling when its someone's "home" you're trying to find. So this one is a freebie for my soul

freddo, I can't see your rightmove house. Is it Park Rd Stourbridge or Park Rd Hagley? From the price it sounds like OQ in Stourbridge. If it is Hagley then it is right on the doorstep of the hugely oversubscribed community primary school, not far from the community and RC High schs.

McDreamy: remember that the advice that we have been giving freddo is skewed by the fact that she is loking for RC schools.

Thanks, we are also RC but wouldn't necessarily want RC school but it's good to see the options.

I will be picking your brains/experiences nearer my time to move

Wollaston

So many people live here in Worcester and commute to Birmingham. Takes my husband about 40-50 minutes.

Worcester is lovely.

I will not show that to my DCs Tilly because they will DEMAND that we live on Leonard Rd

Yes I'm surprised Worcester wasn't mentioned earlier in the thread. I expect you would get a good choice of houses in your price range and it has regular trains to brum.

There are good private secondaries (I went to one). Hopefully some one can advise on the catholic schools there. The only one I know of is St Marys convent (girls private secondary)