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.

Just adding that Kidderminster is now top of the list, DH doesn't think the commute looks too bad. Please give me loads of info on Kidderminster... just hope the school has some places!

There are some nice bits of Kiddy ... but there are also some hideous bits. The ones you have linked to are fine but Chester Road is a very busy road. I would say they are pretty urban areas (more so than Harborne/Bournville). Its not a bad commute though - a bit further than Norton and much more than Harborne/Bournville but the A456 (? I think) takes you straight into town and doesn't start getting traffic jams until closer to town (Halesowen onwards really)

Kiddy centre gets clogged up horribly with traffic, especially at bank hols etc (people going to Safari Park, Severn Valley railway etc.). There are some beautiful Victorian houses though and you seem to get a decent amount for your £££. There are a fair few Mnetters in Kiddy so hopefully someone will have some more specific info on areas to avoid.

Still rooting for Norton here

Tillyscouts mum is right - there are some rubbish things about Kiddy but you're going to get that everywhere. I think Kiddy gets a bit of a bad press! We're very happy here.

I work in many schools in Kiddy and this area and think the vast majority are very good. There's a few to avoid which I could specify if you want. You don't have any trouble getting your kids into the schools you want like in B'ham.

Kiddy's nothing like Harborne/ Edgbaston/ Bournville so don't expect it to be. There's not really a big Yummy Mummy, NCT scene going on, which doesn't bother me as I work f/t and spare time is for the kids not to sit round gossiping drinking coffee! We lived in London before and I found it hugely liberating to come here and not worry about the kids wearing the 'right' clothes, doing the 'right' activities, going to the 'best' schools. Its a much more natural approach to parenting and the kids really mix with a range of people. Might be worth looking at the villages nearby (Bewdley, Arley, Chaddesley) if you want somewhere a bit 'posher'...but you'd end up coming to Kiddy for the Catholic school anyway.

Its a working class, old industrial town, and now the industry's gone there's quite a bit of unemployment. There are some big council estates, most of which are fine, but a couple of dodgy ones.

What else? If you enjoy the countryside you can't be better placed, but you can also nip into B'ham or Worcs for a bit of culture/ nightlife. Can get train direct to London too which is quite handy.

Let me know if you have any specific questions...

Thanks Tilly and tao!
I'm feeling much better than i did a couple of days ago as at least I have a list of a few areas that I think we could be happy in (specifically Norton, Kidderminster, Bournville, Harborne). I think my priorty now is to contact the four schools in those areas (st Joseph's Norton, St Ambrose Kidderminster, St Joseph's Bournville, St Mary's Harbourne) and see if my DD could get a place in any of them.

Do you know much about the school tao? Tilly - do you have any opinions on that house in Norton that I linked to a few posts ago? Is that area OK. The one you mentioned previously on Racecourse lane looked nice but might be a little small for us with 4 DCs and needing a study...

Yes we used to live round the corner from the school. My two eldest went to St Ambrose and no. 3 to the preschool and were all very happy there. We moved to a different area right opposite another very good school so decided to move them purely for ease with working f/t. There's a good support network amongst the mums at St Ambrose which I really miss. When I had no. 4 I had loads of offers to drop off the others!

Its a small school with 1 class per year so is quite tight knit, but I guess with that comes a certain amount of gossiping, moaning etc... There's a real mix of people, certainly not all middle class. I did find it very strict and the office isn't hugely welcoming although the teachers are excellent at communicating with the parents. I particularly liked the preschool there. Its pretty unstructured but seems to do the job with the kids all knowing letter sounds etc before they start school. The staff are mainly older ladies and very mumsy! There's no leaving children to cry - if they want cudling all day they'll cuddle them all day! They take them from 2 years too, which is handy if you work...!

The school's right next door to the church and the priest is very involved with the school which is nice. Lots of the families from school go to mass so I'm sure you'll get to know people quite quickly.

Tao - that school sounds perfect for us, very similar to DD's current school. The preschool would be good as I have a 2 yr old and a 3 yr old. I'm wanting to move there NOW!

Ofsted report for St Ambrose is not as good as for the other schools I'm looking at...reassuring to know that it's strict though, DD likes that!

The 1st house you linked to is my friend's house!V nice place indeed.

My take on kiddy - I don't like it at all (live in one of close, smaller towns). It came 2nd in Crap Towns of Britain a few years ago - that tells you a lot IMO!

Catholic primary is Stourport is VG - have done quite a lot of work there. S'port is 3 miles outside Kidd, smaller, less industrial though not much in way of period housing.

Sassy, Kiddy is sooo much better than S'port surely...!! Happy to defend Kiddy. Lived in lovely part of London and were worried about moving out but v pleasantly surprised when we moved here. Perhaps not a place for the snobbish..;)

Freddo, 'tis not the sort of place where one is ruled by Ofsted reports, so if this sort of thing is important to you perhaps not the place for you. As I said before, Kiddy is a NORMAL town with NORMAL people. If you want to go breastfeed in a Starbucks sipping on a fairtrade latte then its possibly not the place for you, but I'm guessing with 4 kids under 6 (like me) you ain't gonna be doing that anyway...

Depends what you want. Where are you moving from...?

I too know the house you've linked to in Kidderminster! Sassy's right - it's a lovely house with a great garden!

In case you're interested, there is a really active NCT branch in Kidderminster - a really mixed group of very friendly people. In fact, it's how I met Sassy from here!

If you are still thinking about Malvern I live there and it is great There is a Catholic primary school which I am lead to believe is good. Also lots to do, plenty of parks and a good swimming pool.

Right - it is time for me to continue to sell Bournville to you - it is so, so much nicer than Kidderminster!

1. Lovely organic deli and cafe and (I'm veggie so no good to me) a v well regarded organic butcher
2. A festival every summer - small dds (if you have any) can take part in the maypole dance! NOW say it's too urban!!
3. Minutes away from New Street by train but feels like another world
4. Surrounded by parks - Bournville Park itself, which has a little play area and a stream for welly-paddling / Rowheath Park, which has a duck pond / The Boating Lake, where you can take the littlies to watch all of the folk with their mini motor boat things;
5. Within walking distance of a couple of nice curry places and v easy bus/car distance of v nice organic cafes in Kings Heath/ Pizza Express and Waitrose in Harborne, plus various other restaurants
6. You can take the dcs for a walk on a Sunday morning and then buy a raspberry ripple choc bar from the Cadbury shop (never see them in other shops these days)!
7. Lovely houses, mostly Victorian long narrow ones
8. Good secondary schools - one boys', one girls' - the girls' is right next to St Joseph's primary iirc
9. carols on the village green every Christmas Eve (again, feels a million miles from the city then).

OK Janeite and can you get a 5 bed detached for £250,000....? Bus to organic cafes/ Pizza Express/ Waitrose...with 4 kids under 6 and no family nearby to help, oh joy!

I went to a wedding at Rowheath Pavllion recently (in B'ville) lovely area, beautiful houses.

Oo i've started a war here haven't I

Tao, Ofsted reports are not that important to me but not being close to the area thay are really all I have to go on! My DD going to a school that will make her happy (like her current one does) is really the most important thing to me with this move (and unfortunately there are no happy league tables or reports of school joyfullness - only ofsted!)

Janeite you make Bournville sound brilliant. It is definitely high on the list, but I do have my doubts whether the school there will have any places. I'll be ringing around next week so will have more of an idea then. it's likely that we'd prefer Bournville to make DH's commute shorter (hence more time for him to help me with the DCs) but I'm not sure we'll get a nice/ big enough house there within our budget. If Bournville is a possibility I'll be coming back here with links to specific houses and asking for your advice

That house in Norton looks lovely. I don't think I know that road specifically but we looked at a few houses off the main Norton Road when we were house hunting a few years ago and they were all pretty similar (nice, leafy suburban feeling, lots of 1930's semis etc). Norton isn't a big place and there aren't any "bad" bits afaik

Thanks Tilly. That house certainly is a possibility for us.

Janeite, st Joseph's is the catholic school I'll try 1st in Bournville, however google maps lists the next nearest as St Edwards on Greenland Road (Selly Oak?) so I was wondering about trying that as well - is the selly oak area reasonable? I think it has been mentioned before and will have to go back and have a look...

Tao - I'm from near Newcastle (a very nice part of it I think, no starbucks or good shops near though - but fab school 2 minutes away from my lovely edwardian house...) Kidderminster will probably seem exotic to me However I can't deny that I don't mind the idea of that yummy mummy cappuccino sipping lifestyle you mention (although I've never experienced it) and Bournville does appeal... but like you say with four small DCs it's not really that much of a possibility!

This house is in a great location- catchment for St Joseph's and Bournville Infant, also for KN boys' and KN girls' schools (secondary).
Nice easy walk to shops, railway station, parks etc.

This one is even closer to the railway station, though a little further from St. J's... and I'm not sure how over-subscribed they are... but it is well under budget

This one is slightly over your budget, but stamp duty is paid for you which may make the difference... and look at all those gorgeous period features, and the decor is great.

Thanks CaptainNancy - the first two look wonderful... third is prob a bit small though (need 3 beds and a study).

DH thinks that 1st one looks a bit dodgy as from google streetviewer it looks like it has a security camera on it... is he just being paranoid??

My sister used to live in Kidderminster and I have to say it looked like a bit of a dive (she agreed and has moved into a nicer village). Bit rough. Although v. good NCT branch.

There are much nicer places you could live near Birmingham...