Looking to buy in West Midlands or Worcestershire...

bealau

Me and my husband are looking to buy a house with the Help To Buy Scheme and Equity Loan in maybe 8 months time. We're currently researching areas but obviously because we're limited to New Build Developments, our preferred area might not have any developments at the time. I'm trying to broaden my search a bit and get a feel for a number of areas around West Midlands and Worcestershire. 

The criteria is..

1) No longer than 30 min train commute to Birmingham City Centre or University Station (husband works near Uni of Birmingham and we don't own a car).

2) Good community feel and things to do in close range - I'll be a stay at home mom and due to health problems, I'm not allowed to drive. Parks, toddler groups or shops would be nice.

3) Don't care whether it's suburb, town, village, as long as it's NOT city centre or in the middle of nowhere with no train station, or public transport links to supermarkets and essentials. 

So far I've come across Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Alvechurch and Barnt Green. Any opinions

on these?

carefullycautious

Are you living in the Birmingham area at present or moving from another area?

Scotbot

Have a look at Boldmere.  Near to Sutton park, great high st and 30 minutes to University from Wylde Green station.

tweeto

Although a little bit further than you would like, Lichfield is a lovely place to live. Direct train is 40 minutes, but the good thing is there are lots of new builds literally opposite the train station.

bealau

@carefullycautious Yes we are currently living in the Birmingham area. 

carefullycautious

Alvechurch or Barnt green would be a easy commute to Birmingham Uni. Trains are regular and you could also go into Redditch for Kingfisher Shopping Centre right next to train station. You could always ring some toddler groups and chat to the people running them to get a feel of what they are like. You are spoilt for choice really. If it was me I would make sure hubby's commute is as short as possible to allow him more home time.
You could also try Mumsnet who may have more people your age who know the areas better.

bealau

@tweeto At first glance Lichfield looks lovely. A bit more up my street. We would have considered Malvern as well, but it's also a bit further out. Sadly we have the commute to consider. I'll look more into Lichfield though  

bealau

@Scotbot Will have a look into Boldmere. I've heard nice things about Sutton Coldfield!
@carefullycautious Barnt Green and Alvechurch seems to be a quick commute, which is a plus. I did notice there weren't any supermarkets (aside from a Tesco Express) closeby - could be wrong about that though. They're on the list though  

Scotbot

bealau said:

@tweeto At first glance Lichfield looks lovely. A bit more up my street. We would have considered Malvern as well, but it's also a bit further out. Sadly we have the commute to consider. I'll look more into Lichfield though  

Delends on your budget but Blake St has a newish ( nineties I think) estate right next to the station. Easy commute to university ( about 40 mins) and lots of young families live there. known as Blake's Barn estate.  Lichfield will be close to an hour to university. The number of trains per hour also decreases the further you get past Four Oaks. 

Doozergirl

There's significant price difference between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove. 

I live a 6 minute drive from Barnt Green station, but on the outskirts of Bromsgrove, separated mainly by fields, but my house would be double the price there.     My reason for living in Barnt Green would be because my daughter could walk to the station and their mini-Tesco is more interesting than mine, but the price differential is ridiculous.  I drop her off and use the Tesco.  The pubs are both nice (serving exactly the same menus), but a taxi isn't expensive.  

You will get more for your money in Bromsgrove and you're definitely more likely to find new builds in Bromsgrove than you will in BG.   Prices have been rising steadily and the town is entering the 21st century with independent restaurants, coffee shops and a new pop-up street food venue.  We boast 2 Aldi supermarkets and a Waitrose.  Winning!  

It's a lovely place to raise children.  The three tier school system is rare in this country, but it really helps children stay children for longer - the narrower age groups keep them closer to per groups.  There are also still very small village schools, of the likes of Dodford and Fairfield with 15 to a class.  You normally have to pay for that!  

We're near the motorway, making it quick to get into Birmingham but also down to London, which I can do in 1hr 45 to Chelsea.   Bromsgrove station also has more direct trains to Brum, with some having University as the first stop.  Trains are cheaper from Barnt Green though. The area around Bromsgrove station is a bit of a hotspot with coffee shops and restaurants popping up.  

In fact, there's a smaller developer with a little  cul de sac of 6 houses about to go up next to my house.  He's not planning to release until they're built, because they're a smaller company.  

Whether you choose this area or the likes of Sutton or Lichfield might depend on where you're coming from in terms of accessing old friends/family.  I'm biased, probably, but I think that South Birmingham is overall better than north.  We have friends in Bournville, Stirchley, Kings Norton, Harborne and Edgbaston which are all respectable.  Malvern is lovely but it's long way from anywhere.  It's better to visit. 

Longbridge is also a hot spot for new builds.  Cofton Hackett side gives you the access to Barnt Green.  

I don't have much of an opinion on Alvechurch, it's cute but not that much of a destination.  I'm also not a fan of Redditch and wouldn't be tripping over myself to make that my local shopping centre.  It's okay if you like roundabouts, but I head for the city for retail therapy.  Why wouldn't you?  

MessedUp

ive got a cottage for sale in worcester! 5 mins from the m5