West Midlands

Not to be confused with the much larger West Midlands region, the West Midlands county is made up of the metropolitan boroughs surrounding and including the City of Birmingham. Competing with Manchester and Edinburgh for the title of the UK’s second city, the prominence of Birmingham has turned the West Midlands into a vital and vibrant urban area with excellent schools, universities and fantastic transport links to the rest of the UK. To find out more about what the West Midlands has to offer, read on!

4.61
Average Location Score

Excellent

71%

Very Good

21%

Average

6%

Disappointing

1%

Very Poor

1%

Best places to live in West Midlands

HomeViews Top Rated Development ranking takes into account the Star Rating and HomeViews Transparency Rating of every development in the area

A canal in Birmingham, West Midlands

Where is the West Midlands

The term, ‘West Midlands’ can often be a little confusing, as it refers to both a metropolitan county and one of nine official regions of England. In this case, we’ll be talking about the metropolitan county, which is located in the western-central area of England, largely around the city of Birmingham.

What areas are in the West Midlands?

The West Midlands is made up of seven metropolitan boroughs, including Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, and the cities of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. It also includes the Meriden Gap, which is a section of the West Midlands Green Belt.

Birmingham

The second-largest city in the UK, with around 3.6 million people living in its metropolitan area, Birmingham is widely regarded as the second city in the United Kingdom because of its size and economic value.

Once a hub for manufacturing, Birmingham has evolved into an international commercial centre and convention centre. This vibrant and influential city boasts internationally renowned cultural institutions, a thriving art, music and food scene, and seven universities, making it the largest higher education centre in the country outside of London.

Coventry

The West Midlands’ second city, Coventry has built a reputation for being a centre of excellence for arts and culture and was the 2021 UK City of Culture. For business purposes, Coventry is the most centrally located city in England and boasts excellent transport links to the rest of the country. 

A centre of engineering innovation and manufacturing excellence, especially for the automotive industry, Coventry is the industrialized heart of the UK’s economy.

Meriden Gap

While the West Midlands is one of the most heavily populated and urbanised areas in the UK, the Meriden Gap, which separates Coventry from Solihull, is a greenbelt area that retains its rural character. 

An enticing stretch of green between heavily urban areas, the Meriden Gap offers all the picturesque beauty of the English countryside, within easy commuting distance of two of the most vibrant cities in the UK.

Anne Hathaway's cottage near Stratford upon Avon, West Midlands

West Midlands universities

The West Midlands offers an excellent choice of universities, split between the cities of Birmingham and Coventry.

Birmingham alone hosts seven out of the ten universities in the county, including Birmingham City University, Aston University, University of Birmingham, University College Birmingham and Newman University. 

It also has campuses for BPP University and the University of Law as well as the West Midlands regional base for the Open University, making it the largest centre for higher education in the UK outside of London.

Coventry hosts Coventry University and the prestigious University of Warwick, while the University of Wolverhampton is split between Telford and Walsall campuses in Wolverhampton.

Top schools in the West Midlands

The West Midlands has some of the best schools in the country, including:

King Edward VI School

The school where Shakespeare learned his trade, the King Edward VI School was voted West Midlands Independent School of the Decade by the Sunday Times and is ranked as the 12th best school in the UK.

King Edward School in Birmingham (KES)

Offering the international baccalaureate to its sixth form students, and with consistently excellent overall exam scores, KES Won the Sunday Times’ West Midlands Independent School of the Decade.

King Edward VI High School for Girls

The partner school of the equally well regarded King Edward VI High School for Boys, this school has won the West Midlands Independent Secondary School of the Year twice in the last three years.

Population of the West Midlands

The West Midlands is one of the most heavily populated areas in the UK. It is the third most populated area in the country, just behind Greater London and Greater Manchester, with 2,440,986 people currently living there.

The population of the West Midlands is largely centred around the areas of Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull.

Reviews in West Midlands

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Great property design

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Oct 2023

Great group of neighbours. Very family friendly – parking is okay can sometimes be tight but not too bad. Not close to local shop or cafes which would be nice.

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Design of property was great, would have preferred bigger kitchen. Building/property management was good when staff on site but emailed about a concern within our warranty and no one came out when said they would then when emailed to chase there was no reply so issue still there.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Check doors and windows open and shut in all rooms in winter as house can settle and can be issue in summer if left.

What is the best feature of your home:

South facing garden and size of bedrooms was good size.

3
Facilities
4
Design
4
Location
4
Value
3
Management
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Quality build in fantastic location

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Oct 2023

Friendly and safe neighbourhood with lots of amentities within walking distance. Great neighbours and excellent schools within walking distance. Very quiet with lots of wildlife nearby.

Please review your development:

Excellent design of the first phase with plenty of space between plots and adequate parking. Poor building management company in charge with very little work completed to maintain areas and the balancing ponds have never been completed to the advertised standard.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

More awareness of the gradient in the garden and better understanding of the landscaping on site.

What is the best feature of your home:

Love the amount of space and the garden. Fantastic kitchen and dinner. Large bedrooms and high quality bathrooms.

3
Facilities
4
Design
4
Location
4
Value
1
Management
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Excellent location

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Oct 2023

You are a couple of minute walk to Fiveways a small hub where bus, tram and train lines intersect to almost anywhere in Birmingham and the West Midlands. You can see Broadway from your window and can walk few minutes up Hagley Road to posh restaurants. If you are a City person, Birmingham City centre is a 10 minute walk. You are surrounded by cinemas, bowling, entertainment, Cafes and very close to most City luxuries.

What you may not like though is the noise and busy streets. Parking especially if you have visitors coming to you can be very difficult.

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The development is designed and operated to maximum efficiency. I like the picturesque view from my window of Edgbaston greens and beyond. Everything is designed to keep temperature within optimum through autumn and winter months. Fire systems are optimum. Entrances are functioning to optimum security. 24/7 concierge and management support makes life easy in the Lansdowne. Also good community areas … occasional activities …

What you may not like could be the limited parking areas available to residents and visitors. There are no electric car chargers in the development and no plans to install any either in the near future as we have been told.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Nothing really. I’ve known well enough beforehand.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Management has always tried their best to get any issues solved the soonest they can. All previous issues were solved very timely and efficiently.

4
Facilities
5
Design
5
Location
4
Value
5
Management
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Excellent place to live, work and enjoy🙂

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Oct 2023

Good:
I really enjoyed and enjoying living in this apartment.
I came to UK 1.5 yrs back as a IT employee and I lived here 2 months as a guest. I liked the apartment very much as well we have all the shops very near to this apartment Morrison, sainsbury’s, domino’s, pizzahut, hair salon, parlour, electric bike, movie theater, nearby park, play area for childern etc., everything in very near from this apartment. Then I have planned to extend here but by that time there is no 1bhk furnished flat available, then I moved to some other place. But, I keep checking the apartment availability in lansdowne site and finally I saw one flat available for rent. Immediately I booked viewing and visited the apartment, paid my initial advance amount without second thought.
Till the date I live happy in this apartment and I personally feel this apartment is very lucky for me and my husbandI really enjoying living in this apartment🙂
Bad:
I don’t have anything to say bad about this apartment but we get lots of ambulance noise in the night time and it disturb our sleep and I know we can’t do anything for that.

Please review your development:

One thing which I observed is people who are living with pets. When they come to play area in the snookers room or cultural mix coming with their pet, I saw so many dogs hairs in the chair, sofa and snooker table. Because it is not good for health and tenants can avoid coming to these areas with pets.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

I personally love this apartment bcz its not a very big or very small apartment. Perfectly
desinged and compact for all ages.
Coming to communal area especially the green space, play room, gym, cultural mix. Perfect space for our free time to sit and relax.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

If we raise any complaints they are taking the action immediately and fixing the asap.

5
Facilities
5
Design
5
Location
5
Value
5
Management
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