Brandwood East
Birmingham 117 · 4 sub-areas · 6,560 residents
Birmingham 117 is a largely owner-occupied neighbourhood within Birmingham, home to around 6,560 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for roughly £990 a month — noticeably below the UK national median for a two-bed — though rents have been climbing, up around 3.5% over the past year. The area's high car-dependency and below-average school ratings are the main trade-offs.
Brandwood East is a commuter neighbourhood within Birmingham — train into Birmingham runs in around 22 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in Brandwood East?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,086 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Brandwood East in Birmingham
Living in Brandwood East
Birmingham 117 sits within the broader Birmingham local authority and has a distinctly suburban feel. Owner-occupation is the dominant tenure — around 62% of households own their home — which gives the streets a more settled, residential character than the denser rental-heavy pockets closer to the city centre. Just over one in five households rent privately, and social housing accounts for a further 19% of the stock.
The cost picture is one of the area's strongest draws. A two-bedroom home runs roughly £990 a month, well below the UK national median of around £1,200 for that bedroom count. Even a three-bedroom property averages only £1,119 a month — a figure that would be unusual in many comparable English cities. Council tax at Band D comes to around £2,363 a year, which is on the higher side for Birmingham but manageable against local salary levels. The median resident salary sits at around £30,180 a year, putting typical rent-to-take-home somewhere around 56% — stretched, but not unusual by current UK standards.
The population is broadly spread across age groups, with no single cohort dominating. Families with children make up around 19% of households, and the under-18 share is 23%, suggesting a meaningful family presence. Around 31% of households are single-person, which is fairly typical for a mixed suburban area. The ethnic diversity index sits at 45.7, and 86% of residents were born in the UK.
Practically, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 1,700 metres away — about a 21-minute walk, or closer to 10 minutes by car. Getting into Birmingham city centre by public transport takes around 21 minutes. The majority of residents drive to work: 56% commute by car, and only 10% use public transport. A quarter work from home. Broadband coverage is strong — 100% of premises have access to gigabit-capable connections.
See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Birmingham 117 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. It's a settled, largely owner-occupied area with affordable rents and strong broadband, but public transport is limited, most people drive, and the school quality within catchment distance is below the national average. The crime rate is above the UK average, though broadly in line with Birmingham as a whole.
- What is the rent in Birmingham 117?
- A one-bedroom typically runs around £820 a month, a two-bed around £990, and a three-bed roughly £1,120. These are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices. Rents have risen around 3.5% over the past year.
- Is Birmingham 117 safe?
- The crime rate is around 121 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — above the UK national average of roughly 80. That said, Birmingham broadly has higher crime than the national baseline, so the gap to the wider city average is narrower. Checking street-level data for specific roads is advisable.
- What's the commute from Birmingham 117 to Birmingham city centre?
- By public transport it takes around 21 minutes. Most residents drive — 56% commute by car — and only 10% use public transport. The nearest mainline rail station is about 1,700 metres away. There's no metro or tram service in the area.
- Who lives in Birmingham 117?
- Mostly owner-occupiers in their 30s to 60s, with a meaningful share of families. The population is broadly spread across age groups, with no single cohort dominating. Around 86% of residents were born in the UK, and the ethnic diversity index sits at 45.7 — moderately diverse.
- What schools are near Birmingham 117?
- There are 87 schools within 2km of typical residents, but only around 26% are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is approximately 1,735 metres away. Quality varies significantly, so it's worth researching individual schools before committing.
- How affordable is buying a home in Birmingham 117?
- The median sale price is around £270,000, and a typical deposit takes about 4.5 years to save on a local salary — relatively manageable by English city standards. The median resident salary is around £30,180 a year.