Chelmsley Wood East
Solihull 008 · 6 sub-areas · 9,613 residents
Solihull 008 sits within the Solihull borough in the West Midlands, home to around 9,600 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,050 a month, though only around 30% of schools within typical catchment distance are rated Good or Outstanding, which is well below the national average.
Chelmsley Wood East is a green, lower-density part of Solihull — parks within walking distance of most addresses, a slower weekday rhythm, and a population skewed toward longer-tenure households rather than transient renters. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Chelmsley Wood East?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; there's effectively nothing within walking distance — eating out, drinking and shopping mean a drive; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,258 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Chelmsley Wood East in Solihull
Living in Chelmsley Wood East
Solihull 008 is a largely residential neighbourhood within the Solihull borough, with a character shaped heavily by families and long-settled households rather than transient renters. Over four in ten residents own their homes, and nearly as many — around 42% — live in social housing, giving the area a notably mixed tenure profile that sets it apart from much of the wider borough.
On the cost side, this part of Solihull is meaningfully cheaper than you might expect from a West Midlands suburb. A typical 2-bed comes in at roughly £1,050 a month. The trade-off is that rent still takes up nearly half of average take-home pay here, which reflects how local wages match up against even these modest rents.
Around a quarter of residents are under 18 — a notably high share — which points to a lot of family households. Single-person households account for roughly a third of homes, so it's a genuinely mixed community rather than dominated by one type of resident. Degree-level qualifications are relatively low at around 17%, and the ethnic diversity index is 20, meaning the area skews towards a predominantly UK-born population (over 93%).
Practically, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.1 km away — about a 27-minute walk, or a short drive. Birmingham is reachable by public transport in around 34 minutes, which makes this a plausible base for city-centre workers who don't mind the commute. Car ownership is high: nearly six in ten residents drive to work, and public transport use is low at 13%. Broadband coverage is excellent — full gigabit availability across the area. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Solihull 008 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. It's genuinely affordable by Solihull standards, with lower rents and a strong sense of a settled, family-oriented community. The trade-offs are a higher-than-average crime rate, below-average school quality scores, and a car-dependent layout. It suits people who prioritise space and value over walkability or proximity to top-rated schools.
- What is the rent in Solihull 008?
- A typical one-bed runs around £843 a month, a two-bed around £1,047, and a three-bed around £1,240. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose by around 1% over the past year — one of the more modest increases in the West Midlands.
- Is Solihull 008 safe?
- Crime runs at around 121 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, which is noticeably above the UK national rate of roughly 80. It's not an extreme figure, but it is elevated, and the area's deprivation score suggests concentrated pressures in parts of the neighbourhood. As always, crime levels vary considerably at the street level.
- What's the commute from Solihull 008 to Birmingham city centre?
- By public transport, Birmingham is around 34 minutes away. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.1 km away — most residents drive there rather than walking. The area is heavily car-dependent, with nearly 60% of residents commuting by car and only 13% using public transport.
- Who lives in Solihull 008?
- It's a mixed community of families, long-term social housing residents, and owner-occupiers. Around a quarter of residents are under 18 — a high share — and a third live alone. Degree-level qualifications are relatively low, and over 93% of residents were born in the UK. It's less transient than many suburban areas of similar size.
- What schools are near Solihull 008?
- There are 72 schools within 2 km, so choice isn't the issue — but around 30% of those within typical catchment distance are rated Good or Outstanding, well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 2.6 km away. Check current Ofsted reports directly before drawing conclusions, as ratings can shift.