Smith's Wood North
Solihull 002 · 4 sub-areas · 5,727 residents
Solihull 002 is a residential neighbourhood within Solihull, home to around 5,700 people and sitting notably closer to Birmingham than most assume — around 27 minutes by public transport. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £1,050 a month, well below the UK median for a 2-bed, though a high social housing share and a low proportion of schools rated Good or Outstanding within typical catchment distance set it apart from the broader borough.
Smith's Wood North is a mid-density neighbourhood of Solihull in the West Midlands region. It sits between busier and quieter parts of the local authority and isn't dominated by a single use — there's a mix of workplaces, housing and local services. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Smith's Wood North?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; 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 £1,258 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Smith's Wood North in Solihull
Living in Smith's Wood North
Solihull 002 has a character that's distinctly more working-class than the prosperous image Solihull as a borough tends to project. The tenure split tells you a lot: nearly two in five households are in social rented accommodation, which is unusually high for the Solihull area and shapes the feel of the streets — more settled, longer-term residents, fewer of the young professionals cycling in and out.
On rent, it's one of the more affordable corners of the borough. A 2-bed runs around £1,050 a month — roughly in line with the UK national median and considerably below what you'd pay closer to Solihull's more affluent centre. The trade-off is that rents here eat up a significant share of take-home pay: at nearly 49% of median take-home, affordability is tight despite the lower headline figure, reflecting local salary levels rather than high rents.
Just over a quarter of residents are under 18 — a notably high share — which, combined with the couple-with-children household mix, suggests this is a genuine family neighbourhood rather than a transient one. Qualification levels are on the lower side, with around one in six residents holding a degree, and the ethnic diversity index is relatively modest at 25.5, with over 93% of residents born in the UK.
For day-to-day practicality, the nearest rail station is roughly 1.4 km away — about a 17-minute walk — and Birmingham is reachable in around 27 minutes by public transport, which is a real asset for anyone commuting into the city. The area has full gigabit broadband coverage and no premises below the universal service obligation, which is better connectivity than many comparable neighbourhoods. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on specific pockets within Solihull 002.
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Frequently asked
- Is Solihull 002 a nice place to live?
- It's a settled, family-oriented neighbourhood with affordable rents and good Birmingham access — around 27 minutes by public transport. The trade-off is higher deprivation than the wider Solihull borough, a weak local schools picture, and a rent-to-income ratio that's tight despite modest headline rents. It suits households prioritising space and stability over prestige postcode.
- What is the rent in Solihull 002?
- A 1-bed runs around £843 a month, a 2-bed around £1,050, and a 3-bed around £1,240. These are estimated figures scaled from Solihull-wide ONS data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 1% in the past year — slower than many West Midlands comparators.
- Is Solihull 002 safe?
- The crime rate of around 79 per 1,000 residents is just below the UK national average of roughly 80, so it's not an outlier on headline crime. The neighbourhood sits in the most deprived national decile, which provides important context — deprivation and crime correlate, so staying aware of your immediate streets matters more than the borough-level headline.
- What's the commute from Solihull 002 to Birmingham city centre?
- Around 27 minutes by public transport, which is competitive. The nearest mainline rail station is about a 17-minute walk at roughly 1.4 km. Most residents drive to work rather than use public transport, but Birmingham is genuinely accessible for those who commute by rail.
- Who lives in Solihull 002?
- Mainly long-established families — nearly two in five households are social renters, and over a quarter of residents are under 18. It's a predominantly UK-born community with lower qualification levels than the wider Solihull area. Private renters are a small minority here, under 14% of households.
- What schools are near Solihull 002?
- There are 68 schools within 2 km, but only around 27% are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national share of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 3.4 km away. Families should check individual school ratings closely rather than relying on the area average.
- How does Solihull 002 compare to the rest of Solihull borough?
- It's one of the more affordable and more deprived parts of the borough. House prices average around £173,000 — considerably below the Solihull norm — and social housing makes up a far higher share than in the borough's more prosperous suburbs. Birmingham access is good, but school quality and deprivation levels contrast sharply with Solihull's overall reputation.