Living in Solihull

A 1-bed in Solihull averages around £843 a month, a 2-bed around £1,050, and a 3-bed around £1,240. That puts a 2-bed roughly in line with the UK median. Rents have risen around 1% over the past year — slow by recent UK standards, which is good news if you're renewing a tenancy. Council tax (Band D) is around £2,197 a year. The median property price is approximately £356,000, and on local salaries you're looking at about five years to save a typical deposit. Rent takes up close to half of average take-home pay, so Solihull isn't cheap — but for the quality and suburban space you're getting, it competes well against comparable West Midlands postcodes.

Solihull records around 90 crimes per 1,000 residents annually, slightly above the UK average of roughly 80. That said, the area's IMD deprivation score places it in decile 7 out of 10 — meaning it's in the less deprived half of English local authorities — and the crime figure reflects a fairly broad borough that includes more urban patches alongside quieter suburban streets. Anti-social behaviour and vehicle crime tend to drive the local rate, as is common in mixed urban-suburban areas. The more residential, owner-occupied parts of the borough generally see lower incident rates.

Around 38% of schools within typical catchment distance are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average of around 89%. That's a notable gap, and it's worth factoring in if schools are a priority for your move. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is roughly 3.4 km from the average resident. Families with strong school preferences tend to research specific catchments carefully before committing to a street, rather than relying on the borough-wide picture.

Birmingham is Solihull's key commute destination — around 30 minutes by public transport, which is genuinely quick. The rail commute to London takes just over 105 minutes, and Manchester is around two hours. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 1.6 km away — about a 20-minute walk. There's no realistic metro or tram service here. The bigger picture: over half of residents drive to work, and only around 6% use public transport regularly. Solihull is a car-first area. Broadband is strong — gigabit-capable connections cover 98% of the borough, and no properties fall below the minimum standard.

Solihull skews older and more settled than most of the West Midlands. Around 21% of residents are over 65, and the 50–64 bracket is the single largest working-age group at just over 20%. Under-18s make up a solid 21%, reflecting a good number of family households — couples with children account for nearly one in five households. The private renter share is low at around 13%, well below the national average, which means most of your neighbours are long-term owners. Around 35% of residents hold a degree-level qualification, and the ethnic diversity index sits at 30 — less diverse than Birmingham itself but not homogeneous.