Neighbourhood and local area reviews for renting in Selly Oak, Birmingham

It’s okay - student dominated area.

bit scruffy but has all necessities and is close to the university campus

Student area and feels relatively safe even walking alone at night , loads of great shops and pubs

Not safe at times

Selly is a nice area, better and safer than people make it out to be. Lovely community and always something going on, especially with the free events run by the Community Wardens.

If you know Selly you know it's Selly - not the safest or cleanest area but I think it was ok. Heeley Road is a good road to live on as it is still in the main chunk of UoB student houses, but also out of the way enough that you don't get car windows smashed/people peering in windows, like you might on Tiv or Alton for example.

Lots of pubs and shops but not that safe at night.

Close to transport links and shops etc., however often unclean and roads were congested and narrow. Also slightly more unsafe than other student areas, and a large number of drug dealers active.

Lots of bin strikes, quite unsafe

No bins on some roads means bin bags are left out and rats get into them and litter is strewn about. Convenient train station, distance to Uni, and variety of tasty restaurants (though too many burger shops). Safe at night to walk around if popping to the pub or Tesco. Has an Aldi so no absurd groceries prices. Nice greenery in places with the canals and the park.

Similarly to the house, it is practical but with issues. The amount of shops, takeaways and other amenities is brilliant, especially for university students. However, it is dingy, grey and always dull of bin bags and rodents.

pros:
- close to shops and necessities.
- public transport links
- close to students from many unis
- postbox
- park nearby

cons:
- bin strike affected us badly- not collected, streets fill with rubbish
- loud
- floods in some areas.
- bins everywhere

Nice shops, pubs and food places. Not the cleanest. Can be quite loud in evenings

10/10 student area. Everything you need is in walking distance. Bit smelly with bins often overflowing but it’s amazing.

Nice area, near train station and shops

just a student area

What’s there not to love..

Definitely worse areas but also not the nicest

Did not feel very safe

A bit messy and bad bin collection

Selly Oak is a large area. The main student area is towards Tiverton Rd. Other areas towards the edge can be nicer.

Pretty dodgy at times but the road the house is on isn't too bad. Bins are collected regularly and we've never had any pests. Anyone looking at living in Selly knows what it's like in general knows what it's like, but Raddlebarn is the nicest road in the area. Close to 2 green areas, lots of food places, morrisons/Aldi, and a school nearby (which has never been too noisy for us). It's a 15 minute walk onto campus, and 30 minutes to the medical school via the canal.

pretty far down hubert road, but honestly its fine. easy to walk to raddlebarn to convenience store, or to go that route (raddlebarn -> bournbrook) to Sport and Fitness. also closer to Bournville and Stirchley if you want to go there. pretty close to the station, like a 5 minute walk if ur v fast. not far from Aldi, plus Aldi's on ur way home from campus. street bins and rubbish situations sometimes pretty bad but like, thats selly, oh well.

Selly Oak has some charm to it, but definitely is not for everybody. During the day it is more than fine, but night time can get a bit sketchy.

Good for students

Good area for students to live in but really dirty and often dangerous

Has its charms - good places to eat, big student population so always round the corner from a friends house, good location to uni. But not very safe at all, as long as you don’t go out by yourself at night it’s generally fine but there are always creepy men walking around. Very noisy and dirty, always broken glass on the floor and overturned bins. I’ve lived in selly oak for 3 years and it has been fine overall, as a student area it works.

Quieter than the part of Selly closer to campus, fantastic transport links (11 bus opposite the front door, 10 min walk to the train), and it's nice being so close to Bournville village.