Where is the worst place to live in Birmingham?

Perhaps not the proudest accolade - a street in Birmingham was labelled amongst the grimmest in Britain after residents complain their homes are invaded due to mountains of rubbish that haven’t been cleared in 10 years. We speak to Brummies about the state of the streets across the city and ask them if there is anywhere they would label ‘the worst place to live’.

Lee says: “Handsworth is pretty rough in certain parts of it.  I live in Handsworth Wood. The further you get out it gets better. Sparkhill and Sparkbrook are a bit rough.  I don’t want to offend anybody that lives there. Alum Rock, that’s a bit rough, I mean, speak to any local, I’m not telling you anything new! They’re notorious bad spots, they’ve always been the same though. It’s up to the council to do something about it really.”

Kishana says: “I shouldn’t really say this because I live here but - it’s Northfield.  For me it’s Northfield.  I just think it’s quite unruly up there. I think due to a lot of the youth not having anything to do, it just becomes a playground for them basically.  So everything just then becomes destroyed or noisy or whatever. I do believe that there should be more things for people and youths, especially, to do.”

Carol says: “I think no doubt Birmingham City Council are trying to do as much as they can.  And you can see some areas which are being redeveloped. You can see some areas where you can see litter pickers and people going round to try and clear up any rubbish. 

“Obviously economically it’s very difficult because of the disputes with council workers who aren’t necessarily feeling that they’re getting the same advantages as private workers. But we know that somehow we’ve got to balance the books.  So I think it’s the same, probably, in all cities throughout the UK.

“And it’s very easy for some people just to pick on one street.  It’s in a bad way because of whatever dispute or whatever the problem is.  And actually use that to brand the whole city as being like that.  And I don’t think it is. Birmingham is a great city and it has some wonderful areas.”