Renting out a home in Harborne
Harborne is a Victorian suburb. Victorian and Edwardian terraces are the most common homes around the High Street, with larger 1920s and 1930s houses towards Edgbaston and a mix of converted and purpose-built flats.
The Moor Pool estate, an Arts and Crafts garden suburb built between 1907 and 1912, is a conservation area with its own Article 4 direction, so changes to the outside of a house there need permission.
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe
- The University of Birmingham's Edgbaston campus on the Harborne border
- Harborne High Street, and schools including Harborne Primary, Harborne Academy and the Lordswood schools
Our work in Harborne
We have let or managed more than ten homes in Harborne over the last few years, and the rents we achieve sit in line with the local market.
Shared houses are common here. For landlords with several of them we offer portfolio management, and we deal with the council and other housing bodies on their behalf.
We also manage licensed HMOs. That includes homes let to supported accommodation providers, where we deal with the provider on the landlord's behalf and make sure the risks are understood before anything is signed.
We also run landlord seminars in Birmingham on the new rules, licensing and tax. The next one is in the last week of November 2026. Join the seminar waitlist.
Harborne in numbers
Harborne has a big rental market. About half of what is listed is rooms and student lets, aimed at the hospital and the university, alongside a steady supply of two and three bed homes.
- At the 2021 Census, 26% of the 9,949 households in Harborne ward rented privately, against 23% across Birmingham and 20% in England.
- Homes: 29% purpose-built flats, 28% semi-detached houses, 26% terraced houses, 13% detached houses (Census 2021).
- 301 homes were listed to let in Harborne on Rightmove on 31 October 2026. Leaving out rooms and student lets left 158 homes, with a middle asking rent of £1,200 a month.
- By size: 1 bed £950 (14 homes), 2 bed £1,100 (77 homes), 3 bed £1,300 (45 homes), 4+ bed £2,100 (18 homes). Only sizes with five or more listings are shown.
Asking rents are what landlords advertise, not what tenants end up paying, and a snapshot of a few dozen homes moves from week to week.
Why tenants want to live here
- No station in Harborne. University station on the Cross-City line is about 7 minutes from New Street
- Bus 24 along the High Street to the city centre, plus the 23 and the 11A and 11C Outer Circle
Licensing and the rules in Harborne
Harborne comes under Birmingham City Council. Not for an ordinary single-family let. Harborne is in Harborne ward, outside Birmingham's selective licensing scheme. Shared houses are different: across Birmingham an HMO with three or more sharers needs a licence, and a new small HMO needs planning permission.
Harborne ward is outside selective licensing, but B17 also takes in parts of Edgbaston and North Edgbaston wards, which are in it. Check the exact address.
Shared houses: a new small HMO (three to six sharers) needs planning permission anywhere in Birmingham, under the city-wide Article 4 direction in force since 8 June 2020. HMOs with three or four sharers have also needed an additional licence since 5 June 2023, and five or more need a mandatory licence.
Use our Birmingham licensing checker to check a postcode, and our guide to the new renting rules for what changed on 1 May 2026.
Rents in Harborne
- £1,270 a month: average monthly rent paid in Harborne (Rightmove area guide, August 2026)
- £1,106 a month: average private rent across Birmingham (1 bed £834, 2 bed £1,009, 3 bed £1,141, 4+ bed £1,587), up 3.3% on a year earlier (ONS Price Index of Private Rents, September 2026)
Published averages lag behind the market and mix every kind of home. For a figure for your own property, book a free Tenancy Health Check. By the end of the call you'll know exactly where you stand.
What we charge landlords in Harborne
The same published fees as everywhere we work. Managed is what we recommend for most landlords.
Advertising and finding the tenant; referencing; setting up the tenancy; collecting the rent every month; arranging repairs with our contractors, up to £250 per item without needing to ask you; tracking certificates and deadlines, with reminders; keeping the paperwork right as the rules change; your landlord portal for statements, documents and maintenance.
Advertising and finding the tenant; referencing; setting up the tenancy. After move-in, the tenancy and the paperwork are yours to handle. Utility and council tax changeover is not included and can be added from the list below.
See all our fees, or read about letting a buy-to-let with us.