B5 5SA Birmingham
Live postcode, introduced January 1980. Ward: Bordesley & Highgate. Region: West Midlands.
Streets
- River Street, Birmingham: 10 addresses
Council tax
What each band costs in Birmingham in 2026-27: Band D £2,363 a year on average, including the police, fire and any county and parish charges.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £1,575 | £1,838 | £2,100 | £2,363 | £2,888 | £3,413 | £3,938 | £4,726 |
Homes by band in the neighbourhood around this postcode: most are in band A (61% of about 1,550 homes).
Planning and heritage
- Conservation area: yes, DIGBETH, DERITEND AND BORDESLEY HIGH STREETS CONSERVATION AREA (council page). Extensions, demolition, some windows and doors, and work on trees need consent.
- Listed buildings within 100 m of this postcode: none.
- Article 4 direction (removing permitted development rights): CITY WIDE HMO.
- Tree preservation orders: none recorded, though not every council has published theirs.
- Green belt: no.
Brownfield land registered for housing within 1.0 km
- Oval Estates Land, Digbeth: up to 1,826 homes, permissioned (200 m)
- Warwick Barr Major Development Site: up to 3,000 homes, not permissioned (270 m)
- Typhoo Wharf, Bordesley Street, Bordesley & Highgate: up to 353 homes, not permissioned (280 m)
- 1 Bordesley Street: up to 1 home, permissioned (380 m)
- Former Irish Centre: up to 454 homes, permissioned (390 m)
- Bull Ring trading Estate, High Street Deritend, Bordesley & Highgate: up to 342 homes, not permissioned (390 m)
- Digbeth High Street Major Development Site 1: up to 770 homes, not permissioned (410 m)
- Connaught Square, High Street Deritend, Bordesley & Highgate: up to 167 homes, not permissioned (420 m)
Flood risk
Rivers, the sea or surface water: in this postcode, 4 addresses are in areas at high risk, 0 at medium risk and 0 at low risk. Each address counts once, at the higher of its rivers-and-sea and surface-water risk.
Rivers and the sea alone: of the 1 homes the Environment Agency counts, 1 are in areas at high risk, 0 medium, 0 low and 0 very low.
High: 3.3% (1 in 30) or more chance of flooding a year. Medium: 1% to 3.3%. Low: 0.1% to 1%. Very low: under 0.1%. The rivers and sea figures allow for flood defences. Counts cover whole postcodes, which can include other streets.
Flood zone for planning: the postcode centre is in flood zone 3. Zone 3 is a 1% (1 in 100) or greater annual chance of flooding from rivers, or 0.5% from the sea, ignoring defences.
Height above sea level
The postcode's 10 addresses are between 97 m and 102 m above sea level (101 m on average).
Broadband
Superfast 100%, ultrafast 100%, gigabit 100% of premises; 0% cannot get 10 Mbit/s. Ofcom Connected Nations, data as at January 2026.
Getting around
| Nearest | Distance | |
|---|---|---|
| Railway stations | Birmingham Moor Street 7.1 million journeys in 2024–25 | 650 m |
| Bordesley 29,000 journeys in 2024–25 | 720 m | |
| Birmingham New Street 37 million journeys in 2024–25 | 1.2 km | |
| Underground, metro or tram | Meriden Street (West Midlands Metro) | 350 m |
| Digbeth High Street (West Midlands Metro) | 370 m | |
| Curzon Street (West Midlands Metro) | 480 m | |
| Bus stops | 9 stops within 400 m, 89 within 800 m; nearest Fazeley Street Deritend | 130 m |
| Bus or coach station | Birmingham Coach Station Digbeth | 430 m |
| Car parks | 6 within 800 m; nearest Trinity Street Car Park | 220 m |
| EV charging points | 11 within 1.6 km; nearest MFG Charging Station | 540 m |
| Airport with scheduled flights | Birmingham Airport BHX | 9.6 km |
Local services
| Nearest | Distance | |
|---|---|---|
| GP surgeries | 5 practices within 1.6 km; nearest Babylon GP At Hand Birmingham | 390 m |
| Pharmacies | 11 pharmacies within 1.6 km; nearest Boots | 790 m |
| NHS dentists | 6 practices within 1.6 km; nearest Night Dental Limited | 200 m |
| Hospital | Birmingham Children's Hospital | 1.1 km |
| Police station | Digbeth Police Station | 510 m |
| Cash machines | 5 machines within 800 m; nearest MFG - Waterlinks, Bordesley Cashzone | 550 m |
Parks and green space
| Nearest | Distance | |
|---|---|---|
| Park or garden | 3 within 800 m; nearest Eastside City Park 1.4 ha | 540 m |
| Largest park within 800 m | Kingston Hill Local Park 2.7 ha | 590 m |
| Play area | 2 within 800 m; nearest Science Garden 1,150 m² | 550 m |
| Playing field | Unnamed 2.8 ha | 1.7 km |
| Allotments | Storrs Place Private Allotments 1,750 m² | 1.6 km |
Within 800 m: 3 parks and gardens, 6.2 hectares in all.
Landmarks
The nearest historic landmark is The Listed Building (formerly Floodgate School), Digbeth Campus, South Birmingham College, a listed building (Grade II*), 270 m south-west. 61 listed buildings are within 1.0 km, 2 of them Grade I and 8 of them Grade II*.
| Name | What it is | From the postcode's centre |
|---|---|---|
| The Listed Building (formerly Floodgate School), Digbeth Campus, South Birmingham College | Listed building, Grade II* | 270 m south-west |
| The Old Crown Public House | Listed building, Grade II* | 300 m south |
| Birmingham Gun Barrel Proof House | Listed building, Grade II* | 340 m north |
| Curzon Street: The former Principal Building of the Birmingham Terminus for the London-Birmingham Railway | Listed building, Grade I | 510 m north-west |
| The de Birmingham moated site, the seat of the medieval Lords of Birmingham | Scheduled monument | 640 m west |
| Warstone Lane Cemetery | Registered park or garden, Grade II | 2.4 km north-west |
| Key Hill Cemetery | Registered park or garden, Grade II* | 2.6 km north-west |
| Name | What it is | From the postcode's centre |
|---|---|---|
| Soho Loop | Lake or reservoir | 3.1 km west |
| Icknield Port Loop | Lake or reservoir | 3.2 km west |
| Edgbaston Pool | Lake or reservoir | 3.6 km south-west |
| Coldbath Pool | Lake or reservoir | 4.7 km south |
| Brookvale Park | Lake or reservoir | 4.8 km north |
Air quality
| Pollutant | Here | UK limit | WHO guideline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) | 18.6 | 40 | 10 |
| Fine particles (PM2.5) | 8.4 | 20 | 5 |
| Particles (PM10) | 14.1 | 40 | 15 |
All three are within the UK legal limits; nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 are above the WHO guideline, as in most towns and cities.
Road and rail noise
| Level | Road traffic | Railways |
|---|---|---|
| 55 to 59 | 5 | 2 |
| Under 55 | 5 | 8 |
5 of the postcode's 10 addresses are modelled at 55 dB or more from road traffic, and 2 at 55 dB or more from railways, above the WHO guidelines.
People and work
Who lives here
| Around this postcode | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Median age | 19 | 40 |
| Children under 15 | 3% | 17% |
| Aged 65 and over | 2% | 18% |
Homes
| Around this postcode | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Owned (outright or with a mortgage) | 20% | 61% |
| Owned outright | 10% | 33% |
| Shared ownership | 0% | 1% |
| Social rented | 12% | 17% |
| Private rented | 69% | 21% |
Work and commuting
| Around this postcode | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Adults (16 and over) in work | 25% | 57% |
| Unemployment (of those working or looking for work) | 33% | 6% |
| Retired (of adults) | 2% | 22% |
| Long-term sick or disabled (of adults) | under 1% | 4% |
| Work mainly from home (of those in work) | 32% | 32% |
| Travel to work by car or van | 32% | 48% |
| By train, Underground, metro or tram | 5% | 4% |
| By any public transport, including bus | 15% | 8% |
| On foot or by bicycle | 21% | 10% |
| Work within 10 km of home (of those who travel to work) | 44% | 65% |
| Work 30 km or more away | 32% | 8% |
Education and languages
| Around this postcode | England | |
|---|---|---|
| Degree or other higher qualification, Level 4+ (of adults) | 17% | 34% |
| No qualifications | 3% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship as highest qualification | under 1% | 5% |
| Main language English (aged 3 and over) | 87% | 91% |
| Cannot speak English well or at all | under 1% | 2% |
Deprivation
The neighbourhood around this postcode is in decile 3 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England's 33,755 neighbourhoods and 10 the least.
The full dossier for this postcode's main street is on River Street.