Mushroom Green

Terraced rows dominate here, packed tightly enough that the population density runs well above both the regional and national averages — this is a dense, close-built pocket of Dudley rather than anything spread out or semi-rural, and the "Green" in the name is more inheritance than description.

The housing stock tells you what kind of street you're buying into: mostly terraces, a handful of semis and detached homes further out, and freehold ownership running through almost the entire sample. A For Sale board here is overwhelmingly likely to be on a freehold terrace, priced below both the Dudley and national medians — this is a borough where property remains genuinely affordable, sitting comfortably in the lower reaches of the national price spread. Dudley Wood Primary, rated Good, is the one named school in the picture, and with a median age of 40 this reads as a settled, longer-term community rather than a transient one — people who bought here tend to stay, reflected in a turnover rate barely above 1.5%. Connectivity grades come back solidly (B+), but transport itself is graded C, so this isn't a place built around a station commute; it works better if your daily travel is by road.

The safety picture is the one to read carefully rather than skim. The overall grade sits at a respectable B, and the safety sub-grade is B+, which sounds reassuring — but the crime rate here runs sharply above the Dudley average, and violent and sexual offences alone account for over half of all recorded crime. That's the out-of-pattern note in an otherwise unremarkable set of grades: a place that feels fine on health, affordability and connectivity, but where you'd want to look at the crime breakdown rather than the letter grade alone. The trend is flat, at least, not worsening — this isn't a deteriorating situation, just a persistently elevated one relative to its own borough.