Can i restore a back up of the user folder to a fresh install without issues?
How did you make a backup using Disk Utility? Did you mean you cloned your startup drive? If so, you did not just make a backup of your user folder you made a backup of your entire startup disk.

But to answer your original question...

The best way to do what your trying to do is to 


Make a Time Machine Backup
Erase and Reinstall macOS
Use migration assistant to restore from a Time Machine backup where you can select what content (Your user folder) you would like to transfer



Note: Usually I would quote all this stuff but this is pretty standard information so I opted to just link it.