no idea what to do for the best?

Doozergirl

littlesos wrote: »

Problem is she wants to rent a house in the catchment area. What happens if her landlord decides to move them on just before the start of term, and there isn't another rentable house in the catchment area, she would lose her place at the school.

Once your child has been offered a place at the school, they will not take it away from you.

littlesos wrote: »

Equally, does the school have enough places for all the catchment area children, if not being in rented accomodation may count against them (not sure whether it would, if it were me I'd check it out).

Equally, if the OP stays where she is, she may have 0% chance of getting her child into the said school!

Why on earth would a school discriminate against your child because you live in rented accommodation? Why on earth would it be any business of theirs at all? I don't think it's on the application forms! :rolleyes: They're not exactly sitting there trying to make up reasons not to let children in their schools.

If you want your child to go to a good school, you have to be proactive and get yourself into a position where that is likely. I moved 125 miles away to get out of London and away from a postcode lottery. My son goes to a school where there are only 20 children in his class and I live in a better house in a better area.

Security is not provided by living under the same roof either. Security is provided by parents and family who love you and strive for the best for you; being surrounded by friends and yes, having the consistency provided by going to the same school - that doesn't necessarily mean living on the doorstep the entire time or having parents that own their own home.

littlesos

Doozergirl wrote: »

Once your child has been offered a place at the school, they will not take it away from you.


Equally, if the OP stays where she is, she may have 0% chance of getting her child into the said school!

Why on earth would a school discriminate against your child because you live in rented accommodation? Why on earth would it be any business of theirs at all? I don't think it's on the application forms! :rolleyes: They're not exactly sitting there trying to make up reasons not to let children in their schools.

If you want your child to go to a good school, you have to be proactive and get yourself into a position where that is likely. I moved 125 miles away to get out of London and away from a postcode lottery. My son goes to a school where there are only 20 children in his class and I live in a better house in a better area.

Security is not provided by living under the same roof either. Security is provided by parents and family who love you and strive for the best for you; being surrounded by friends and yes, having the consistency provided by going to the same school - that doesn't necessarily mean living on the doorstep the entire time or having parents that own their own home.

That isn't true.

In Leicestershire, if you are offered a place at a school and you move out of the catchment, the place will be withdrawn. (so long as you haven't actually started school of course). From the admissions pages...

85.Offers of places are also withdrawn if they were based on an address and the parent’s address changes before the child is admitted. For example, if a child was offered a catchment area place and the family moves out-of-catchment before admission takes place, the offer of the place is withdrawn and the new catchment school is offered. This is regardless of numbers in the schools and whether or not other requests have been refused.

I still would like to know where the eldest child goes to school, if he/she is already at the good school there is no need to move. If not they will have to change schools, and the affect this will have also needs to be considered.

pinkshoes

kodokan wrote: »

This is unnecessary scaremongering - anyone who's sold a house and moved into rented as a policy can presumably buy back at any time (excluding the unlikely case of rapid increases in house prices), AND have a good chance of having a lower offer accepted as they are in a far stronger buying position. In no way are they 'stuck' in rented accommodation. And renting in most areas is cheaper than servicing an equivalent mortgage at the moment, so the surplus plus the interest on the banked equity will mean a larger deposit.

We're following exactly this strategy - last year we sold our house and moved into a larger rented one, we're considering another move in a few months to play the catchment game, and we're watching our saving balance grow every month!

kodokan

Lucky you! The houses near the good school where I lived were like gold dust, and if one actually came onto the market, there was a damn good fight for it!! Those whose children have finished school either stayed in the house, or realised how much money they could make from renting it, which was way above the rents outside the catchment area!

Doing research is NOT scaremongering!! A fantastic school will make houses scarce, so it's important to check how many (affordable) houses are actually being sold in the catchment area, otherwise you could end up stuck in expensive rented accomodation which will thus eat into your savings.

In many areas, a mortgage + 15% deposit is often cheaper than renting an equivalent property...

Doozergirl

littlesos wrote: »

In Leicestershire, if you are offered a place at a school and you move out of the catchment, the place will be withdrawn. (so long as you haven't actually started school of course).

So if the OP moves and rents and the school is oversubscribed but manages to get her DD a place at the school, but then by some twist of fate the OP is given notice by the LL and has to leave the house before school starts, THEN can't find another house in the catchment area, the place might be withdrawn. On weighing up the probabilities, I'd take the risk.

Doozergirl

pinkshoes wrote: »

In many areas, a mortgage + 15% deposit is often cheaper than renting an equivalent property...

I'd love to know where these areas are please

Where I live the rent is £750. With a 15% deposit and even with mortgage rates at 5% (which you'd be unlikely to get now) the Interest Only part of the mortgage (so effectively, renting from the bank!) would be £814.

I've found virtually no property in the last couple of years that would bring in a rental yield of over 5% on it's current value

pinkshoes

Doozergirl wrote: »

I'd love to know where these areas are please

Where I live the rent is £750. With a 15% deposit and even with mortgage rates at 5% (which you'd be unlikely to get now) the Interest Only part of the mortgage (so effectively, renting from the bank!) would be £814.

I've found virtually no property in the last couple of years that would bring in a rental yield of over 5% on it's current value

Oxford! The interest portion on my mortgage is about £815, and renting the same flat would cost around £875. Ok, so there's not much in it, but I do get to own my own flat, paint it whatever colour I choose, and not have to worry about rent hikes or being handed my notice to move out!

Rents are quite steep in Oxford though, as most people prefer to live within the ringroad (so a limited 3 mile radius), and there's 2 good universities, plenty of rich students (! - pah! Where do they get the money to run a car?!?!), and lots of business with workers often requiring rented accomodation.

littlesos

Doozergirl wrote: »

So if the OP moves and rents and the school is oversubscribed but manages to get her DD a place at the school, but then by some twist of fate the OP is given notice by the LL and has to leave the house before school starts, THEN can't find another house in the catchment area, the place might be withdrawn. On weighing up the probabilities, I'd take the risk.

You have written it very melodramatically!.......

The probability of a good school being over-subscribed is very high, hence the need to move into the catchment area to secure a place.

The only probability you have to weigh up is the chance you might have to move out of your house before the start of term, and this really depends when you move in. If the OP can sell her house reasonably quickly she's got almost 12 months before the start of the school year, plenty of time to be "moved on". She has to move into the new house before February as this is the closing date for school applications and the current address is the address that places are awarded on. If she is in rented in February, on a AST, that is due for renewal in July at the latest, leaving a v. short time to find a new house to rent in the catchment area, if she is asked to leave. OK so the probability that she will be asked to leave may be small, but the risk is there and should be considered.

I may seem stupid to you Doozergirl, but it isn't just a case of someone moving into a catchment area, it's a case of someone selling their home and the security that comes with owning a home to move into a rented house in catchment, which IMO is a big deal.

In my case our house we tried to move into catchment area 2 years before DD was due to start school. After a series of sales falling through we managed to move this year (June) but after the Feb deadline, hence even though the school is about 100 yards from our front door, we don't have a place there.

Doozergirl

No one said you were stupid littlesos. Just that I consider a good school to be more important than paying a mortgage. Also that if you worry too much, you never acheive anything. The likelyhood of her daughter losing a place after having got in, is much less than not having a place at all by not moving.

And no, it isn't just about catchment area, it's about living in a nicer house in a nicer place, with the good chance of getting her DD into a good school. I'd hate to think that my child didn't or wouldn't get the best education because I was convinced that it was better for them to live in a house that mum & dad owned.

kodokan

pinkshoes wrote: »

In many areas, a mortgage + 15% deposit is often cheaper than renting an equivalent property...

You're forgetting lost opportunity cost on that deposit cash - 15% of, say a £200k house, is £30k, which at current rates will bring in well over £100 a month after tax, more than offsetting any rent difference, even in an unusual area like yours with a highly priced rental market. This works even better with a non-working, non-tax paying spouse.

Deposit for a house, interest generating cash in the bank - you say potaytoes, I say potahtoes...

Back to the OP, though, you're quite right that s/he needs to do the research carefully, crunch some numbers, weigh up what's more important, balance short and long term goals. I'm personally with Doozer on this one though, that there are some stages in life where renting can be a better choice than owning - when couples first move in together, when career building can move changing areas or even countries every few years, when house prices are flat or falling and money in the bank can earn over 7%, when moving a mile down the road can mean the difference between an excellent or mediocre school.

kodokan

pinkshoes

Back to the OP, though, you're quite right that s/he needs to do the research carefully, crunch some numbers, weigh up what's more important, balance short and long term goals. I'm personally with Doozer on this one though, that there are some stages in life where renting can be a better choice than owning - when couples first move in together, when house prices are flat or falling and money in the bank can earn over 7%, when moving a mile down the road can mean the difference between an excellent or mediocre school.

You're right, it really does depend on personal circumstances. I have no kids, so not really worried about catchment areas just yet, but I do know how difficult it can be to buy a house in the catchment area for a really good school, so hence would choose to buy over renting in these areas, regardless of the market.

I see my house as my home, not as an investment as such. After 8 years of renting (A total of 8 properties - i moved round the country alot!), I'm sick of it, and don't like the stress and insecurity that goes with it! At least now I know that I'm in control :-)