What happens to those who rented to get into a good school?

[Fiona2011231]

I was told by a few friends that in reality, many people, who already got a house, would rent near their preferred schools so that they can increase their chance of getting into that school. It is a bit like cheating, but it can work effectively.

I was wondering what happens after they achieve their purpose. I mean, in September, they would know the result. Then will they be able to terminate the rent in October while the school cannot do anything about it? Or will they have to wait for at least a few months before they can stop renting and be back to their normal house?

Thank you.

[curlew]

Don't do it Fiona. People have the place taken away from them on a regular basis. They do check.

[IrisWildthyme]

depends on the local authority - but in many cases if you own one place and rent another in the same town the onus is on you to absolutely prove beyond doubt that the rental place is your real home and in most cases they will assume the owned place is the correct address. When the LA find out the child loses the school place which was obtained fraudulently, and will be given a place wherever there is an undersubscribed school (likely the worst school in the area) and the place will be given to the victim of the fraud, the child who just missed out on a place they were entitled to. -this can happen even after weeks into the term, it is not the case that the school can't do anything about it.

[Fiona2011231]

Thank you so much for your kind advice.

In my case, I feel both said and frustrated as I was informed, through anecdotes, that in my preferred school, some people have got in thanks to this cheating. I myself have to settle for the second choice.

Is there any way to make a general complaint to force the council to do the investigation at the school so that other parents can get in while the cheating people are out?

[curlew]

If you have names, and feel so inclined, report them to the LEA.

[Fiona2011231]

In a case that I know of, that family had rented a place one year before they applied for the school. In Sept this year, they got what they wanted and now they are still renting. All the time, they already bought a house on mortgage. And yet they still got their preferred place.

It showed that if parents are willing to rent for one year, then the council might not be able to do anything even if they know.

[curlew]

If that was their main or only residence at the time of application and they had council tax and electoral roll details at that address, then that was their address. Rather different to temporarily renting just for application purposes.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Is the house on the mortgage being renovated? We are currently renting but we have bought a house to do up and it is not in habitable condition. If we were in the school admissions round arguably we could use the rental address because we actually live there and couldn't live in the other property ( nor could anyone else).

[IrisWildthyme]

fiona they won't act on a general complaint - they don't have the resources to investigate everybody individually but they can and will take action if there is some specific and verifiable allegation. Do you actually know any details or believe there exists tangible evidence of the fraud which you could alert the Council to (e.g. as Chaz says above there can be legitimate reasons for having 2 properties) or is it just hearsay i.e. someone saying "there's loads of parents who actually live miles away getting places" but without naming names.

NB it can be perfectly legitimate for someone to live miles away and still get a place if they have an older sibling who got in legitimately in an earlier year. In most LAs having a sibling at the school gets you to the top of any priority list as schools understand what a nightmare it would be to have to do simultaneous drop off and pickup at 2 different schools.

[rasberryYoghurt]

Chaz, some councils are taking a hard line, even when the main house is uninhabitable. And so they should in my view. In http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/town-hall-fired-me-for-taking-legal-action-over-a-school-place-8834556.html this case a local councillor and cabinet member messed up big time. Her owned home was next to an unpopular school and was being renovated. She chose to rent a property at the opposite end of the borough, 90 minutes commute away, next to a very popular and oversubscribed school. Not exactly a good example for a councillor to set!

[rasberryYoghurt]

This time with link......

Chaz, some councils are taking a hard line, even when the main house is uninhabitable. And so they should in my view. In this case a local councillor and cabinet member messed up big time. Her owned home was next to an unpopular school and was being renovated. She chose to rent a property at the opposite end of the borough, 90 minutes commute away, next to a very popular and oversubscribed school. Not exactly a good example for a councillor to set!

[teacherwith2kids]

Some schools routinely report any changes of address within the first year of a child attending the school to the council for investigation.

If it turns out to be a completely genuine move, no problem. However, in cases where the family is moving 'back' to an address that they previously lived in, then if that house is outside the admissions area for the school, the place is removed.

As to what happens to the children - for secondary, I know of a child still being HEd in Y8 because the parent refuses to send the child to the alternative school, despite there being no chance whatever of the child getting a place in the preferred school until beyond GCSEs....

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

raspberry
I see the point you are making. In our case we were already in this rental property then bought a house to do up, we are still in the rental property because we had to gut the do up property as it hasn't been updated for decades. As PP have said there can be genuine reasons why people are renting and own a property.