Primary school catchment help

[confused8899]

I'm a little confused with what to do in our situation and was wondering if anyone could give some insight!

This isn't a "move into rented for a school place situation"!! (I'm pretty sure!)

We currently live, and have done for the last 9 years in a place in the catchment for an outstanding primary school, for a few reasons (neighbours!) we recently sold our place and while we wait for the right property to come up we will be renting a flat not far from us owned by PIL, still in the catchment for the outstanding school. Ds1 is due to start reception next year so we will be applying for places this January. Will the LA think it's suspicious that we will be newly renting a place in the catchment for the school even though we have owned in the catchment (closer actually) for the last 9/10 years?

I'm worried because when we end up finding a new house it'll likely be out of the catchment (by a mile or 2) because prices around where we are now are 1-3million plus for a house!!!!

What if we find somewhere and move in in between the time we apply for a place and get given a place or the new school year starts and it's out of catchment? Does it matter once the application is sent? Should I on the off chance apply for a school that would be in the area we're looking for houses even if we don't own something there yet? Help!

The LA will just know the address you give them. They won’t know how long you have been at that address, so they won’t think you’re renting there just for the catchment area.

I’m not sure how it works if you move in between applying and receiving the offer. You can sign up to receive the offer by email and then just inform them of the address change once you have a place.

As for applying for the different area before you move, I don’t think I’d do that. What if you get a place in the new area but then don’t get a house there? You could be left with a longer commute than you want.

If I were you I’d look at houses with the plan to move before January. That’s what I did last year. Got a little stressful as we had unexpected delays in the chain, but I didn’t want to apply until the sale had gone through as we were moving to a different area. Depends if you want to take the gamble of your sale falling through.

As you are selling your house and will be able to prove that the flat is your primary residence it shouldn't be a problem for the council to use that address.
Look on your councils website my council has admissions information for September 2019 on the website already.
I'm not sure what happens if you move between applying and starting. We had to provide proof of address when we accepted the place in April but we had no plans to move.

Thank you!