To send my child to a "bad" school?

[Pixiedust2017]

Apologies for shamelessly posting here for traffic but I would really appreciate some opinions.
I shall attempt to keep it brief.
I live in a country with a housing crisis, and the most expensive houses in the world according to the OECD. We currently live in a very middle class area with great schools, and a lovely community and family feel to it.
We have managed to be able to save up enough for a 10% deposit on a house in this area but we just keep being outbid on houses (due to a horrific sales process I had never heard of in the UK) and are slowly being priced out of the market here.
However, 5 minutes further up the train tracks and an additional 10 minute walk there is a suburb in which we can afford 20% deposit on a house which is twice the size of a house we can afford in the area we live now. These are also free standing houses as opposed to flats and apartments and cross-leases which are the only places we can currently afford now where we live. The houses in the cheaper area also have enormous fenced gardens and off street parking, nothing like what we can afford where we currently are.
Additionally with buying in the cheap area in 5 years or so time we would have almost paid of the whole mortgage on the cheap house and would be looking to move back to where we live now and let the cheap house out as a rental, using the equity on it as a deposit.
The issue is this, the area with the cheaper housing is supposed to be a "bad" area. It is famous for having drug problems and a heavy gang influence.
I am not so much bothered by this, as the crime rate here is so much lower than the UK that I think a "high" crime rate here is equal to about what you would find in most British cities.
What I am concerned about is that the schools in the area all have the lowest possible ratings and are mostly populated with children who speak English as a second language.
This plan however could mean that for a few years at least my child would be going to one of the worst schools in the entire region...
AIBU to consider this? Or should we keep trying to save up more and stay put where we are?

It’s all good and well strangers saying education is key!!!!
While you keep renting and watching house prices rise.

Buy in the bad area now, if needed rent it out and rent in the good area when the time comes for schools. Once established for a year or so move out to your house in the “bad area” and enjoy your life.

If you buy, you’ll have more income to find rental of a decent place and extra educational support when the time comes

Thanks for the idea about private schools, I stupidly hadn't thought of it. A quick google seems to make the idea unrealistic for our area but I shall look into it more as yes we could afford it with the lower mortgage rates.
We had an issue with our landlord a couple of months ago, our shower door exploded and he refused to let us replace it with a shower curtain instead of another door. Thankfully no-one was hurt, just the tiling and bath were scratched. We were greatly upset with our landlords response to our concerns about our daughters safety and as it is not our house we are not allowed to do certain things in the house to ensure it is safe for her (earthquake proofing by bolting heavy furniture to walls etc.). This was what led us to wanting to buy as well as paying our own mortgage rather than someone elses.
We are kind of hoping gentrification occurs in the area as like PPs have said in some areas around the region it is already happening.

This zoning policy, could it work in your favour too? If you move just before 5th birthday, do they have to give her a place in the good school?
Cos if they have to then i would buy a house in the cheap area yesterday. Knock lumps off the mortgage and then move just before her 5th birthday if you still need to.
Or buy the cheap house and rent it straight out and keep renting where you are if the numbers work.

As an aside

I’d love more details about the exploding shower door!

@ajptaylor yes it does work just like that, could move anytime and they would have to make space for your child.

I would go for the schools every time.

Caribbeanyesplease It happened in a friend’s student house, usually a fault in the glass somewhere and then stress (such as heat) suddenly makes it just shatter. They were all sat in the living room and heard it go, no one was near it at the time!

Sounds bloody terrifying!

Caribbean Its not much of a story, we were just eating dinner and heard a massive bang in the bathroom, go to investigate and there is glass EVERYWHERE, including in the toilet and all over the hallway into the bathroom. The glass was still shattering and cracking as it was safety glass. And there were some pieces embedded in the tiling and the bathroom walls several feet up so it must have had some impact.
The landlord thinks we smashed it somehow and his only concern was that it hadn't damaged his bathroom. We were however very thankful none of us had been in there!

I would definitely go for the cheaper big house, it is ages before dd starts school!

Honestly, school is a waste of time. If your kid has any smarts they'll be fine where ever you send them

Buy in the cheaper area. 'Bad areas are rarely as bad as people say.

The shattering thing happened to our oven door, completely out of the blue (oven wasn't in use, and it was fairly new at the time).

I'd do the bad area- I grew up in the 'bad' area of wellington and it was never as bad as outsiders thought it was

Also if your referring to as bad due the decile rating- that means fuck all, they don't take anything to do with the school into account only parental income