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AIBU?

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Original poster

Buy BTL house for postcode for secondary? Please help

331 replies

Schoolhousemystery · 15/12/2023 12:26

Please tell me if I got it right or wrong in my head! I think there is probably something I have not considered well.

We live in a house which we bought and we have a mortgage.

We have saved around £100k which we can use for a deposit for another house.

Our kids are early KS1 years but we don't have a good comp secondary around - we live in a heavy grammar area.

Would it be a strategic move to buy a second property close to a good comp secondary, have a buy-to-let mortgage on it , and use this address for the secondary applications? It will work well for most grammars anyway.

Would it matter that someone else would live in there as the mortgage would be buy-to-let? If we get a place to that school we will move there but since the primary is next door to our house we wouldn't like to move from now. And we don't want the money to sit in our account forever.

This house would be used from us as a back-up if our kids won't do well in the grammar results.

AIBU - There is something I am missing and we can't use an address that someone else lives even if we own that property

AINBU - You can use the address of your hypothetical BTL property

OP posts:
chipsandpeas · 15/12/2023 12:28

you cant use that address if you dont live there

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 15/12/2023 12:30

What if your tenants also use that address for applications to schools? Couldn’t you end up getting rumbled by the school that way, and ending up as landlords but without the benefit of your kids being in the school you want?

Not to mention all the hassle of being a landlord - dealing with maintenance, gas safe inspections, tax on the income, deposit protection schemes, insurance, possible non paying tenants, etc etc.

Might it be better to invest the money in tutoring, so the children have a good chance of getting into the grammar school?

CornishPorsche · 15/12/2023 12:30

It's fraud.

Congratulations.

Sopla · 15/12/2023 12:30

Yabu, You have to live at the address

LBOCS2 · 15/12/2023 12:30

The proof you have to give of residency is your council tax bill - if you're not living there you won't have one.

jc12689 · 15/12/2023 12:30

I would have thought it could get awkward of you have random tennents living there. Won't all the school post go to that address. What if they have kids who want to go to that school?

Teder · 15/12/2023 12:31

This won’t work. Crazy idea!

Original poster
Schoolhousemystery · 15/12/2023 12:31

How can we make it work then?

We live next to the primary and it would be silly to move 30min away before we even know which will be the secondary our DC will go to...

Can we have two mortgages on both houses and both of them to be on our name, without renting any of them? i.e. the second property to be empty?

OP posts:
TheFireflies · 15/12/2023 12:32

No, you have to actively live there.
the only way to make it work would be to live there. You could rent out your current house perhaps.

megletthesecond · 15/12/2023 12:34

Yabu. You'll get caught and your dc's will lose their places.

Live in the house instead. And stay there.

Etherealcelestialbeing · 15/12/2023 12:34

The LA will investigate if they are suspicious of where you are actually living. What you are proposing is fraud.

Maryamlouise · 15/12/2023 12:35

Not sure if the person I know who was planning this actually went through with it but they were going to work it that she officially moved in there (though didn't stay often) and he stayed in original family home. I would be too worried about being caught to do this and agree that being a landlord is a major hassle and likely to cost you money by the time you have paid for everything and tax on the income

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 15/12/2023 12:35

It's where you live, not what you own, that counts.

Original poster
Schoolhousemystery · 15/12/2023 12:36

Ok, I got it.

Can we have two mortgages as our "main property" and not rent any property?

If our salaries are high enough to be able to justify two mortgages without having to rent any of the two, would that be ok?

OP posts:
Sopla · 15/12/2023 12:36

Schoolhousemystery · 15/12/2023 12:31

How can we make it work then?

We live next to the primary and it would be silly to move 30min away before we even know which will be the secondary our DC will go to...

Can we have two mortgages on both houses and both of them to be on our name, without renting any of them? i.e. the second property to be empty?

You make it work by applying in the place where you live, not using an address eith tenants, not using an empty house.

Original poster
Schoolhousemystery · 15/12/2023 12:37

But they don't know where we will be living if we don't have any BTL mortgage. Like a "holiday house" and another one! They don't where we actually live.

OP posts:
ColettesEarrings · 15/12/2023 12:38

You can have a many bloody mortgages as you like, it doesn't matter. What matters is the house you actually live in.

Mumof1andacat · 15/12/2023 12:38

The council where I live don't really look at your address for senior school. What counts is the primary school your children currently attend. The senior schools in my area have 'feeder' primary/junior school and that goes to your favour.

Shf · 15/12/2023 12:38

Live. Live, live, LIVE!

It’s really not hard to understand. You apply for a secondary school based on the house you LIVE in.

CarterBeatsTheDevil · 15/12/2023 12:39

It doesn't matter whether you're mortgaging or mortgage free or whether you're letting or not. Eligibility is decided on the basis of your child's main address, which is going to be where they live.

OhmygodDont · 15/12/2023 12:39

You or your husband who ever is going to claim resident parent would need to be living and paying council tax in the property you are applying from. So from the date of application untill full acceptance as a minimum really. They can come and check if they think you are lying.

You also need to keep your mouth shut because if a sniff of playing the system gets out someone will report if they think your child got their child’s space.

ColettesEarrings · 15/12/2023 12:39

They will find out via council tax etc and potentially GP registration. Don't be a dick.

DyslexicPoster · 15/12/2023 12:39

You can't do this. Btl is a business it's never your home. Unless you keep it empty until you get offered a place.

PostmansKnock · 15/12/2023 12:40

Mumof1andacat · 15/12/2023 12:38

The council where I live don't really look at your address for senior school. What counts is the primary school your children currently attend. The senior schools in my area have 'feeder' primary/junior school and that goes to your favour.

But not where the OP is or she wouldn't need a burner house.

CurlewKate · 15/12/2023 12:40

You can't use that address. And your children will have to lie.

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