Buying a place at a good state school?

[LocalEditorWandsworth]

Good article in the Spectator in response to Gove and (maybe) Cameron sending their kids to state school (well apart from the assumption that it's the father who earns the money )blogs.spectator.co.uk/fraser-nelson/2014/03/gove-cameron-and-the-myth-of-state-vs-private-schools/.

"I’m lucky enough to have been able to afford a house in a part of London where the state schools are excellent. (And make no mistake: Britain’s best state schools are as good, if not better, than private ones.) I’ve never understood why so many on the left congratulate themselves for sending their kids to a state school, when they have played the system to make damn sure they got into one of the best state schools. And they were able to game the system because had money, connections or both. Is that really so better, or more ‘progressive’, than saving money and going without holidays (as Michael Gove’s parents did) in order send your kids to private schools?"

Very familiar around here. There is already about a £200,000 premium for a house in the catchment of Belleville or Honeywell and that is probably only going to increase as Bolingbroke Academy becomes more established (it had 591 applications for 120 places).

What do people think?

Interesting, although perhaps a little over-simplistic. It's chicken and egg really isn't it - did the wealthy area come first or the good school?

Agree though that once the cycle has started it just escalates. You're already looking at £1.5m + for a small 3 bed between the commons. If the whole 'state till 8' thing stops then families will stay longer to get their kids into Bolingbroke, so fewer houses on the market and even higher prices.

The real danger though is that the catchments keep shrinking. A mum I know bought an expensive house which had been in the Honeywell catchment the previous year only to find the distance shrank and she was outside. Not only did their DD not get into the school but, boom, house value suddenly dropped too.

£1.5m for a 3 bed house? That is insane and there are other areas with schools just as good although probably not as uniformly populated by white middle class families.

You'd get a huge 6 bed for that on the Heaver estate and be in catchment for an 'outstanding' school.

Ah, but are those schools in the Tatler Guide to State Schools eh? www.tatler.com/news/articles/january-2014/the-tatler-guide-to-state-schools---part-one

£1.5M won't buy 6 beds on the Heaver anymore

Well, not quite but £1.6m does www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/28595849 and that is a hell of a lot more house than you'd get BTC for the cash.