Just applied for school and been thrown out if rented accommodation

[Ericadm]

We have applied for primary school and waiting to hear the results next week. However we have just been given notice from our landlord and have to move within two months. As our preferred school is heavily oversubscribed, can they withdraw the offer if we fail to find another place to rent in close proximity? What can we do?

Bumping this for the experts but hopefully you are ok because you were living there legitimately both when you applied and when you actually heard about places.

I'm not an expert however I think the crucial point is where you live wen you apply. However if it is oversubscribed is just he worried about someone accusing you of 'playing the system', so do keep copies of all correspondence with your landlord.

They cannot withdraw an offer because of a change of address. The only risk is if they think you rented temporarily to get a place at your preferred school with no intention of staying there. But as long as you haven't done that you should be safe.

Not sure TBH. At my kids school (which is very over subscribed) we had to take in proof of address to the school before application and then again after the places have been allocated, due to the high number of appeals in an over subscribed school.

It is not our intention to move, I have letter of notice from the agency to prove they are taking the property back as the landlady wdnts to live there. I also have a newborn so it is clearly not in my best interest to move right now. The only idea of starting packing again when I don't even have time for a shower on some days makes me want to cry.... :-(

I am sure it would be OK as you genuinely lived there when you applied.
You have enough on your plate without this extra worry.

Tiggytape where can I find exact details about what the law says?

I'm sure when you apply for schools, there is a bit there that explains what would happen if you move before or after a certain date, sometime in April iirc. Have you looked on the LA website? It should be there, or just give the LA a ring.

The LA says we are expected to live at the property between application and September. And that if we move after 'application' (it says application and not allocation) we need to let them know as they 'may' have to give our place away ;'may' not 'will' so all very vague.

You need to keep the correspondence from the agents etc. which prove this is not your choice. Even if they took the place away, as you were committing fraud it should be re-instated at appeal (but if you enclose a copy of a letter telling you you have to move with a change of address that should be enough).

Don't worry. You have enough to stress about. Just make that paperwork is kept safe (maybe store it with family or at work while you move).

Good luck with the move.

Sorry were should be weren't duh!

How about not saying anything and just having your mail redirected?

If the LA do try to take your place away you should appeal. They can "expect" all they want but they have no right to insist. But to be honest the vague wording is probably just to cover themselves in case they decide the move suggests the original application is fraudulent.

How about not saying anything and just having your mail redirected?

That would be a very bad move. If the LA find out (and they probably will) it will make it look like you have something to hide, increasing the chance that they will take your place away.

Prh47bridge I agree it looks dodgy not to say anything plus it would totally stress me out

Thanks tiggytape, I feel better now. :-) We will be obviously looking for the closest possible accommodation within our budget and of similar size. Hope we find something, two months is not a long time.... :-(

OP how long have you lived at your current address. If it's years it's likely that your application will still stand.

We lived here for one year. We asked for renewal and they initially said yes (got email to prove we asked for it) but then changed their mind shortly afterwards.

Your local authority should have a booklet/website section called something like "Starting primary school in X in September 2014." That should have the procedure your local authority follows.

Due to the lead times of rental notices (1-2 months, depending on who's giving notice), the rental market is quite fast-moving, so don't panic if there's nothing suitable available right this instant.

This happened to me just after allocations last year, we were honest with the LA and they said we could keep the place we'd been offered, we ended up moving to a completely different area so gave the place up but the LA were very clear that they wouldn't take the place off us.