Applying for school place whilst house is empty due to building work

[Dashie]

I'd really appreciate some advice as we are new to school applications but from reading posts on MN over recent weeks I understand that it can be complicated.

Last year we bought a house in a small village with a primary school. The house is approximately 200 metres from the school so is in the catchment area. It is classed as 'outstanding' by Ofsted and has a good reputation locally so I'm assuming it is popular. It is a lovely little school and was part of the decision to move to this village. Due to personal circumstances beyond our control we could not move in straight away so are currently letting the property. We would like to do some work on the house after the tenants move out but need to wait for funds to become available later in the year. We would aim to move in June/July next year.

My DS will be 4 this September so due to start school next September. We should be living in our house by then and would like him to attend the local village school.

My question is: can we apply for him to attend the school when the house is not being lived in due to building work but our plan is to move before the school year starts?

Thanks for any advice or information on this. We're worried we may have to live there with 2 small children whilst building work is being carried out in order to guarantee a school place. We would prefer to stay in rented accommodation for a few more months.

You need to apply from the address you are living at on 15th jan. Does that give you enough time?

Oh no, it doesn't.

If tenants are in it, it must be habitable. Can you move in and then get the work done post application, moving out to parents for any completely awful bits?

It's worth checking the furthest distance admitted for the last few years. Can you rent within that distance anyway?

No, I'm afraid you can't. It won't be the child's usual place of residence at the time of application. You can apply from wherever you are now and change the address as soon as you can prove you are resident, but you can't use it for the application in January I'm afraid.

I am afraid it definitely has to be the place of residence on the date of application and on the last date for on-time applications, that is January 16th. So you do need to move in before that date. Is it possible to put off doing work till after the allocation of school places in April and move out then for a temporary period of time? Messy I know but otherwise you could be faced with having to go to another school when the school you want is only 200 metres away

Ah that's rather what I was hoping not to hear! Just to clarify, we need to be living at the address from 15th January until places are allocated in April, and then back before term starts in September?
Renting locally would be ideal but unfortunately rented accommodation is via my husband's job (we couldn't afford it in the village, together with the mortgage on our actual house) and we don't get to choose where so wouldn't be in the catchment area.

You definitely need to be there on the date you apply and on the closing date for applications (if they are different). Whether or not you need to stay there until April depends on your LA's rules (or possibly the school's rules) but it is safest to assume that you should stay put until then. In theory you don't need to move back in before term starts but it is less likely the LA will jump to the conclusion that you have used a false address if you can move back by then, so again the safe thing would be to be living in the house again before the start of term.

As others have said, you need to be in the house. Delay the building work.

Thanks so much for all the advice. Much appreciated! I can see we're going to have to change our plans!