Mad or sensible to buy a house we could only just afford v near outstanding primary?

[thiskittenbarks]

Baby is nearly 1 so school is a long way off, but we want to buy here (relocated from north to south last year) now and won't want to move again before he starts school.
There is a house we could juuuust about afford (if we scrape everything together) right next to an ofsted outstanding state primary. The house needs work which we could afford to do eventually, but we could probably only afford to make it liveable before moving in.
Alternatively we have seen a few nice houses near "good" (ofsted) schools which are more comfortably within budget.
The house in question is much bigger, and has more potential than the others too, and it has other positives such as being v close to DP's office and also baby's nursery. So it wouldn't be a total loss, but the main reason I want to stretch to buy it is because of the school. Is this crazy?
DP seems to think that everything will have changed by the time baby is at school (he even said today that state schools might not even be around by then...) so there is no point buying a house based on it. I don't think this is likely, but I suppose the school could really go downhill?

Go and visit the school. If you like it then for me it would be a no brainer and I would make it work. We did it but it's not for everyone - we sacrificed holidays, familiy days out were of the cheaper variety and we drove an old banger for years. It really depends on what lifestyle/family life you plan on having over the next few years. We don't regret it because the kids are now grown up and really didn't give a monkeys then or now about the lack of holidays. And when we do decide to move/retire we will be able to ask a premium house price for a house that will sell very quickly. Plus you have added value for all the house improvements you will have done over the years.

Interest rate rises are on the horizon...unless you get a good fixed deal you may have to pay more monthly.

Don't bank on getting in even if you live next door. There were 34 siblings for 30 spaces at our favourite school when my eldest applied for a school place. The child who lived next door didn't get a space (but the sibling who lived 15 miles away did but that's a whole other story!!!)

We were allocated a school in special measures, a drive away with no public transport connections, but not far enough to qualify for free transportation.

Schools play an important part in the house buying decision but not unless you've been to see them. I would rather live in the catchment of a couple of really good schools and be safe in the knowledge we would get one of them than put all my eggs in one basket.

Interest rates are also predicted to rise. I think you'd be bonkers to stretch yourself just for a school. If you have found your dream house though then that's a far better reason!!!

Zodlebud speaks total sense :) Don't hang anything on one Ofsted rating would be my advice. We ended up grooming the 'good' school over the outstanding. Outstanding ticked all the boxes but it had no soul, no social mix, and ... no music teacher.

Grooming?! Ffs. Choosing.

How near is the house to good/outstanding secondaries? What is the primary school's "feeder" secondary? How difficult is to get to shops, any leisure facilities and resources like libraries, banks, etc? Just make sure you factor those things in to your equation and it may help you decide.

Secondary schools matter more.

Things could change a lot in the 5 years before your child goes to school.

The difference between outstanding and good Ofsted often isn't that large. Look at their SEATS. Visit, feel the atmosphere. See if you would feel comfortable there. Chances are your children's personalities will be a hybrid of you and DH so if you dislike it so will they.

Think about the neighbours too. It is somewhat galling when all your neighbours are richer. Everyone is going off on fancier holidays, kids have swankier birthday parties, more beautiful kitchens, nicer cars. It can make you feel dissatisfied with a life many would envy.

In our area distance to the school isn’t a guarantee you will get a place, even if its your primary catchment. So you could move there and still not get a place. Have you checked the current admission guides to see how places were allocated?

Secondary school catchments important too.

I would put almost the whole wedding budget towards a property.

I'm not sure I'd make ofsted a significant factor, in my decision as long as I had good options elsewhere. if I'd spoken to parents who loved the school I'd consider that more.

Affordability is critical given interest rates will be going up soon - see the BBC website today. I'm OK with stretching myself but I'd want to know my plan if rates went up 1% etc). Also, I'd put a lot of importance on quick commutes for me or dh as this has a good impact on family life and local amenities (where can I walk to with the dc from my front door etc).

We did, but knew it was also in the catchment of the secondary schools we wanted. And I had also visited 3 or 4 schools and we rented in the area for 2 years before we bought. As it turned out, we still wanted to school we'd initially targeted, but renting in the area flagged up that the house we'd have bought wouldn't have been the forever house we thought it would have been - by renting we identified a couple of roads we preferred (and we subsequently bought on one of those roads).

Two things occurred to me:

Schools change, maybe the headteacher retires or leaves, or they convert to academies. There is no guarantee that the school which is outstanding now won't be RI in 4 years.

There is a high probability that interest rates will rise soon - will you still be able to afford the mortgage on the more expensive house if rates increase by 1 or 2%?

How old are the respective Ofsteds?

As the criteria change (become more rigorous), and Outstanding schools are inspected rarely if at all, a new Good (as in one in the last couple of years) could actually have been a better school 'on the da.

It's not just that schools change, but that the criteria have got tougher. So the Outstanding school could be exactly as good as it was when it was inspected, but that would only be sufficient to get a Good on today's standards.

IME Oustatdnign schools tend to go one of two ways - one is to use he freedom from inspection to become really excellent places for the children they educate - discarding the fear and box ticking of Ofsted and doing what is right for their children. the other is to fossilise: 'We are Outstanding, we don't need to change at all, even in light of new research on e.g. teaching reading'

Apologies for typos:
'on the day'

and

'Outstanding'

I think I'd go for a house that was in the midst of several good schools. This is our current situation and it works well. We will be offered one out of 2 lovely schools for our youngest DC. Currently at the school that the older DC attend are children who live a stones throw from two local outstanding schools. Its a complete bun fight to get in, one if my friends can actually see the school from her house but still couldn't get in. Another Mum is stressed because as well as being close to one of the outstanding schools she us also geographically close to a school that is currently in special measures (again)...

We bought based on a single primary school before I was even pregnant, (it was a school I had done one of my teacher training placements in) and within the 5 years it took to get dd1 to actually get there it had expanded massively from 1 1/2 form to 3 form entry, changed leadership team entirely and experienced massive staff turnover. It was our third choice on the application and we still ended up with it. All is going well so far, but I really have had to make my peace with the changes... On the other hand, the school I teach at now has gone from absolutely scraping an RI to good with outstanding elements in the space of 2 years. A lot changes in education very very quickly.
Good Luck with whatever you decide
(FWIW We also used our wedding savings towards the deposit - no regrets, ended up with a beautiful elopement to London! Children do somewhat change your perspective on things...)

I would be worried about interest rises myself

I'd forget a flash wedding and buy the house.

We bought a wreck of a house very near a very sought after school, with the associated price hike, before we had DCs but with the intention to do so. When it came to it, we ended up preferring the undersubscribed school in the other direction for DD.

We still love the house and we're glad we bought it. We've been here nine years, and the structural stuff is done, but we need to save to do our second bathroom and the kitchen.

If you love he house and road etc, go for it, especially if you plan to be there for a while.

Ofsted ratings are likely to change between now and when your dc are at school. We moved when dc was 2 to a house that was just about "in catchment" (as in, within the radius because all offers round here are by crow-flies distance) of a very-nearly-outstanding school (ofsted report classed several features as outstanding but overall score was good rather than oustanding) but closer to a "good" school. A couple of years later when we applied for schools the catchment radius for the nearly-outstanding school shrank dramatically and we missed out by 45 metres, and DC went to the 2nd choice "good" school. The next year the nearly-outstanding school was downgraded to good with some features that were causing concern, and a reinspection after that had it even worse and it is now in special measures. Meanwhile the school that was our 2nd choice has gone strength to strength, is now rated as outstanding and has been identified as one of the best performing primary schools in the country.

Don't make house choices based on current ofsted ratings.

I would worry more about the secondary rather than primary. That's where l would be focusing my choice of living accommodation.

And, I've taught in an Ofsted outstanding school for years. Sometimes it changes to good, but it is mostly outstanding. School rarely change much even if they convert to academies.

There no guarantee it'll be outstanding in three years time. That would be my only worry.

thegirlupnorth,

The thing is, Oustanding schools are inspected so rarely, if at all, that it may still have an Outstanding report (the same one...) in 3 years time BUT it may no longer be any good at all in terms of day to day practice....

I would trust a recent Outstanding, say the last couple of years. Prior to that, and older than that, I would assume that it's a Good school unless anything on a visit made it clear that it was worse... Some of the reports are so old that they are still from the era when schools got a lot of notice for inspection, so bear no resemblance to everyday practice.