School catchment as a tenant

[chepe]

Hello, my daughter will be starting reception in a couple of years. I know we are early in our search for schools but as we live in an area with zero good state schools nearby we will have to move. We've identified Dundonald and Wimbledon Chase as two schools that we like. The catchment for both of these is tiny, and we will look to rent out nearby. We will ensure we find a place which meets the school catchment for one of these well before the application period. My query is: If we sign a 1 year rental lease, which the landlord does not renew at the end of the tenancy, would that mean my daughter can no longer continue at the school? So if she were to receive an offer and start reception at one of these two schools but we need to move again if the landlord does not extend our lease, do we need to find another place again in the catchment? Does the school need the child to the live in the catchment for the entire duration of their school years?
I'm not from the UK, so my query my seem trivial but any advise would be very helpful. Thank you so much.

Hi @Countdowntowhat thank you. I will check this as well.

Hello @Soontobe60 no we are not looking to move back to the property we own. Once we move to Wimbledon, we will stay put there. Commuting 1.5 hours each way (drop off, come home, then go pick up and drive back home) would total 6 hours of driving time minimum. As working parents this is impossible. We are only trying to understand the school admission criteria, especially for oversubscribed schools as we are new to the U.K. and are unfamiliar with the state schooling system.

Hi @YireosDodeAver I meant too late for the 3 year minimum rental if you wish to own a property elsewhere.
Yes selling is an option we now have to consider.

@chepe do you just have the one DC?
In my city (not london) the price difference between houses in the catchment areas of awful schools vs similar size houses in the catchment areas of good schools is so high that going private for schooling is actually cheaper if you only have one child and don't mind living in the cheaper area.

Are the schools where you live really that bad? Most schools in London are pretty good especially at primary level. Is it worth looking at your more local schools before selling up?

I live in Merton, and when we were applying my son did not get in to the four nearest state schools - including the two you mentioned. We lived just a bit too far from any of them. We were offered a place across the borough at a much less successful school. We appealed, and my husband was a lawyer (so was very prepared and good at stating his case), but while the members on the committee said 'we hear what you are saying' (he said if child A lived closer than child B to several schools then child B should get priority over child A at (B's) closest school as A had an equally good and nearby alternative but B had none), they said the admission criteria had been adhered to so we lost.
Merton has many good primaries and is very popular with families and the best schools are generally oversubscribed, so Merton are very strict. I now live within walking distance of three primaries, two 'excellent' and one 'good'. My neighbours could not get their child in to reception on the school on our street for reception but her younger sibling did get a place the following year. They still go to different schools as there's just no room for the older child in her year.
By the way at Halloween last week we had over 200 visitors!

I would just sell your owned house, then there can be no dispute over whether you live in the rented property. Two years is plenty of time to sell. It's what we did, sell up and move into a small flat a few doors down from a very desirable London school (not Merton area). Lived there for a couple of years with furniture in storage, enough time to get 2 dcs into the school and then bought a house a 20 minute walk away. We only moved into the rented flat the summer before applying for DC1's school place. We had to have evidence of council tax, medical card etc for the new address but of course we changed those as soon as we moved in as it was our only address.

Our house would never be in catchment but it's within walking distance and has all the advantages of being in the local area for play dates and after school clubs. We would have needed double the budget to buy a house this size next to the school. The council was aware that we moved but they had no powers to remove the place as we were genuinely living in the rented flat at the time of both of our school applications.

@mondaytosunday wow it's so competitive to get into good schools. We will have to find a property that's in the catchment. We love the area and found the schools to be excellent, so very keen on this area. Fingers crossed we give it our best try and hopefully something will work out 🤞

@Doveyouknow yes indeed the state schools in our area are not good at all. We have no choice but to move unfortunately.

@YireosDodeAver yes you are right about the property premium near state schools and it's worth considering if we can go private instead. I will look into this option as well, and weight out the cost benefit ratio.

Thank you for your inputs. Much appreciated.

@cherriesandberry yes it's looking more likely that we may need to sell so there is no dispute when it comes to our application being considered by the council. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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