Landlord is selling our house in the school catchment area

[Octavia09]

Hi everyone!
I wonder whether you could help me.
We got accepted at the primary school we wanted and it is in our catchment area. Now the landlord is selling the house and we have to find another one by the mid June. We have found one which is not far from the place where we live but out of the catchment area. I do not really like the house but there is nothing else to choose from. If we do not take it then we might not find anything close to the school. Now my worry is whether the school will not change its mind because we will not be living in the catchment area. It is not our fault that the landlord is selling it. I hate it my self because he told us about his decision two month after we had moved in. So, should I worry or not? Probably we should show the school a letter from our agent confirming that our landlord is selling the house.

We have decided to take that house as we do not know whether we will find something else so close to the catchment area. Then later if the school says we have to find something within the area we will have no choice but to look for a new place.

I think we will have to look for another house within the catchment area anyway if we want both of our kids to attend the same primary school. The school is oversubscribed and I am sure that only those with strong connections will get a place for another child.

Have you talked to the LEA yet? Have you read the admissions code?
What is the order of priority? What is their policy on people who move between accepting a school place and child starting school?

In my LEA it will affect school transport, it does not affect school places. They even had to get rid of a rule which said, if you moved further from the school between child A and Child B, child B would not be entitled to the sibling preference.

Octavia,
Before you do anything check very carefully what the LA say on their website about renting and moving houses. Do not speak to them because they will have to log it and it will in effect become a formal declaration of the fact you are moving.
I fear that you may fall foul of the detail of the admission process if you are not very very careful. Do not tell the LA anything until the last possible moment to lengthen your stay at this rented house to as long as possible.

I bow to Admission's font of knowledge. But personally I would get someone (Mum, friend, work colleague of DH) to phone with a hypothetical question.

I just found this information on the LEA:
"School places are offered based on your child?s home address at the time allocations are made. If this information changes between the time you make your application and when places are offered, it is your duty to inform the Admissions Team of these changes. Any parent seeking to obtain a place at a school by knowingly providing false information may have their child?s place withdrawn."

Keep a copy of that! Doesn't sound as if you have a problem.
Now find out how they word the sibling clause.

Good luck!

I have heard that many mums have been left unhappy because the siblings did not get a place in the school even though they live in the school catchment area. The school takes 30 kids only. That is why I think for our own benefit it would be better to find a house in the area. It is not always possible but I do hope because I do not really like this house. The kitchen is the size of a bathroom and the house is not attractive inside like old dirty carpets etc. They are going to be washed but then you cannot wash off the spots and change their colour.

Octavia
Look on the LA site where you found the above quote for anything about renting houses or other comments about informing them about moving house before you start at the school.
The above quote confirms that the place offered is yours unless there is some other "detail" about the time between the place being offered and your child starting school.

Admission, there is nothing regarding renting or moving, so hopefully it will not become an issue. I might find out from the school but I need to be careful because the catchment area is small and our house on the way to school. Or I better call to the LA and ask; aggain should probably use a public phone or skype.

Octavia, that sounds like it is your duty to inform the LEA only if you move after application but before the offer is made? If you have had the offer it sounds like you are OK - but I would be going over it carefully to make sure!

I am quite shocked by the requirement in Buckinhamshire to be living at an address for 6 months after starting at the school. That is surely discriminatory against people living in private rented accomodation - since if you are on a rolling tenancy (as many people are after the first year's contract) your landlord need only ever give you 2 month's notice to quit!

Bucks is a grammar school area. It's a lot cheaper to rent a flat for a year to get your child into a grammar school than pay 5+ years of private school fees. Abuse is rife, unfortunately.