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Original poster

would you buy a house if it was absolutely a dream house if it was not in a dead cert catchment area (London)

68 replies

Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:03

me again Grin

The estate agent rang again to tell me that our buyers want to be in MY flat within seven weeks

We saw a dream house on Saturday, but due to baby boom and the building of a block of flats, even though it is 0.3 miles from local primary we may well not get in (plus have to transfer DS1 who is already in reception)

It is enormous, room to let an annexe if we ever needed to, so no financial strain, close to shops, park, good transport, near friends etc etc

DS1 could be taken door to door to current primary by bus while we wait for a space for him

Should we? Would it be mad, and impossible to resell?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 06/02/2012 16:05

Yes, I would do it.

Original poster
Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:07

Oooh

Was expecting answer to be no

Would you not be nervous?

OP posts:
PosiePumblechook · 06/02/2012 16:10

Give admissions a call and ask about catchment.

And no I wouldn't! Currently having to rent in the right catchment.

LIZS · 06/02/2012 16:10

would dc2 get sibling priority if ds1 was accepted ? If it isn't too arduous a journey to the current school then not sure what the issue is . If it is a dream house why would you need to resell it ?

Haziedoll · 06/02/2012 16:11

What will you do about schools?

Are you prepared for a long trek to an undersubscribed school?

Original poster
Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:12

It is a long journey - half an hour on the bus, I don't think we could do it indefinitely

The school was very helpful, but thought the flats were an issue (in fact she mentioned them)

We wouldn't want to move ever ever ever again, but I would never want to feel trapped I suppose

OP posts:
Haziedoll · 06/02/2012 16:14

Oh I misunderstood, you would be happy to keep at existing school. In that case I would go for it!

SoupDragon · 06/02/2012 16:15

IMO, you are very unlikely to get your dream house in the dream area at a price you can afford.

I would take a gamble on the school and being able to secure an in-year transfer at some point.

bigTillyMint · 06/02/2012 16:15

I would go with my heart on the house Smile

If it is London, there are many schools - have you got your heart set on a certain (primary?) school for your DC when there may be others which you have discounted but might actually be fine?

Original poster
Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:18

bigTillymint - I do know what you mean - where we are at the moment it is densely populated and there is one school that everyone wants and two that are actually fine within 1km

We are getting a bit more suburban here.... and there just aren't as many schools - the nearest after the good one is 0.5miles away and it does sound fairly iffy at the moment, although I know things can change quickly

OP posts:
MothershipG · 06/02/2012 16:20

If it really is your dream home I'd go for it. If your DS is still in Reception a move isn't the end of the world and once he's in you won't have to worry about DC2.

Are the flats completed? Have families moved in yet? You won't be able to get DS on the waiting list until you have exchanged.

Also I know it seems like a million years away but don't forget High Schools. Is this house near a good one of those as well? Seeing as you never want to move again? Wink

Original poster
Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:21

Yes but is a lottery

Which tbh is another worry

OP posts:
Original poster
Levantine · 06/02/2012 16:21

If we were in a dead cert catchment for a good comp I wouldn't hesitate

OP posts:
LadyWellian · 06/02/2012 16:36

Levantine not sure there's any such thing as a 'dead cert' for a comp - depending on borough, they have criteria auch as banding and you may find that of 2 children who lived exactly the same distance from a school, one would be offered a place and the other not on the basis of how many had applied from that ability band.

What I would say is that schools can change a lot in the time your DC are at them. DD's primary was the Holy Grail when she started (we just happened to live 100 yards from it, but even then they told us they couldn't guarantee we'd get in!) but has gone downhill massively whereas another local one that was very unpopular now has people falling over themselves to get in.

We did move to be in with a better chance of a good secondary, which we got, and they are now unpicking the damage of the last two years of utterly ineffective teaching at primary. (And doing a bloody good job of it.)

Personally I would say go for it. Your eldest DC is only in Reception so you have years ahead before you need to worry about secondary, and often what happens with the very sought-after London primary schools is that a lot of the families actually move out of London, so you may find you have a better chance of getting DC1 in on an in-year admission is better than you think.

To illustrate that last point, although DD's old school was so oversubscribed at nursery/reception that it had to put in a fourth 'bulge' class a few years ago, in years 4-6 the average class size (out of three classes) was about 24.

Sorry for the essay Blush

Whorulestheroost · 06/02/2012 16:38

I guess the bottom line is that you have to decide between your children's education and a house. If you were prepared to keep your ds at his current school then I would say go for it. What's the likelihood of your ds1 getting into an over subscribed school anyway? What did admissions say about a waiting list? Personally I would not be able to relax in the new house if my kids education wasn't a dead cert in a school I was comfortable with. You are right though schools can change, my dcs school went from satisfactory to outstanding just before Christmas with a change of headship from the last ofsted. Good luck, not an easy decision :)

Rhubarbgarden · 06/02/2012 16:51

I think on balance I'd go for it. But it's a tough one.

Gonzo33 · 06/02/2012 18:06

I'd do it.

randombloke · 07/02/2012 10:06

Hello All...Levantine's DH here...it is a lovely house, there's no doubt about it. We both really love it, but the bus journey for our DS1 into his current school would not actually be half and hour as DW said but according to the tfl Journey Planner, leaving at 8am on a school day it would actually take 52 mins, plus there's a five mins to allow to get to the bus stop. So actually more like an hour. Which would be OK for a few months, or even a year or two, but if he didn't get into a half decent school after that it would start getting a bit much for him, never mind us!

Then there's the flippin secondary school problem....why does it have to be so crap! It's all so confusing and upsetting.

randombloke · 07/02/2012 10:08

We could drive in of course, but then we'd have to consider congestion charging and parking issues....it's a nightmare

MarshaBrady · 07/02/2012 10:10

I don't know if I would. It's a very hard decision. But since you want to be in the next house for a long time, I'd make it one more likely to be in the right catchment.

Is it a lot better/bigger than a house with a similar asking price within the catchment?

Original poster
Levantine · 07/02/2012 10:26

Ha ha what you doing here?!

Marsha, there aren't really houses in our budget at all in catchment - it is either small flats or Victorian houses at £800k+

This is a massive thirties house on a road a little further away

Yes, I was wrong re journey time

Doesn't really look like a goer does it Sad

OP posts:
MarshaBrady · 07/02/2012 10:32

I feel bad saying that. As you might regret it. Can you look at it again while you think about it some more?

If there aren't that many houses in the catchment that could change things, since it is unlikely to happen even if you wait.

Original poster
Levantine · 07/02/2012 10:36

Don't apologise! We need honest feedback

Yes I think we should look again

It has a very unusual layout which is the amazing thing about it, but it has a few drawbacks too

OP posts:
noddyholder · 07/02/2012 10:39

I probably wouldn't. We bought a house we couldn't afford and didn't really love to get ds into the best local school. Once in we sold up and moved to somewhere we liked. The school was worth all the hassle it was great. What is the school like that would be available in teh area of the house?

randombloke · 07/02/2012 10:39

It is considerably bigger than any house we've seen so far, and it's in good nick, plus we would be able to rent out part of it easily to a bedsitter saving us coasts and making it possible to pay down our mortgage much easier and quicker.

BUT...I'm inclined to think you're right MarshaBrady and a smaller house with an easier time of it schools-wise would make for less stress in the long run and a better quality of life.

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