secondary school admissions and house renovations...

[siftingflour]

Advice needed!

My son is in Year 5 and will apply for secondary school next Autumn.

However, stupidly I arranged for major building works to start in September for eight months.

We were going to move out for the renovations and stay with my in-laws. My son will stay at his current school so it's only our base that will change.

We own the house we are renovating and we've lived here for ten years. We will move back and have no plans to sell.

We will continue paying the council tax and bills, post will be delivered to the house during the renovations - but the house itself will be emptied of all stuff and full of builders.

But now I'm worried I can't apply from this address, as we won't be living there on the application date in October. I will be back in the house by March 2018. I'm just trying to avoid being in it when they are doing full scale work (the builders say that it will be hugely disruptive - kitchen coming out - and that the work will get done much faster if we are not there).

And If I can't apply from this address what address can I apply from? I can't apply from my parents address as it's a temporary accommodation, I don't exist on any legal contract or council tax bills, it's in a different borough - and anyway the neighbouring council will argue that I still own a property and I can't use this temporary address or that I won't be living in the temporary property by the time school comes around so I can't apply.

I am reluctant to delay works as it will cost me thousands (the builders are already booked).

Advice needed.

You need to check exactly what your local education authority says in its admissions booklet - which S hould be online - about what constitutes your main residence. Many LEAs would take the view that, if your house is an uninhabitable shell occupied only by builders, it is not your main address and can't be used for a school application. Some LEAs do spot checks and might well class your application as fraudulent if they visited the property and saw it was empty.

that is your permanent residence so you should apply from that address, you would be living there but for the building works. I would be concerned if it was the other way round and you were trying to apply from your in laws address.

Yes, tiggytape, exactly that. As far as I know, these policies are quite widespread and (I would guess) designed expressly to prevent that "oh dear me, my massive family house next to Unpopular Comp needs redecorating, so it just so happens I'm renting a studio flat next door to Most Oversubscribed School in the Borough in the run-up to application day" scenario. It's unfortunate if that's a nuisance for families whose homes really do need major work but I can quite understand why LEAs do it.