address of convenience

[UK19989345621]

We have been struggling with the acquisition of address of convenience for local secondary school
They simply refused us because we own another property in 22 miles away and they are saying is viable to travel everyday

We have now appeal next week and I am bit confused what to do

Anyone got any advise please

4.2 We will not generally consider an address to be a child’s habitual residence if the applicant owns or rents an alternative property that the child previously lived in. Where an applicant still owns or rents an address at which their child previously lived, they must explain and evidence the permanence of their house move. Renting out an owned property or putting it up for sale would not normally deem it unavailable to the family. A property would normally only be deemed unavailable to the family from the date it is sold but this would not alter the outcome of an application for a school place where the decision has already been made.

You are outside their rules.

Item 4.2 covers this and they go on to list an example of a move in the 18 months beforehand.

When did you move into the rental property and how long is the tenancy on your owned property - is it still for sale?

Plus in section 4.1 they say 'balance of probabilities'. They don't have to prove it beyond all reasonable doubt. Just that it looks like you have rented to get the place.
(Which to be honest is what it looks like so far to me.)

I have gone thru this funny protocol many times but I want to know on what grounds they can prove I am going back to the old address while it is tenanted while I can prove I am living in new rented property!

and on how could they make these protocols? is it written somewhere in law?

yes, we moved into rented property oct 18 but we tried everything to get our house sold but we couldn't!

so what else I could do ?

We put the property for sale from Apr 18 for 3 month - then we rented out and move to the rented property in Oct 18 before the secondary the deadline

Yes it is still on the market for sale !

You could have stayed in your old house and applied for a school closer to it.

They don't have to 'prove'. They use 'balance of probabilities'. Many people rent to get into a good school whilst keeping their own house. Easy to say 'it won't sell' by pricing it too high.

You moved into the rented house the month of the admission deadline. You can see why that would look suspicious, can't you?

They aren't saying you aren't living there. They just think that like lots of people do each year, you've tried to make it look like you've moved but really next October you could be back in your owned house.

@TeenTimesTwo I am not here to discuss this matter with you as I have been sending and suffering for 6 months, if you have a new idea please share otherwise I don't think your comments help me!

October 18 would have been just a few weeks before the deadline. I’m not surprised they think you aren’t genuine. Did you supply any evidence at all of your move being genuine when you applied?

But it does look suspicious OP - to move within 500m of school in the last month of admissions. How close was the nearest offer you received for the house?

@AlunWynsKnee I understand what they think and that is why they rejected us , but they are offering other schools in this area which is 10 miles away!

I am trying to find a way to prove I won't go back but I really don't know how

If I could sell my property would that helps but this option still in process, even we dropped the price by 40K ! We even had an offer last month which we accepted but the buyer pulled out very last minute

I am happy also to give written confirmation that I would never go back to own property but I am sure they won't accept that ! even band my self legally to live in my own property but sound ridiculous!

OK.

I have been asking questions to see if you explain a clear reason as to why you rented as you did that wasn't for school admissions.

So far you haven't, so the conclusion is you moved for school and you are trying to game the system.

If there is a reason why you rented when you did that wasn't for admission reasons, then that is what you have to explain to the panel.

Or, you just have to accept that they will use your owned home address. Then you will have to find other reasons to appeal, such as extra curricular activities or whatever.

Where did you live between June and October 2018 OP?

@myrtleWilson They even avoid to give us other school till the old LA rejected us , now nearest is 10 miles away from our new address while we live just 500mt from prefered school

We used to live 4 years in owned property

Yes, this is an entirely normal policy, in line with the Admissions Code which has the force of law. Different LAs might use different criteria to decide which is an applicant's main address, but as long as the policy is readily available to applying families and the policy is not perverse (in a legal sense) then it will be enforced.

No, they do not have to prove that you will be returning.

Are you intending to build your appeal around the LAs policy being perverse?

I think your situation (renting near the desired school purely to gain admission) is exactly what the rules intend to stop. I don't think you have a leg to stand on, according to their clear rules, the address to be used for school admissions process is your owned home 22 miles away, which is what they have done. I'd advise that you appeal for a school near your owned home, and make arrangements to move back there asap.

@TeenTimesTwo thanks for tips

@meditrina I think the LA's policy shouldn't give them full options to do whatever they want with families as this impact lots of genuine moves.

I can't imagine there are lots of genuine moves that include a last month move to rent very close to the preferred school and an owned property that is c20 miles away to be honest.

If you were moving 200 miles and rented at the last minute then the admissions policy would presumably take the view that the one property at over 200 miles away is 'not available to you' But the combination of late move and distance could lead to them thinking your owned property is "available to you"
What tenancy length is the owned home let out on?

@myrtleWilson one year but my landlord and my tenants willing to extend however the LA rejected these options

That's because you are still outwith the policy, as you still own the house. I find it hard to credit that you expected them to ignore their own policy because you wanted to keep breaching it for a bit longer.

It is not up to the LA to solve your problem that the qualifying address is so far away from the schools you applied for. You need to fix that, by disposing of the owned property

@RoseAndRose Yes we changed the estate agent last Friday so hope to get rid of the house asap

But I am not sure if they will offer us a place or they will add us into the waiting list?

Does anyone suggest to take them to the court if the appeal not worked?