Advice on state application -new house

[Adelphia1977]

Hello to all and thank you for reading.

Just after a bit of advise for secondary state school applications which go through the LEA.

We've bought a lovely cottage but it needs a lot of work. Eeek! So we are staying with the in-laws.

Question: we won't be in the house in October. We think Christmas time, as we are doing the work ourselves, but when I fill in the application form, what information will we need to submit. We have letters from the bank/deeds/mortgage etc, and I'll put ourselves on the electoral roll, but I'm worried they'll need utility bills which we won't have started yet.

Can you lovely people explain what info they ask for, and any advise I might need?

They will expect you to provide the address of where you are residing at the time of the application.

I would move in there for a week the week you apply. You own it, will live there, only property you own don’t see the issue!

If you own it you will need electricity for building works and councils make you pay these days even when unoccupied!

You own it, you live in it technically really as it's your only house so that's the address you use. You will need to pay council tax from day 1 and that's the address you're expected to use. As others have said, you will need electricity sooner than you think.

So you are not going to have any water electric or gas supplied to the property while you are doing work to it? Even if the gad and electric is turned off there is a standing charge per day for having the metres at the property. So surely that takes care of your utility bill problem?

You have to apply from where your child lives. If you live at your in-laws at that point, you should officially use that address. Some councils will have a later date you can amend your address by if you are moving house, which might help you here. When do you expect the house to be habitable?

As you don't own any other houses you might be able to claim you live there already. But if your child spends most nights elsewhere then technically your application is fraudulent.

Some very unreliable advice here.

If you are residing with your parents in law, that is the address you use for the school application. Owning a house elsewhere is not enough - you need to be living in it. As someone has already said, you can change the address on the application if you move in before the education authority’s cut-off date. Keep in mind that many education authorities double-check addresses to prevent fraud, and may take places away if they think they’ve been obtained fraudulently.

@PanelChair

I think some circumstances like this one, people should just do what’s clearly right for them.

They own the house, will live there, etc.

If I had floor damage and moved out whilst repaired for a month would I seriously have to put the other place as my address?

We had a huge extension and moved in with my parents for 5 months, would I seriously put that address for the school? No way!

Onceuponatime, the answer is that you have to obey the rules around admissions. They state that the address that must be used is where the child is spending the majority of the week to sleep. From what has been said by OP, that is clearly the in-laws address. Different LAs have slightly different versions of when this needs to be like the date of application or the cut off date of 31st October.
OP you need to establish what is the latest date that you can apply and be treated as an on-time application by the LA. Practically all LAs have a second date after the 31st October for exactly the situation you are in, when moving houses shortly after the cut off date. Knowing that date then gives you a clear deadline to be aiming for. Given your situation it would be crazy to not meet that date and then have all the heart break of missing out on a place at the school you want. Sods law says that you will always be later than planned, so tying down an absolute move in date is critical, even if all the work has not been completed.
Trying to evade the system will usually end in tears, with many LAs now following up on suspicious addresses by visiting the address given. Lots of builders stuff in the driveway and scaffolding is usually a bit of give away that you are not living at the address.

There is no point in people doing “what’s clearly right for them” if the local education authority then decides the application was fraudulent and disqualifies it, or even takes the place away once the child has started school.

Thank you all for the advise. After reading them to hubby, we will try to get in there sooner. It's hard as money is right, so wanted to take our time. To be fair, you're right, once we get started we will be having water electric bills anyway....just didn't want to start the work right now.

Thanks so much for the advise.

One thing more..My in-laws suggested we rent the house out for a year, that would be June to June. Would the council be okay knowing that we do own the house and plan to move in June. Fix it up while we are there once we've saved some money? Is this a valid idea?

You definitely can't rent the house out and use it as your address. It won't be your main address at the time of application. The fact you definitely plan to move in in June in time for year 7 is irrelevant to the LA.

You really need to be living in the house by whatever date your LA says is the deadline for changing addresses, likely to be around early December.

You could potentially move in and then move out later on for the work, although you would have to check the rules carefully around moving after application.

My in-laws suggested we rent the house out for a year, that would be June to June. Would the council be okay knowing that we do own the house and plan to move in June. Fix it up while we are there once we've saved some money? Is this a valid idea?

No, I very much doubt that the council will accept that. So many people could say "we're about to move next to the school, so kindly give us a place" and it's too open to abuse by people trying to game the system. That's why councils usually want evidence not just that you own the house, but are living in it. As admission said earlier, if the council decide to visit the address and see that it's essentially a building site, they may disallow the application. Check exactly what the council says on its website, but your best option is going to be moving into the property before the application deadline, or at least within the window where changes of address are accepted.

And I should have said above that if the council visit the house and find somebody else living there, that could also result in the application being treated as fraudulent. What if your tenants also apply for a place at the same school?

No you can’t do that op, you need to give the address you’re actually living at and be honest on your applications on your intentions. Last that you risk if you do get w place, your child loosing it.

Even I think there’s no way you could rent it to someone else for a year and use it as your address for school!!’ What if the people renting had kids and applied to the same school with the same address?

If the house is in a fit state now to rent out, then the obvious solution is for yourselves to live in it now, then if you need to move out in order to renovate, wait until your dc has actually started at the school.

If you’re not living in it then you can’t put it as your address to apply for school. That’s fraud.

Oh gosh! Thank you for helping to clear it up.

What address is on all your non-utility bills - your bank account, credit card, driving licence, car registration docs, GP, dentist, school records etc? If this is your inlaw's address, that's the one that should be used.

I personally think it looks more dodgy trying to use a family member's address for a school application.

I moved out of my house for 6 months whilst we had an extension built (admittedly only 2 streets away and not during a school application period), but I never considered it not to be my main home. It was just inpractical and unsafe to stay there with kids whilst building work was going on.