friend wants to use my address for primary school admission Post Reply

[juliantenniscoach]

I've got a feeling that this comes under 'obtaining a percunery advantage' which is part of the theft act. you may want to check this but you would be 'assisting' if that is the case. in the circumstances give it a wide berth!
how many of you have received flyers from estate agents suggesting this activity of late? I've had 2 in the last month.

[Suslik]

Funnygirl,
thanks for finally introducing some common sense to the thread. I've been reading in shock all the angry comments but kept silent as i am not from this country and the debate totally puzzles me altogether. If something is formally legal than surely people will use it! What if the lady who started the thread could not afford not to rent when she moves out - she then would have no control over who moves in and how many school places that family will take up. However people just kept saying that if her friend takes this advantage it would be immoral. Bizzarre to me.

Just to respond to those who keep saying that people are paying fortunes for houses/flats in catchment areas. I have bought last year within catchment area and have spent a long time researching the market and comparing per metre prices for properties in/out of catchment area. I did not find any difference in those prices, they were driven by quality of property not catchment area. Further i was told that the 'premium' for properties in catchment area is approx. 5-10k for flats and ca. 20k for houses. Are we really saying that people can't afford to spend an extra 20k if they are buying a house just to get one inside the area and not 1-2 miles further out? Given that a house price starts from say 600k except for perhaps small mews ones, this is not that much of a premium. Then what the whole heated discussion is about? Maybe its more about that people bought before they had children or did not check their bets when they bought, ended up borderline for catchment areas and would do anything to avoid moving but still get in?

[Vives09]

I agree, I think if it's legal then of course you'd want to do the best for your children, I actually don't see any immorality in that. If it's not legal then that's another matter.

[herogirl]

I think this will be my last post on this subject. I want to leave it with this. I do not think it is "legal". The admissions policy is dictated by where one lives and I think it is obvious that that means permanent residence, not a short term let entered into solely to gain an advantage.
I have written to Jane Ellison and spoken to her staff as she is now the MP for the area as well as a governer. I have referred her to this site to get an idea of what is happening and asked her to take action to stamp this out. I hope this helps all of you with legitimate claims for a place at Honeywell. It is good that this site has highlighted the problem and all of the posts should make the position quite clear to her. I think these discussions are fruitful and sincerely hope the matter is rectified. I would urge those of you who agree with me to also write to her. Good luck all of you in finding the right school for your child. I think I am convinced now that this site is not all about treats!!!!!!!

[anxiousannie]

I didn't realise that my post would open up such a hornets nest but I want to just reiterate what the situation is...

1) My friend will move into my house. She will have a legally binding rental agreement. She will change the bills, utilities, council tax etc etc. It will become her home to the same extent that any rented accomodation can become anyones home. I will repeat that for those who don't understand. IT WILL BECOME HER HOME

2) From her home she will apply for a place at the local school

3) If she is successful that is brilliant and her children will start school just like any other children

4) Maybe somewhere down the line she will move somewhere else. If so it will be at the end of the rental period and all the bills and utilities will revert to the new tenant or myself as the owner.

Thats it!

Not illegal, not "dodgy" not anything. Just doing the best for her children.

Now can someone tell me why that is so ****** wrong?

We buy houses near the best schools and my friend will rent a house near the best school. Whats the difference?

So lets all get over our feelings of indignation just because I'm not renting my house to you.

As opposed to telling tales to your local MP about someone who hasn't done anything wrong WHY DON'T YOU ASK HER WHAT SHE IS GOING TO DO ABOUT THE RUBBISH LOCAL STATE SCHOOLS!!!

AA

[anxiousannie]

Point taken!

What I am trying to say is that the situation has changed and now my friend is going to go legit!

Assuming she does, my point is that she has as much right as anyone to that Honeywell school place

AA

[herogirl]

I thought this thread had died a death and had intended to leave it and concentrate on the Belleville Thread but anxiousannie raises a question (need it be so aggressive though with all these ******s?) The answer is this. Move in or not, unless she is giving up her main residence completely, ie selling or ending her lease, your house is not her principal residence and she is only living there to gain an advantage then move back. Call me a cynic but I doubt very much she will be spending many nights there if she has a main home elsewhere. People are not writing to MPs because you are not renting your home to them. They are doing so because what you are doing is wrong if she keeps a main home elsewhere (and no doubt spends most of her time there). If she is married, is she leaving hubby at the main home and moving out? I doubt that very much. There are already moves to stamp this out. It is easily done by way of ref to the ER and your friend may very well find that having got her place, she loses it. That would be a shame for her children but I understand that there are proposals to have children removed from schools in these circumstances. Again, the admissions policy is from where you live and that must as a matter of fact and law be your principal residence if you keep two. If she decides to elect the rental property as her principal residence she will run into problems regarding CGT on the other home if she sells it. The revenue might take her at her word if she says it is her principal residence and land her with a tax bill on the sale of the real family home.
This is a very real problem now attracting real attention, in some part thanks to you!!!!!!! I think you have done people a service by highlighting it in the way you have done.

[moops]

Herogirl, you do not know that her friend isn't going to move out of her house and move into this house as AA says she is going to do it legit. If this is the case then there is no problem. I think you should now concentrate your time and efforts on the Belleville expansion thread.

[herogirl]

Moops, with respect, unless you know her, you don't know either!! If her friend is giving up her original home and moving in to the flat as her principal home then I agree, there is nothing wrong with that! It is just the same a buying a home there. I thought I was quite clear but obviously not. If it is not her principal residence then it is wrong and I don't think it is legit. That is my view, like it or not. I don't think telling me to stop posting because you don't like what I say is appropriate? Moderator, please note!

[moops]

Lol are you dobbing on me?! Seems like you like to tell on people

I was just saying that you have posted in this thread numerous times reiterating the same point, I think we all understand your stance on it. AA seems alot happier with the arrangement now then when she first posted as she now says it is legit, I think we need to leave her to it now.

[AbbevilleMummy]

Just regarding Herogirl's point on capital gains tax, the friend in question would not be subject to CGT on her original home as long as she hasn't left it for more than 3 years which I'm sure will not be the case as she will have hopefully got her kids into the local school by then. Therefore I don't think that she is doing anything illegal or that could bite her on the bum later.

[KatherineHepburn]

Chortle Moops
Watch out! Herogirl will tell, and you'll get into terrible trouble

Totally agree. AA seems lots happier now and I love the fact that we have such a great forum where these issues can be sensibly discussed. It is a thorny subject and there will be lots of varied views, what a terrible shame that one person had to run off to the council with it rather than just chatting it through.

We all want the best schooling opportunities for our kids and like it or not there will always be lots of competition for those schools with great reports. That's life. If AA's friend is renting her house legit then personally I have no issue with that.

[olderandwiser]

If you think primary is bad, wait until secondary school transfers. Apparently 8 families from Honeywell "moved" to Furzedown for the Graveney catchment area this year. As far as I know most are renting, and then make sure their children don't pass the Wandsworth Test with 98% and above, by telling them not to answer all the questions. Their siblings then have automatic entry to the school on distance grounds even though they have moved back to Nappy Valley.

Mr Roberts (Honeywell headmaster) said there was nothing he could do, and it was out of his hands!

[KatherineHepburn]

Fingers crossed the folks pushing for a school at the old Bollingbroke Hospital are successful. It's bad now, what on earth is it going to be like in 6-10 years time when all these kids start hitting secondary age?

[dandelion53]

It is unpleasant to now make fun of someone who was objecting to school application fraud simply because the original poster, AA, is now 'happy' with the situation.
She will be happier of course, because her friend will actually be renting and moving into her property which makes it 'legit'. She is doing nothing wrong. BUT her friend is.
In her original post AA said she was moving abroad for 6 months and would be renting during that time. It is possible that this has also changed (If so, then it sounds like AA is changing all the criteria of her original question to make it sound more legit!)
Short-term rental to get a school place is considered fraud by the Schools Adjudicator. This is discussed in the following 2 articles about school application fraud.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 20109.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 899316.ece