How Important is the School catchment area when buying a house....?

Posted 20 March 2018 by Neil Moore

How Important is the School catchment area when buying a house....?

In a recent Independent newspaper article, a quarter of UK parents move house for the school catchment area. One in four parents with school age children have either bought or rented a new home to avail themselves of the right address for a particular catchment area and were willing to spend an extra 12 per cent on top of the market value of a home for the location.  Earlier this year, a similar study by Rightmove which analysed the prices of properties in key catchment areas (rather than what premium, parents have or would be prepared to pay) placed the typical nationwide catchment area premium around schools assessed as “outstanding” by Ofsted at £52,000.  To move into a good catchment area, 51% had bought a new property, while 30% bought a second home and 19% rented a property.

Here in Sussex, we are pleased to say we have some of the best schools in the country, including one directly opposite our Admin office in Amberley, West Sussex that was recently awarded with a Good Ofsted report. Here is a quote from one of the Governors...

Amberley School was delighted to receive a “Good” rating from Ofsted in March 2018. This comes on the back of a period of growth when, as part of the local area restructuring, the school took on a year 6 and transitioned from being a First school to a full Primary School. With recently upgraded facilities, we currently have around 60 pupils on roll from Reception to year 6 inclusive. As a rural village school we can offer small class sizes in beautiful surroundings and we achieve fantastic learning outcomes for our children, with predicted results at Key Stages 1 & 2 for the year being ahead of the local and national average marks. We would like it to be known that Amberley Primary School is open to applications for places in all classes, and the school has no formal catchment area, currently taking pupils from the Storrington, Pulborough and Arundel areas as well as of course Amberley itself. There will be open days advertised on the website and elsewhere in the near future but anyone interested is encouraged to contact Mr Jon Gilbert, the Head Teacher, who would be happy to meet them and show them the school.

Along with properties to buy and rent across West Sussex, you can also find more schools listed in the areas we cover, on our website, by clicking here.

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