multiple childminders from one house

[Trudey]

my friend and i was looking into sharing a house to childmind from. I heard from a source that if the number of children go over a certain number it may be seen as a nursery in the eyes of ofsted, can anyone shed any light on this please

[rickysmiths]

If you look on Ofsteds web site they have a number of fact sheets. What you are suggesting is Childminding on non Domestic premises. In other words no one will live in the house you are using as their home.

[Trudey]

not at all, its my friends home at the moment. she is a single person and she said we can both childmind from her house. nut im sure i read on here a while ago. that there is restrictions to how many children in a premises before its considered a nursery. i will look at the fact sheet now x

[linzi133]

Please correct me if I'm wrong -

3 people can work together before it would be classed as childcare on domestic premises.
Numbers of children would depend on available floor space.

Does this answer you question?

[Trudey]

yes it does thanks. its just a idea were throwing around at the mo x

[christine e]

You also need to think about if your local council would require you to obtain planning permission - some councils will only allow you to care for a total of 6 children before you need planning permission.

[Cottonsocks]

I'm in Wales so it works slightly different sometimes, but my husband and I are both Childminders. We could only care for 6 children between us or alone, we had to apply for planning permission to increase our numbers to 11. A complicated process, but we were able to get it paid for by Early Years Childcare Partnership (£450!) glad we've done it now though, although our house is slightly chaotic!