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KatieFS
11-02-2015, 01:50 PM
Hi guys and girls

A cm friend of mine and I are thinking about expanding and working together

One of our ideas is to find a house and 'convert' that into a working space for us. Our properties aren't big enough to accommodate the numbers of children to make this economically viable for us.

How would we go about it? We wondered if we might need planning permission as no one would be 'living' there.

Has anyone ventured into this environment? Any advise helpful!

sarah707
11-02-2015, 07:09 PM
You wouldn't be a childminder - because a cm works from their home.

I'd suggest a call to ofsted they will be able to help you - and yes planning permission to change the use of the property to business - and planning permission - and different insurance ... it will be quite a pantomime! x

FloraDora
11-02-2015, 07:36 PM
Sorry, no view, ........
When I read title I just saw 2 cm's ie: a measurement!

Good thoughts Sarah.

moggy
11-02-2015, 07:47 PM
Some definitions here:

https://www.gov.uk/register-childminder-childcare-provider/what-to-register-as

It says:

Taking care of children in a home that’s not their own (usually your own) with up to 2 other people = Childminder

So it is the 'usually your own' that you need to investigate.
Definitely a question for Ofsted themselves.

KatieFS
11-02-2015, 10:41 PM
Really helpful thanks x

rickysmiths
11-02-2015, 10:51 PM
To me the min you move childcare out of a real lived in home it becomes a Nursery.

The whole point of childminding is that you are offering 'Home from Home' care in a home that is being lived in and often by a family.

It is often smaller groups of children as well and children of varying ages being cared for together.

It is all these things that made my parents choose to use me for care. Small, family orientated in a home like theirs.

Just saying.

bunyip
12-02-2015, 10:29 AM
Hi guys and girls

A cm friend of mine and I are thinking about expanding and working together

One of our ideas is to find a house and 'convert' that into a working space for us. Our properties aren't big enough to accommodate the numbers of children to make this economically viable for us.

How would we go about it? We wondered if we might need planning permission as no one would be 'living' there.

Has anyone ventured into this environment? Any advise helpful!

If you take a house, don't live in it and convert it into a workplace, then you'd need planning permission for 'change of use'.

You'd then be providing childcare on commercial, not domestic, premises. As RS says, that pretty much makes it a nursery.

I suspect you'd struggle to find a mortgage lender for this. You'd have to declare your intentions to any lender before buying the house, or risk foreclosure for breach of normal mortgage terms. You might face a higher interest/lending rate as any lender would be concerned about their ability to resell at a good price if they had to repossess once the conversion started. This happened on a recent tv Homes Under the Hammer (I think?) programme. A couple bought a big house, spent many tens of thousands of £££s converting it to rent out as a multiple dental/healthcare practice, and the result was that they'd reduced the resale value of the property considerably. :p

It's not impossible, and I'm sure a lot of nurseries have probably begun in just this way. But you need to be sure you go into it with your eyes open. :thumbsup:

Chatterbox Childcare
12-02-2015, 07:50 PM
Could you rent out a room or put a relative into the house and then it would stay as domestic premises?

KatieFS
13-02-2015, 12:15 PM
Thank you! Yes I think I saw that Homes under the hammer!
I think we would look to rent and yes might be possible to rent the room.

TinyTinker
15-02-2015, 08:30 PM
There are several nurseries in my area that are just converted houses. but they are nurseries not childminders.

I think you will be in for a lot of legal, planning and problems with mortgage with it all......but may get their eventually! It could be that you find a 3 bedroom house with downstairs loo facility, and you can then rent out part of upstairs to someone who is out at work all day, to keep it as a residential dwelling, but they would probably need a DBS then? and if they are off work sick or have a sickness bug would you have to close?

There is a childminder near me who is now classed as childcare on domestic premises, due to them having 4 members of staff. I'm not sure how they do it, as you would have to have a lot of kids in there to justify the wages of them (a couple) plus 2 paid staff. and they must still live there:panic:

would love to be able to have an out building big enough to use for minding, but even then I think you need planning permission! lol

good luck with it all anyway, something to get your teeth into!