Should DS appy for living allowance (Student Finance) if he is living at home? Advice please.

[shadypines]

Hi, DH both work and have decent jobs and get by comfortably but are by no means well off. So I am wondering if it is a good idea for DS to get a higher loan for living expenses even though he is staying at home?

He will be taking public transport to uni and I know that will not be cheap.

Grateful for any advice.

[TheSecondOfHerName]

What do you mean by higher loan?

The basic maintenance allowance for a student living at home will be £3324. If they're doing certain courses, or if parental income is below a certain threshold, it can be more.

[MarchingFrogs]

Does your DS have a part time job? If not, even if you are not expecting him to pay you rent, how will he pay for transport, ptat stationery, lunches - or a social life - without a maintenance loan?

[shadypines]

By higher I meant a higher amount than just tuition fees, sorry I didn't explain myself well. The term I was looking for is maintenance loan, thanks for the memory jogger Frogs.

[ttlshiwwya]

My two boys have managed without maintenance loans so far - 3rd year and 1st year. We pay travel, books and other course fees, lunches, gym membership. They both work part time during term time and virtually full time during the summer which pays for holidays, clothes, concerts etc. Eldest will graduate next year and is glad he doesn't have 4 years of accumulative loans hanging over him. He's more of a worrier about money.

[shadypines]

Thank you ttlshiwwya , food for thought

[Lifeaback]

One of the main benefits to staying at home imo is not having to take out another loan. Encourage him to get a part time job to cover public transport costs rather than taking out a huge loan and leaving with uneccessary debt. The main thing the maintenance loan is for is to cover the extortionate price of rent in student accomodation, since he's not having to fork out for that I think it would be quite foolish to encourage him to take out the loan

[shadypines]

Thank you lifeaback, also do you know anything about what happens if you are late for the 25th May deadline? Is it mainly the problem of not having your Maintenance loan on time (if you are applying for one?

[ttlshiwwya]

Don't know about the rest of UK but in Scotland you can apply any time up to the march/april of academic year. However they only guarantee it to be in place for beginning of term if you apply early enough.

[shadypines]

ok thank you ttlshiwwya

[BackforGood]

Although do remember that the amount you pay back works like a tax, not a loan.
The repayments are a % of your salary, over the threshold for when you start paying back, it does not change, however much you owe.
So, if he has £27600 worth of debt (3 yrs of fees), or if he has £45000 of debt (fees plus maintenance loan), his repayments will still be the same amount. So it doesn't necessarily make sense for you (or him) to be going without things now, if him not taking out the loan makes life tight for you all.