Adult DC and board money?

[newtothisriver]

I just want to start off by saying I'm not interested in hearing how people wouldn't dream of charging their adult DC to live at home. I'm purely interested in how much those who do pay, pay. Don't mean to be rude but it makes the reading of replies much easier for me.

Next year DS turns 18, he will be living at home and either going to uni or HNC at college, so either way he will get student funding. He also has a part time job.

ATM he is still in school and I get tax credits, out income is low because DH is disabled and can no longer work.

If life was different I wouldn't charge DS a penny, but the truth is the tax credits will drop massively, his sibling is 2 years behind in school so potentially a couple of years down the line I will have 2 adult DC at home and no tax credits/ child benefit.

Right, so those are my reasons. I will need to charge the DC's something to live at home, but I don't know what's a fair amount?

I can't really do the percentage of income thing as income will be variable so I would prefer a set amount.

I was thinking £25 a week, but tbh I don't know if I can afford to support another adult in the house for £25.

I don't want my DC to feel that I am taking too much, but I don't want to be on the breadline that we are already so close to.

What do low income families take from their DC?

Why will I get charged extra council tax? Does that happen when they turn 18? I thought the council tax was per household.

You only get charged extra council tax if you're not currently paying the full amount.

Eg a single parent would lose their 25% discount once their eldest child leaves education and turns 18, or something. Students don't pay but I don't know the exact rules as to who counts for council tax purposes and who doesn't.

Thanks Barbara. Sorry exploded I did mention I only get child benefit and tax credits.

200 a month may sound like a lot, but it's probably a huge amount cheaper than a room in a shared house, which is what it is effectively buying him

Yes, I never thought of it like that!

If your income is low, don't fall into the trap of being on the breadline yourself, while he has loads of money to spend on all sorts of luxuries. For your family situation he needs to make a fair contribution.

That's my biggest worry tbh. Just now we are low income but we do ok, I don't want to be making sacrifices in my day to day so the DC's can have a healthy spending amount!

Equally though, I don't want them to think they are propping me up iykwim.

I don't think you can put a figure on it until you know just how much your benefits have gone down, and just how much he will be earning. All you can do until then is warn him that he will need to make a contribution. Then when the time comes, sit down and go through the figures with him so that he sees you are being fair.

Different situation, but DS lived here after uni and we charged him £50 a week. We sold it to him as him eating £35 a week and the rest in hot water and compensations for having to put up with him

I think saying to him ,Son our benefit will drop once you are at college so we will need some money is totally fair the buraary shouldreflect the family income,

He isn't propping you up he will be contributing to his home life so the basics like food and electric isn't a luxury.

I have 2 adult ds.And i charge the one working 40 euro.And the one not working 20 euro.

No they mostly buy their own food,but maybe once or twice a week they eat here.

If you need the money, I think at 18 and choosing to remain living at home, I think it's totally fair to sit down with him and work out what it costs to run the house and what a fair contribution would be based on what you need and what he has coming in.

Rule in my family was 1/3 for board, 1/3 into savings and 1/3 to spend.

Rule in my family was 1/3 for board, 1/3 into savings and 1/3 to spend.

I think that works ok if they have a full time job, but I can't see a student managing on just 1/3 of their income.

Also I'm loathe to dictate that they must save. Obviously it's encouraged, but it won't be part of the terms of them staying at home. As adults I believe it's up to them whether to save or not.

Until you know, or can tell us how much a week he will be earing no one can help you by advising a fixed amount on this.
My suggestion would be to take account of what his weekly income would be, and then deduct from this the costs of him travelling to and from college/university. Then the balance to be split 50/50.

I agree it's a stab in the dark without knowing their exact income, still we won't know that until way after the point where this needs to be discussed.

If he says £50 a week is too much, do some research and a couple of calculations and let him know how much it would cost him if he was living elsewhere (eg. flat, student accommodation etc)

He knows how hard it would be to move away, we did research halls if he was going to move further afield.

Sorry I missed that he wasn’t actually working full time but would be a student.

I didn’t get any money from my DS while he was studying as he still qualified for tax credits while he was at college. He decided to quit half way through his course as he just wanted to earn some more cash. Turns out that his poorly paid job doesn’t earn him much more than the part time one he did while studying. I did warn him that once he left college to work full time that he would be paying me a contribution, but he’s resisting.

As your DS will only be working part time then I would say it very much depends how often and how much he earns, along with the bursary. I’ve no experience of bursaries so don’t know how much that’s likely to be either.

The bursary is very small ranges from £500 to £1875 depending on income (mine is variable so not sure what he will get) so it will be mainly student loan and part time job for his income.

IIRC when I was at uni (getting a loan and grant) I paid whatever money my parents lost. I think about £100 a month

When I moved back home after uni, working full time but for minimum wage, I paid £100 a month. My parents didn't need the money, but it was more of a gesture really, and to go towards food etc.

nessie so not relevant at all then?

Not only did i say in my OP that I wasn't looking for replies of parents who don't need the money, I also said DS would be a student, not a full time worker.

When i earned 35 pw i paid 7.
When i earned 85 i paid 35
1989.
Low earner shitty yts pay.
Single mum, no wftc, no h.b, no co tax ben, no legal aid amd my dad paid no maintenance.
So i did not begrudge paying.
But i did and still do envy those who have it easier, more carefree.

newtothisriver I'm just pointing out that £100 should probably be a minimum if you need the money. If hes got a part time job, topped up with a bursary, plus not having to pay rent/bills for halls etc then he should be able to manage it.

If your income is low, surely he will get the maximum student maintenance loan plus any bursary. A quick google suggest the loan is £6750. So £50x52 still leaves him just over £4000 a year - even if he doesn’t get a bursary or job he will still have reasonable money just for himself. If you are really going to struggle even £75 isn’t unreasonable for room and board.

The loan is £5750 i did say earlier that with the loan it would work out over £100 a week. Bursary varies as does my income, we are low income, as in, claim tax credits, but not on other benefits so have to pay for things others might not. We won't know the bursary or wages until nearer the time, with any luck he will get full bursary payment.

I'm worked out £50 would be just under half the loan, I'm not sure part time job and bursary would take him up enough to afford the text books, travel and other associated costs without leaving him short.

newtothisriver make sure he checks if he's entitled to any additional bursaries too. I went to uni from a low income single parent household, had the full student loan and bursary entitlement but I was also given a local student bursary, because my home address fell within certain postcode areas in the local area. I also worked part time at uni andbhad zero financial input from my parent. I was better off financially at uni (when renting both in halls and privately in subsequent years) than I ever have been since!!

It might be worth seeing what rent is for halls. If he were to go to uni and stay there, he'd be paying rent (includes utilities) but also food etc. from his financial allowances. The rent figure minus travel costs may give you a starting point figure to work with?