How much rent should I charge?

[reetas]

Yes another how much rent should I charge my son!

Trying to keep it simple here by not going into all the issues we are having etc so....

How much should we charge for a double size room, all bills and food cooked, washing done the lot?

My original question was how much to charge. I didn't go into details because it is a complex situation and I don't want to have to explain everything over and over. Don't judge without the facts. I stated I wasn't going into detail from the beginning.

If he has a plan what he wants to do at uni then don't put him off going until he has "earned enough". He can get a loan like almost everyone else, and the chances are if you put him off then he won't ever go, and if he does then he will feel a bit of an odd fish unless you're simply talking about a year out.
If you're talking about a year out then suggest he saves some of the money to use at university so you don't have to contribute as much, but using that as a way to put him off seems rather mean.

So you want to charge him rent to put him off going to uni as you don't want to contribute! That seems very unfair

Why can't he afford to go - he'll get a loan and if your household income is high enough that he won't get the maximum loan you'll top it up.

Obviously because as a mature adult you've been aware for years and years that's how university works.

Or you didn't realise that and have fucked up and want to blame his 'immaturity' instead?

Well the morally correct answer is nothing because you will be contributing to his uni costs as you are expected to do.

It's not his fault you haven't made sufficient plans.

Huge conclusions are being jumped at. You don't know my son or my financial plans so why comment on them.

Because when you ask a question like that context is everything and you have provided none.

You're throwing a huff cos you're not getting the answers you want.

You: My original question was how much to charge

Also you : Don't judge without the facts

So you want us to say how much we think something should cost, without any background information or context?

I have a necklace, how much should I sell it for?

He'll get a loan. Why do you think can't he afford to go to uni? He doesn't have to pay the full 144 for halls, he could get a room in a shared house, or find cheaper halls, or go whilst living at home, and he could continue with his part time job. If you are really hard up, he'll presumably qualify for a maintenance loan too.
FYI, we both work fulltime on reasonable wages and DS3 did still get a loan. We needed to top up the halls fees by about 1000 pounds, and gave him 150 pm for food etc.
Has he actually applied for uni and the loan?

As for how much to charge, who can say?
DS1 works full time, and pays me 250 pm and tops up the shopping every now again too. I reckon that I just about break even on that as far as bills and food are concerned, it doesn't include a rent element.

Your advice is terrible. By the time he saved up the £50k to go to Uni, he’d be in his late 30s and at such a disadvantage. There’s nothing wrong with using student loans. Since you don’t need the money, the best thing you can do is provide him rent free accommodation as that will reduce his student debt dramatically.

Even if he only gets the minimum loan, he'll get something towards his living costs, and if he's doing his A levels now, it's probably best he goes to university this Autumn if he can get on a course, because I think the student loan paybacks become more expensive from next year.

He can also get a job over the summer and save up, plus work while he's at university, most students do, and in the holidays. He can also see what extra grants he might be eligible for.

Or he might be able to get a job that includes part time university attendance, his employer will pay his fees and he won't need student loans.

As for student debt, he's right that he 'doesn't mind' because it's not like normal debt and unless he gets quite a well paid job, he might not pay back much of it anyway, but like I said above, it's changing after this year, so if he's going, he'd be far better off going this year if he can, not next.

Op isn't coming back

I would charge nothing in these circumstances.

My daughter is currently living with us while she trains as a teacher. She has no income and we wouldn't dream of charging her rent.

Things will change once she starts earning in September. She will be looking to move out before Christmas but until she does, we will expect her to make a small financial contribution. Probably something like £200-£250 a month as she'll have to spend quite a bit on petrol until she can move closer to her new school.

We can afford not to charge her anything this year though. The OP may not be in that position, though as she says that they would put her son's rent money away for him, that isn't entirely clear.

Poor guy

Nothing at 18 and I would do everything in my power to support my child going to uni.

Nearly everyone I know who went to uni did it without savings and were funded by student loans. Most are paying very little, if anything back towards the debt, he’ll be in no worse of a position than most other students. If he knows what he wants to do, let him go and get the experience the same as his friends. I took a year out after college, got a job and didn’t end up going to Uni at all because I was so used to my income and it’s one of my biggest regrets.

ignoring the reasons, at that age I was paying £150 a month to my mum for everything but I did also shop for my own toiletries, snacks, drinks etc.

OP, shame on you. I couldn't afford to pay for Uni from my own pocket at 18 years old - only kids with trust funds can! But my parents had 18 years after my birth to prepare for the cost of me going, and they were proud that I was clever enough and had worked hard enough to get my offer.

He deserves your support to have the opportunity to go to Uni. You should be cheering him on, not holding him back.

It's normal to go at 18. The parental contribution is based on income, those on the lowest can get full loans. I have 2 at university and dp
has 1, I'm fully aware of the cost but we made provision from birth to cover the cost. Living costs have been means tested since at least the early 90's when I went so I'm not sure why it is a surprise to people

I would put the rent idea aside for now and really read up on the detail of student finance.

Google Martyn Lewis on the the changes coming up for student loans in 2023. For most students who could start in 2022, it really doesn't make sense to save up and delay a year as they'll end up paying much, much more in repayments and for longer than they would if they went this year.

I appreciate the sums involved and the exorbitant rents seem terrifying if it's the first time you have a child going to uni. Not to mention the whole guarantor process. But many consider it a tax rather than outright debt. There's also other funding available. Most uni's have a page on their website on bursaries. Depending on subject there are also degree apprenticeships which might be funded. Or four year sandwich courses with a paid year in employment.

My own DC is just finishing a regular 3 year degree course. Expensive city and rent in halls similar to the amount you've mentioned. The second and third year rent in private housing was slightly cheaper. Amazingly they've saved up over £6,000 in that time. Covid curtailing the social side somewhat has helped, but they also did occasional Deliveroo-ing, paid work on uni open days and summer jobs. Students are resourceful and while it's a huge leap of trust to make, I'd try and quell those gut feelings about debt and make every effort to support your 18 year old to explore all the options.

If he wants to go to uni and he gets good grades then he should go. I would expect parents to make contributions up to amount he would get if parents earned less or maximum loan. He can't help your earnings. He can get a PT job at uni like many other students for spending money. He can take the loan and pay back once earning salary. If he left school got a job and stayed living at home then I would charge £280 pcm. My adult son works and still lives at home. He pays £280. He has a very large room and shower room to himself which he keeps clean, unlimited super fast internet, Sky Sport, BT Sport and Sky Movies, Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime all in his room. He gets unlimited mobile package as part of package we have with Virgin. He does all his own laundry including sheets/duvet and cooks for family once a week and eats with family 4 nights a week. He collects takeaway for us all another night on way home from work. He also does a few chores such as empty rubbish bin, tidy all shoes on rack etc, empty dishwasher 3 or 4 times a week and occasionally babysits foster brother. He is saving for deposit.

There are benefits to going to uni this year rather than next due to the changes in student loans so I can completely understand if that is in anyway part of the discussion.

If he is going to university, I don’t think you should charge him anything. Whether he lives at home or he lives in student accommodation, I would expect to fund the majority of his living expenses as your parental responsibility. If he ends his education and starts work, then I would start charging rent.

I don't think you should charge him anything and you need to pay the parental contribution to top up his loan in order for him to go to university. You don't charge a child rent while they are studying, certainly at undergraduate level.

Unfortunately almost all undergraduates need to incur debt to get degrees these days. But student loans are not like normal debt. They are written off after a period (I think 35 years now), repayments don't kick in until you earn a certain amount and they are not treated as a liability for the purpose of taking on other debt like a mortgage. You need to think about it more like a graduate tax.

There's not really any other way of doing it unless he's able to save up getting on for £50k! And that's not going to happen.

We gave our DS £300 per month during term time, and his Dad gave him about £150 from memory. He was only able to borrow the minimum loan because of our income. He also worked to top that up.

It's a lot to find but it was also important to us that we supported our son to achieve to the best of his ability. Because of the way the loans work some students are forced to rely on parental contributions. That's not your son's fault. If you have a problem with it contact your MP, don't not support your son.