underoccupied if child at university

[Marney]

is it the norm that where i live if you have a child at university you are underoccupying your home . apparently i have to pay about fourteen pounds rent per week now for my daughters room when she is at university as she is on an nhs course she doesnt get a lot of holiday . Ive also got to pay the new council tax contribution .Having a very low income im already in a mess and have just been asking to borrow money for the first time in my life which im already expecting to have to do .Well when your water bill for the year takes around eight weeks of your income what hope have u . Ive looked for more work with no luck im not young Are there towns where if u have a child at university they still are allowed a home . I have never been in debt before but i have no choice if i think too much i want to end everything i suppose im just one of the millions now in this country who feel like this .WHY dont politicians realise some people just dont earn enough and never ever be able to

In case anyone wonders there are no one bedroom places available to rent anyway in this area

Does your dd get a bursary if she's on an NHS course?

I think the under occupancy only applies if your child doesn't spend enough weeks at home.

Yes but not enough to cover costs such as accomodation has been using money she saved bursary not that generous i know ive just got to get on with it but the idea of no holidays and owing money for the first time in my life is scarey

your daughter could try to get a weekend or evening job and pay you the rent for her room..

What age is your daughter? If she's at university I'm guessing she's grown up and is now leaving home? In that case yes you are now unoccupying your home (in the eyes of the government).

It's very unfair to charge you an under occupancy charge if there is no one bedroom accommodation available. But if you are offered or can find a one bedroom then perhaps you should take it to avoid more debt?

Times are hard for everyone. This is just another way for the current government to make the poor poorer and 'get people off benefits and into work' but that doesn't quite add up when there's no job in the first place.

my daughter is on placement or in uni virtually like working full time

can you appeal?

Do you live anywhere near colleges or unis yourself ? Just thinking that maybe you could get a student lodger term time only to help out perhaps ?

But yes - this whole thing stinks. If there were jobs a plenty for everyone then maybe I'd think differently but people are being punished for circumstances beyond their control which is inhumane and disgusting.

Dunno why i mentioned holidays they are a luxury i know but yes of benefits and into work but where is the hope in a life on the minimum wage and why make the poor poorer when ther is so much money going to bankers and water bosses presumabLy i was thinking today i might be oldish but id be willing to pick up rubbish day after day if ther was a job available preferably for a decentish pay oh well

Your daughter must get a fair bursary though?

That seems extremely unfair. It is very inconsistent with the fact that students are assessed for funding on their parents' income. To me that implies a dependence which I would expect to stretch to a roof over their heads during the holidays.

If your dd gets a bursary to cover her accommodation, then that will have to pay for her accommodation in your home as well as when she's away. If she is able to, she could get a job to help subsidise her living costs.

i dont think u can appeal when ive asked ive just been told thats how it is for anyone who is at uni she has no contact with her dad we went in a refuge when she was three so no spare home for her .But what about someone going in hospital for a few weeks will their room be seen as underoccupied as well where will they draw the line

How many other children do you have OP?

I'm on minimum wage living in the heart of london and I'm fine, I could afford 15 a week extra.

Surely you'd be saving that amount purely because she isn't living there anymore?

I dont live near any universities no but yes maybe i need to have someone else as a lodger but that would take my daughters room which she does like im cutting everything i can think off though and im just one of millions this is going to cause so much upset and i will hope one day i can pay back the money i am going to have to borrow well i hope i can be that strong

Do you work full time OP?

Hope I'm not appearing mean here but I don't understand how you can't manage living in a council property in the first place.

Do you have debt?

If you don't work full time, could you do a bit of cleaning? Babysitting in the evening?

sorry op but there are a lot of people who have to take an extra job on top of their full time day jobs these days.. and your daughter could do that. a couple of nights bar work would pay the £14 extra

i havent enough hours to be able to have any tax credits at the moment once u have no children at home u have to have so many hours at work to get more than unemployment benefit anything u earn goes of that amount its not been a good year to get more work had some health problems as well anyway you can be working 16 hours and not be classed as employed If people look at the costs though of water rates gas electric tv licence food and minimum wage for a single persn it doesnt add up and why should the humiliation of tax credits be necessary if u are willing to work u should be able to have a life its possibly even worse for couples i dont know like i said ill do what i can and hope for a job if im that lucky and in the meantime become homeless or swallow my pride and borrow money For anyone who doubts it ive worked full time in the past

Oh Marney, I wasn't having a go at you.

Maybe it's time to get your thinking cap on and see what else you could do.

Dog walking?
A bit of working from home?
Like I said before - cleaning? babysitting? Ironing?

You can have cards printed really cheaply these days offering a service etc.

Why is getting tax credits humiliating? I get them. I don't feel humiliated.

It's shit op, truly shit, I don't know what to say.

My local council have an info video on their website about this. I watched it the other day and it explained the changes then added, very quickly at the end, that they had very few one bed properties for rent so downsizing wasn't going to be an option.

It's a shocking policy, wholly unfair and it's using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, it isn't covering all the possibilities and scenarios fairly.

IN a million years no one would give me a job in a bar as mentioned above im too short to see over a bar id have to stand on a stool dont forget health and safety laws and i can not do maths atall wish i could im old clothes arent good and the pubs round here have either been burnt down or closed so there are no jobs like that here thanks for the sugestion though one day i will find a way i guess but sadly thats my least likely way out of this mess

Are there any places where you can learn a new skill where you live? The local authorities run these all the time.

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? I'm 50 and about to go back to college in September.