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

Where do you live OP?

sorry you are having such a worrying time. I dont completely understand how this works. My friend lives in a 3 bedroomed council house, her 2 children no longer live at home, she works full time, on a low salary, but doesnt receive any housing benefit, all the info says that housing benefit will be reduced to reflect the underoccupancy, but as she doesnt receive housing benefit, will her rent go up ?????? maybe someone can explain this. Also what happens if you have a dc and a ds under 10, will you have to move to a 2 bedroom house, but move again when they reach the age of 10, this potentially could mean moving twice in quite a short time????

If your daughter is at uni or on placement most of the year how come she needs her room in your home? Couldn't you try and downsize and get a sofa bed for her to sleep on when she visits at Xmas etc.

When I moved to uni I didn't expect my mum to keep my room for me - I no longer lived there I had moved out. Isn't your daughter renting accommodation elsewhere or does she still live with you?

Can she not help you out, Marney? She's an adult.

Cant you daughter get a job and pay you what usually know as "keep" surley she could send you £14 a week to make up for the loss

Plenty get jobs at unti your not at lectures from 8 till 4 every day

I pay my water bill by direct debit, spread out over 10 months. I couldn't afford to pay it in one go, ever.

I'm a lone parent. I work 20 hrs a week and claim tax credits. I also have a mortgage to pay, as I'm not in a council house. I get no other help, as I work over 16hrs a week, despite earning only £650 pm.

I was offered help with clothing vouchers from the job centre when I began work, so do not let clothes put you off. You could get help. I also received a job grant one off payment of £250 and in work credit (although those are stopping soon). So I had a lot of help getting back into work again. I was on IS though.

I don't find it humiliating personally to claim tax credits. My kids are only 4&5, I'm hoping to increase my hours once my youngest is full time at School. But I make ends meet (just). I haven't had a decent holiday in a long long time.

So you're not alone, we're all struggling in different ways. I hope you can find a job soon. Have you spoken to someone like CAP? They offer free debt counselling advice and can help you create a budget and make ends meet. They may help you find the £56 a month easier or apply for something you're eligible for, that you weren't aware of?

Perhaps you only want to talk right now and offload and not solutions though? I know it's hard as I was on IS for a couple of years.

I believe (though not 100% sure) that bursaries have gone with the requirement for nurses to study for a degree.

I don't understand why anyone is justifying this shit of a situation. It is shocking that a student nurse
(I assume) who will be working far more hours than most undergraduates with study on top, is expected to get extra PT work on top because she is poor. Who does she think she is getting an education anyway? Oh, and how can she fit a regular PT job around irregular shift patterns?

Poor you OP. This is just awful.

Let's have a look at some figures for your daughter.
You are telling us you have a part-time NMW job and very little income. Dd on nhs bursary =

Non means tested grant = 1000
Means tested = up to 4300
Plus student loan (50% of basic loan as she gets a bursary) used to be about 2000

Plus NO TUITION FEES

= 7300 pounds a year.

Student rent is dear I know but I reckon she could help with a few weeks of 14 pounds. Plus if she is at uni all summer there is the 'extra weeks allowance' she is entitled to. Plus bursaries for low income families. Nurses and midwives get extra.

I would have killed for this package and I was an nhs student, I just had two working parents.

gardenfan if your paying full rent your mate has nothing to worry about but she might want to downsize most councils pay 1k per room you are downsizing plus they pay removel costs and you go to the top of the houseing list or she could do a stright swap on homeswapper

Oh she is a nurse well that changes every thing my oh is a nurse and nearly all

nurseing students work as HCA until t hey are fully tarined some HCA can earn mor than trained nurses if they are willing to work nights which she can do at weekends and bankhoildays ect

I also don't see how a student on an NHS placement is supposed to get a viable job to fund a bedroom she doesn't sleep in much. I think the OP would be better to work on her employability.

students on nhs bursaries actually get very little, I think we worked it out as something like 52p an hour for one of my students. Many of my student who receive the nhs bursary do end up working to earn extra money, but the reality is that they dont have a lot of time to do this, the courses are intensive, frequently 5 days a week, not "typical" student hours, and they dont get the long holidays, hence the uni residence is often seen as the main residence. It may not be possible for the OPs daughter to have a part time job as well as meeting her studying commitments and practical placements.

I really feel for you, it's an awful situation to be in.

But regards your daughter, she could be working. I worked 4 part time jobs while I was at Uni on top of my full time Uni course - nursing, likely similar to your daughter. The bursary is very fair too, about £600 per month, and that was a fair few years ago so probably more now.

Not that she should have to, the whole bloody thing is shit, but she could.

Ilovestooty i would say about 90% of student nurses work as health care assiants in fact its encourgaed as it hepls them on the ward they get paid and i would of thought if the daughter wants the room then the lest she can do is send her mum £14 a week

I know the op should sort out her work situation but until then she could help her mum out

NHS students, in case anyone doesn't realise, are very different to normal students.
They DO NOT just attend uni during term times and have lots of holidays and weekends. It's like having full time job, and then essay writing/research on top of that.
They work shifts, including night shifts, and often have to attend placements miles from where they live.
Therefore it is very unlikely that Marney's daughter would be able to do a p/t job.
Even if she could, has anyone tried to GET a part time job lately?
It makes me laugh when people say "oh can't she just pick up a few bar shifts?"
Er...probably not. These kind of jobs, where I live anyway, are like gold dust.
Marney, I am really sorry you are feeling so stressed. I think your daughter may be able to get extra help, and should talk to her Uni about hardship funds/grant to help with housing costs.

garden please dont my oh is a nurse there is plently of time to work as a HCA and to be honest if your studying as a nurse and yu dont it will effectivly put you at a disadvatange when looking for a job when trained this is also seen as part of unoffical training as it helps get you familar with hospitals and how things work along with your offical placements

OP, I am not saying YOU should get a job in a bar, I am suggesting your daughter, who is an adult, not a child, get something similar to that if she wants to retain a room in the house.

I agree with Holidaysarenice... your daughter could contribute that £14 a week.

I have a daughter who is a student nurse. We do NOT get a full Bursary (as we work.. but have 3 others to care for and sadly no top up money) for her, just the basic plus a tiny bit, and she has the student loan, and she is MUCH better off than her sister who is a med student and doens't get NHS funding til her 5th year.
The bursary is very generous.

Student nurses can and most DO work hours on top of their courses.. mine works in retail as she transferred her 6th form job, but may do bank hours in social care or HCA jobs. Your daughter needs to step up to help you if you can't find the money .

In fact I'm struggling to think of any of my friends who DIDN'T work whilst they were doing their training. It's hard work, I once went 12 weeks without a day off.

MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay thats what my husband did worked as a HCA its good the hospital get to know your face once trained usally offer you a job at the end

I have plenty of uni friends who are nursing students and social work students. Many of them work. Such is life!

I already do cleaning honest and had a card made but due to illness lately couldnt get more work and there are not many cleaning jobs around i dont have a car and there are lots of would be cleaners in this area at the same time in this kind of area not that many people can afford a cleaner think thats what they call swings and roundabouts any way i really was hoping there was a council somewhere with different rules on underoccupancy or that some one who could do something would like say go along to your local council tomorrow anyone whos broke get your sacks pick up rubbish all day get paid with the extra money going in from extra council tax and underoccupied rooms and there u are but thats not how it goes is it

Marney Are you sure your daughter cannot help a bit?

I think you are being unreasonable asking your daughter for help. She doesn't live with you, that's why you have to pay the bedroom tax. She's a student and presumably has her own living costs.

When I was a student nurse (6 months ago) my bursary was £559pcm. I did placements, essays and worked full time (whilst growing PFB!). Sometimes I worked nights and went to uni during the day. It was exhausting but it had to be done in order to keep a roof over my head and decent food in my belly. I'm not suggesting she works nights like I did, but every person in my class of 26 had a part time job to sustain theirselves. My parents couldn't support me, I slept on the sofa when I visited. No-one died.