WWBU to purchase DD expensive university accommodation?

[ThreePounds]

This isn't some twisted bragging thread, BTW. We have been saving since she was born.

She will be going to London in September for university and we are pretty set on a lovely studio apartment that's in student accommodation. It's just over £400 a week. We can afford this.

My mum thinks it's a bad idea. I never went to uni, so I'm not sure what experience she has, hence I'm asking here. She thinks she needs to 'learn' that's it's not easy or necessarily 'nice' to live alone, etc. etc.

DD has a part-time job herself and isn't expecting at all.

WWBU?

Going for the ensuit (still just as beautiful) brings it down to £279 that's a bit difference! Might see what DD thinks.

definitely better.
anyway, final decision is with you, you're paying....

I'd go with the ensuite. My kids (long way off uni) already have expensive flats in London thanks to rich grandparents but won't get these until after they graduate. Whilst in uni they will be sharing in halls, flatshares etc and learning to rub along with others. They are extroverts who would relish communal living.

My DD has just had an ensuite in a flat of 4, with 4 flats per floor in her Uni hall. She's found that perfect, not on her own but own bathroom, not too big flat so not too noisy, but all flats on their floor good friends when they want more people around. She's living with four from that floor ( 1 from her flat) next year.

Going into student halls does not guarantee you will make friends. I was in catered accommodation in first year, so we didn't share a kitchen but at least saw each other at meal times. After the first couple of days I barely saw my flat mates. I am incredibly shy and just could not bring myself to talk to anyone. I did make some friends on my course though. Everyone else in my halls managed to make friends so it wasn't the accommodation that was the issue, it was me being very shy - am possibly ASD.

If you can afford it and your daughter is happy then go for it. I failed at university mainly because I had seven different jobs to try and pay for myself (crap accommodation too- we got burgled 3 times). On top of coursework and the whole growing up thing it was overwhelming- if you can provide safety, security and peace of mind for your daughter then do it

OP GD went to uni in 2015, in best accommodation on campus, ensuite. He doesn't like sharing 'facilities' even at home. He was miserable, didn't settle at all. Abandoned course.
A year later, same uni, different course. Last minute decision. Not much choice of accommodation. Much cheaper, more basic, smaller room, shared loos, showers, kitchen. Nearest loo soon got put out of action by fellow students not all of whom were house trained or used to drinking. The kitchen was a bit chaotic but everyone mucked in and, importantly, got to know each other. The year is over, he survived, made friends and learned a lot. Shared house next year!
Are you sure DD really wants to cut herself off from so much of the student experience?

I would have loved that, and I'd offer the same for my children if I was in the position to when they go to university

They will have 130k deposit for potentially a three bed flat in London. . I think the sort of flats they will be able to afford will not be to the op's taste.

I went to UCL and ended up in an intercollegiate hall (all colleges of the Uni of London) because the UCL halls were all full. I'm guessing the hall you have in mind might be one of these privately run student accommodation and likely to attract students from all London universities too.
I think I would have enjoyed UCL a lot more if I'd known more people - my closest friends from hall were from four or five different colleges and so there was no crossover between people I lived with and people I studied with.
Also, look into the kinds of people who are renting these luxury apartments - knowing Uni of London as I do, they are fairly likely to be rich and foreign and may have a completely different idea of fun to your DD.
I think she might have a better, more sociable time, with others from her course / uni if possible. London can be a very overwhelming and lonely place. A close knit support network is vital.

I went to college 25 years ago. Shared rooms, Lino on the floor, three toilets between 20, showers in the cellar with curtains that didn't pull all the way across...
Then a rented house with four others. It was so mouldy and dirty and cold. One housemate didn't want to pay for heating! We ran out of all cooking implements and plates as no one would wash up. I guess it was like The Young Ones.
It was the best time of my life.
Students nowadays are spoilt! They expect more from their accommodation.

A studio might be rather lonely. She doesn't have to be a hard-partying student to share communal facilities. They might mean she meets people outside of her course etc.

Does she have any experience she living on her own does she stay alone over night often? I'm much older than that and still feel on edge in an empty house.

I think she'll want to have fun with friends. What about one other renter?

Aside from the fact that it's a huge amount of money I agree with most, it seems so sad to me to be so isolated at such a young age. It's a long time since I lived in student accommodation but I don't suppose things have changed dramatically, it wasn't all wild parties, staying up all night and not doing any coursework. I just can't imagine how lonely and boring it would have been if I'd lived alone

Going to uni teaches you so much more than the stuff you learn on your course. It's about living independently of your parents and making friends who are like family to you when you first leave home. Most students - even the confident loud-mouths - will feel anxious on that first day when they turn up knowing no one. What the situation teaches you is that actually you can cope with it, that everyone feels the same and you can all help each other through it. Yes there will be some a* - that's life you learn how to handle that with the support of other like-minded people. In a way, I would say the more shy and reserved the student the more they would benefit from starting out in halls. It's a place where you can learn to conquer your shyness and also there will be kind souls among the other students who will help you to be included. It teaches you social skills that will set you up for all the other new starts in your life. I think it is an important rite of passage and wouldn't want to "buy" my kids out of it. If she absolutely hates it and is unable to adapt the money is still there for a studio at a later stage - the following term or year. I think she should give it a go - it might be the making of her.

Hmm, if you were saying she was planning to work in finance or corporate law after she graduates ie be making £150k feasibly within a few years of graduation, I would say go for it. Or if you had £300k to give her after graduation. But if she's going to be a nurse, pp are right in that you're going to spoil her for the realities of her future life. She'll have to go into rental after graduation, or live at home, or have a £150-200k flat (your deposit + 3-5 times salary), none of which is going to be as plush as a nice studio in central London. Also, there is so much to learn from living with other people, even though I loathed it so much that it gave me the drive I needed to buy my own flat in london at 27. I was in perfectly ordinary halls and they were stuffed with utterly loaded people, many of whom seemed to have flats in trust or bought for them. Better paying the lower price which is still incredibly privileged for a student, and putting he balance to her deposit. You sound a bit nervous of telling her though! Are you?

I disagree. If you are more shy and reserved you still have to make the effort to socialise, which will be harder the shyer you are. I had very little in common with the people who lived on my corridor, they were all doing different subjects. As I said previously the fact that it was catered did not make a difference as everyone else seemed to make friends.

Waste of a degree if the loan isn't paid back.

I'd let her commute and save the money to pay more towards her own house. Ridiculous waste if she can live at home.

If doesn't want shared accomodation and can't think of anything worse than the typical student life then commute from home.

What is the point in paying £400 a week to live alone and not get involved in student life anyway when home is commutable.

For the money you're better off buying her a 1 studio flat and paying the mortgage. Two birds, one stone if you were already thinking of helping her with a deposit. That's eye wateringly pricey for a room, this said as a person who lives in central London.

Depends on her. I think the studio apartment sounds lovely. I moved in with a much older boyfriend purely to get through my degree because I couldn't tolerate a houseshare with so many people.

Yeah that seems a lot to pay. I feel like you could buy her a little apartment for that, and have her live somewhere cheap in a little house share. Or live at home.

Up to you though. If you're rich, and can spoil your daughter, then why not?

Anyone else would.

It's tempting to shut yourself away when choosing uni accommodation, have your own bathroom and kitchen etc. But the happiest halls are often the shared ones, where students live on corridors and share bathrooms. You actually meet people.
Best of all are the catered halls, where they serve terrible food but you have to sit down at a table and eat with other people every day. We even had formal dinners where you were served at table, as well as canteen service at weekends.
There's plenty of time for her own space when she's older. I wouldn't give back my days in halls for anything!