To move out for second year of uni rather than commute from home?

[Thebigelf]

I'm currently in my first year of uni in London, and beginning to consider accommodation options for next year. I'm living in halls very close to my uni at the moment (walking distance) and before starting uni said I would consider all my options for later years. My mum however has been very adamant about me staying at home after first year. She thinks I'll be making a huge financial mistake living away next year. The commute from the family home would be around 50 minutes to the main campus, not taking into account placement and sports matches, which are usually about 1 hour + away.

I hear where she's coming from about saving money but AIBU to want to move away from home. We have a good relationship but there's definitely a difference with independence when you don't live with your parents and the convenience of living in close to uni is great for me.

Would really appreciate your opinions

The thing that stands out here is that you’d be commuting for about 2 hours a day. I’d consider that a complete waste of time that if you live in a house share would be better spent studying (or drinking ). So definitely move out!

And if you’re worrying about your student loan affecting you getting a mortgage in the future, currently it is only taken into account as a permanent deduction to your salary, they don’t view it as other debt is viewed. So when we bought our house, DH’s monthly net earnings weren’t viewed to be his full £1,500 (for example), they were taken as £1,500 less the £100 student loan repayment. So it just reduces the amount you can borrow slightly. It really wasn’t our biggest concern when we bought.

Hi - I went to uni 20 years ago. I paid for 4 years of accommodation covered by my loan. At the time I wasn’t worried but to be honest if I had a choice and hindsight I would have lived at home and saved the money. Avoid the debt and save the money for your first home x

Invisible unicorn- You’d be suprised how many doctors want to retire or leave by 37! I know a huge amount of doctors (all specialties) and most are planning their exit in their early 40s

@Fortybingowings it's why the proviso is if they are passionate about it. Sad you have other experiences but I would be upset if my teen hated her job 😔 BUT if she did, I'd want her to retrain, do something else, specialise in something else, find her passion again if she can otherwise go where her passion is.

Still not pottering about 😉

I am in my 40s and feel my career is just taking off. I can't imagine wanting to go PT even. And I've still managed to travel lots and have a cleaner...

Conditions in medicine are pretty bad at present, lots of doctors leaving or unwell. Not a given that anyone studying medicine will be highly paid and willing and able to work long term.

“currently it is only taken into account as a permanent deduction to your salary”. That could well change when it becomes clear that the current arrangements have a high cost to government at a time when other costs, eg pensions, health and social care, are rising.

I love what I do more as I'm doing it part-time so I can do it properly and go home before I'm burned out and fed up :) But I'm not saying others need to aspire to a similar lifestyle. It's just nice to have the options to either work part-time or full-time or do whatever.

By the way, student loans are viewed differently to other loans (so more like a graduate tax) but they can be a bit of a burden. Someone in a 50k-a-year job will be paying £241 per month (so almost 3k a year). They'll be getting charged extortionate interest (currently inflation + 3% so 5.7% in total) so it's designed to keep you paying. For 30 years.... So almost the entire professional career (especially considering when doctors actually start earning). So it's not an insignificant amount.

DS went to a London uni and stayed at home for the first year which was pretty awful tbh. After that he moved into houseshares. I definitely agree that living away is part of the whole uni thing.

With medicine you might want to move home later in your studies if you are needing to study hard and be generally looked after. Living at home for the full degree could leave you as a clever doctor with zero life skills.