to be scared when kids leave full-time education

[spanieleyes22]

So I'm currently eligible for Universal Credit with 2 children over 16 but in full-time education. But when the youngest turns 20 I believe I won't be eligible for it any more. I don't know how I'm going to pay my rent or survive without it. They will still be living with me and will be in university (hopefully). What do people do when this happens.

It's no fun to be forced to move for financial reasons but an "average salary" for a single person living alone won't stretch to a 3 bedroom house in most parts of the UK. Arguably I guess a single person doesn't need a 3 bedroom house.
There are huge structural problems in the UK due to no political party for decades having the will to build any number of new homes in order to keep house prices artificially high.

Do you have any pension provision OP?

Don't tell me to "read the post" before responding then. I read it, and it was obvious the poster was having a dig, and it appears I'm not the only one who noticed it.

Whereas I am slightly less cynical and downright nasty than most on here and took the post as genuine because there's evidence that it's otherwise. All depends on viewpoint.

It's no fun to be forced to move for financial reasons but an "average salary" for a single person living alone won't stretch to a 3 bedroom house in most parts of the UK. Arguably I guess a single person doesn't need a 3 bedroom house

This is true but I can't help thinking it'll be a pretty miserable retirement for a lot of single people, stuck in a tiny one bed flat with little or no outside space.

I think we will see more houseshares for older people. Once thier kids are fully grown with thier own families I can see singles friends living with each other - would help reduce bills as well as be company.

As indeed was very common in the past.

@Princessfluffy @PoundlandColumbo

I'm single and live in a very average 3 bed terrace, 2nd bedroom currently occupied part time by my son who is at uni. The third occupied by a 13 year old foster child. Hopefully by the time I am 65 they will both be off doing their own thing.

Do I 'need' my ' extra' bedrooms? Well I do need my living room, kitchen and bathroom which occupy the same footprint. I would still like to have space for my kids and maybe grandkids if they appear to stay. I would be very miserable without my garden. So regardless of whether or not I need it, it's my home and I will be carried out of it my box.
I have a friend who lives in the sort of accommodation it seems many people would like single people to be pushed into. A bed sit room with tiny kitchen and shower room. No outside space.
To me it's suffocatingly small - no room.for a sofa, just a chair, no room for the things that are important to me. No room for visitors. No thanks not for me

It makes a difference if you are living in a home you own or have equity in, @Ted27.

It makes no sense to continue living in a rented home that is too big for your needs.

It's open plan with a sitting area and dining area, not big at all. I would have definitely turned a separate dining room into a bedroom, and we would have eaten in the sitting room with plates on our knees. Now that the number still living at home has more than halved, I can't believe we all managed to fit here, but we did.

My friend's family moved her brother's girlfriend into my friend's room! She still went home, but I think she slept on the sofa or with a friend or something.
As people have noted, halls are usually term time only.

halls are generally for the first year only, after that the majority find house shares

@mathanxiety

Of course it makes a difference if you own your own home, to many things.
The point is there are countless threads and posts about single people and what other people think they need.
Just because I'm single does not mean I don't have family or friends, children and grandchildren that I would want to accommodate in the future or that living in a shoe box would give me a decent quality of life.

Of course in an ideal world the OP should keep renting a 3 bed house so that she can have friends and family and get DC over. But she says she can't afford it once UC stops.

It makes zero financial sense to pay rent for space to accommodate potential future guests.

My adult DCs stay in hotels when they visit for Christmas and other occasions. If my mother ever came to visit, she could have my bed, but everyone else makes their own arrangements for accommodation, and actually it works out well because we don't have the usual house guest problems and they have their own bathroom, comfy bed, proximity to coffee shops in the city, etc, and can meet up with other friends when they're in town.

The inevitable alternative to a three bedroom house that will only be filled for a few months out of the year isn't a 'shoebox' either.

And that’s fine - as long as you find it yourself. We don’t have the resources for the government to be paying for every single person (or couple) to have 3 bedrooms so that they can have spare rooms for occasional guests.

we didn’t buy our house until we were 40. Until then we rented (and 2 boys share a room). We then managed to buy. We both work full time so when the kids leave home we will still be able to afford to live here. If our circumstances change then yes we may have to downsize.

Great, as long as you’re not claiming for it. I’m not
working full time so you can have these things

@BrieAndChilli

I wasn't suggesting that the state should fund 3 bed houses for everyone
My objection is that it seems the solution to the housing crisis seems to be
Single people should house share or live in shoe boxes
Old people should give up their family homes.
Because of what other people think they need.
We all need to cut our cloth. That's partly why I'm still in a wobbly Victorian terrace. But I do object to being told what I need.
The op has several options open to her to enable her to keep her home once the benefits end. It's up to her to decide how to do it.

Jeez

@LiterallyOnFire yes we did. For work and fortunately we do not use the welfare system. Yes we pay for everything, including health care and education. We know it can be financially challenging so we work. Just like many other economical immigrants. We are the ones paying for the welfare system here.

and we have accommodated full extended families and friends in a one and then two bed house. No one bats an eye lid and every one managed. And guess what, we all had a blast and still remember those times fondly. People who care for you wont mind sleeping on the floor if they had to, so that can spend more time with you. People really need to start spending within their means and cut clothes accordingly.

And the one who said that people do not care for elderly. You cannot be more wrong. We have the strongest family system where children look after their parents because parents spend their lives looking after their children. We do not rely on state support for that.

OP's kids are adults. It's time to have a frank discussion with them.

@wanttogetadvice it is very different visiting family and sleeping on the floor when you have a proper home of your own. This is not the situation for OPs kids when they go to uni.

State schools and NHS are also (a big) part of the welfare state. Don't you use any of it?

You'd think this was a thread about a dosser, considering how many posters want a medal for working and paying tax. OP works and pays tax.

Such an odd thread.

The person you are quoting has repeatedly said they live somewhere that doesn’t have any sort of welfare benefits hence paying for their healthcare etc.

I think the issue with the thread is that OP is refusing to consider any suggestion offered

The person I am qu

I am ignorant when it comes to UC on top of wages. I honestly had no idea you could get them on an average salary. I thought they were just for those on a really low salary. It is good they offer them.