Living at home for University

[Moonlight75]

We live in London so DC could go to uni in London and still live at home.

Has anyone done that? Do they miss out of the full university/moving out experience?

It will be out to them but just wondering as they are going to get in a big debt if moving out

My dd just started and is staying at home, she said she didn't want to live in shared accommodation. Seems happy enough so far although it's only been a week. She's not one for clubbing every night though. Also with her loan and bar jib she has more money than me and definitely more money than most students. I think it depends on the child and what they want from the experience.

I lived at home and much preferred it. No debt to get into and I could go home and relax in my own space at the end of the day. If I wanted to hang out I would've just stayed with my uni friends. It would've been a nightmare for me to live in as I'm not keen on people but those who are very social would miss out on quite a bit

Its probably hard to say because people will have done one or the other. I moved out for uni and it was the best thing i could have done. Is learned so many life skills and grew up in ways that i never could have if i lived at home. I always felt those in my classes who lived at home were quite segregated.

My son applied to one london one and was going to commute. I’m glad he chose Warwick in the end and he moved in a few days ago. I said he’s got the whole of his life for commuting, go and enjoy the whole experience. Everyone is different though, for some commuting will suit. I’d always encourage the full experience though as they learn life skills. My son can now cook all his favourite dishes, learning to budget, shop etc

It's a couple of years off yet, but my elder DC plans to apply to one of the universities in our city. If she goes, she plans to live in halls in the first year to have that experience, but probably moving home in the second and definitely in the third to save money. I'd quite support this TBH. Halls were a blast but the whole student experience is so much more expensive now.

Living at home and going to uni locally common in my area (Glasgow). I did it and so did 2 of my DC. Both are sociable so didn't miss out too much. Stayed with friends, cadged lifts, used night buses and ubers.They kept part time jobs throughout uni and didn't need loans (no fees for us). Both moved out for work after graduation and coped fine. DS2 has quite a highly paid grad job and some of his english colleagues are paying £200 per month in student loans.

It would make sense in London, rent is Very high

These days it's much more common to live at home than it used to be (for cost reasons, obviously). At some universities a large proportion of the students (say one third) will be living at home, your DC won't be unusual at all.

It's inevitable this will grow. When I was at uni, I knew a few people from Europe and they all lived at home because they had no student grant to cover rent. These days we are in the same boat so it's bound to happen far more.

My Son lived at home when he went to Kingston University some years ago now. I think it depends on each person. My Son likes his home comforts and likes his routine the same, he said he would go into halls as long as he had his own bathroom (so we knew then what we would be in for). All of his friends who went away for Uni have all mostly moved out of home, some are married, whereas my Son is still single and living at home.

I guess the obvious thing is that by targeting local universities only your DC may not have their first choice of course content/ structure and quality of university etc. Less of a issue in London but where I grew up I would have had a choice of one mid ranking university and one ex-poly and even those would have been quite a commute. The other thing about moving for university is that I think it makes you more likely to make an agnostic choice in terms of where to go next and possibly consider a broader range of opportunities. Admittedly it was a while ago, but people I knew who went to the local Unis had a much greater tendency of staying local than those who moved away, even though those who moved away generally didn't end up staying in their university towns.

My daughter will be doing an art foundation year so will stay home for that, but then wants to spread her wings a bit and go somewhere else. She's not a party person at all so it's not that part that interests her, but she likes her independence.
She's looking as far away as Falmouth - told her she won't be making many six hour journeys home at weekends!

Someone posted a link on here (can't find it now) that showed for each uni where students resided. It would be worth a look if you can find it.

At ds's uni in Glasgow (Strathclyde) it said around 40% of students stay with parents, only 30% in uni or private halls (I assume a large % of these will because they are not be local).

He started 2 weeks ago, and although he sees some advantages of halls (mainly not having to get up an hour earlier) he is still happy with his choice to commute (40mins on the bus from the bottom of our street) and doesn't feel "unusual". It would perhaps be different if he went to a uni where only 10% commuted.

Also remember just because they commute in first year doesn't mean they can't live out in other years.

With London unis this is less of an issue because the students do tend to be scattered over a wider area and also some are in intercollegiate halls rather than halls specific to their own uni. My husband met most of his uni friends in sports team or his course when at a London uni so it should prevent her from finding friends if she still joins in societies or sports etc

@Moonlight75 there is some info here on the proportions of ucl students who live at home and which parts of london they live in: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/proportion_of_undergraduates_who

We live about a 1 hour commute away from UCL, in an outer borough. My son has gone into a hall for his first year but might live at home next year. I've read on other threads here that a lot of other students do the same. His hall is 5 mins from his lectures, and catered, costing £255 a week for 39 weeks, so will be just under £10k in total, with bills included. He did hesitate about the decision, but decided it would be worth it for the experience (and bearing in mind the daily commute would have been £k too). Now that he's there he seems to like it. If he changes his mind he will find someone to take over his contract for the rest of the year.

"Has anyone done that? Do they miss out of the full university/moving out experience?"

Erm ... yes? Of course they do. Very strange question.

Thank you. Will see what DC decide; it is nice for the experience to move out but so expensive. Oldest is already quite independent, knows how to cook and is very good with money so it is more for the social side.

Totally common where I am. I know my sil has told her DC that there isn't money for them to go to third level outside of the city where they live. Even though my DD is only primary school age another mother at the school was already saying the same as my sil

WIns most unhelpful comment

My daughter is wrestling with this decision at the moment. She is attending university within commuting distance but living in halls, however she is considering whether to move back home and travel in for the course (as she feels permanently anxious and uncomfortable in student accommodation)

This is a link that someone shared on a previous thread with raw data
https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/where-study

And the thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4527370-Staying-at-home-for-University?reply=116810963

It's not uncommon in London, although I think more live away from home than at home. Quite a few live in halls for the first year then move back home for 1 or more years, especially the final year when they get less loan, don't want to be tied into a 12 month contract and need to concentrate on studying.

Something to bear in mind is that some universities in London don't guarantee halls accommodation in the first year to students who live nearby.

Living in London and commuting to a London Uni and socialising too is easier with a good transport network. If you life in the country,
you wouldn’t even get home from the nearest cinema after 8. Or even much earlier in a weekday. We do have a very lowly rated uni a bus ride away. The bus stop being 2 miles away! Other than that, the next nearest is Oxford! No transport there either. So country living parents pay up. No possibility of living at home!

That's more than a little sad. So totally discounting the input of the (presumably full or near to full?) student loan that they will be entitled to, plus the possibility - in a city, not a small village with no transport and only one part-time job available? - that the DC themselves can be earning and saving towards their own living expenses when they are old enough? A decade or so in advance?

@MarchingFrogs
I agree but many parents on decent money spend every penny now. They don’t have money available for university readily. They would prefer not to make lifestyle changes. They also do believe local is good enough. There’s thousands who think this. I’m not going to name the universities but some young girls don’t get out of their local cities and live at home. At at least they get to university. Whether they could aim higher is the important issue. Some no doubt could.

Parents also keep seeing loans as debt. They seem to think they are the same as a bank loan or mortgage. This view still limits some DC. However DC living at home get a generous allowance when compared to living away so, as explained by a pp, it’s worth it, especially if you keep your Saturday job.

I’ve looked at the destination universities of school leavers in Sheffield. Huge numbers go to Sheffield or Hallam. Virtually no one comes south of Nottingham. So people do like their own bubbles and support networks.