How much living allowance do you send them?

[IheartNiles]

DD will get minimum loan.

We’ll need to top up her accommodation (looking like another £3k as she medically needs an ensuite).

How much do you then give them to live on / how much do they need?

She has a Saturday job at home now and my expectation is she should find a part time job while she’s there. I strongly believe in getting lots of work experience and valuing money.

I also paid mobile phone do they never could say they had no credit !

Same here - we pay accommodation and phone plus a small monthly top up.
Accommodation roughly works out at £5,500 ish. So probably about right in terms of what govt expectations as mentioned above.
My dc gets the minimum loan which he uses for living expenses. This was the same for me older DC too.

Another who does this. The basic cost of accommodation is largely fixed. By paying that (not bills, just rent), we leave DC in a position where they pay for things they can control - electricity use; food; drink; social life; clothes - and thus have a reason to budget for / offset one thing against another.

We have also said that we will pay accommodation and phone. Car insurance is paid for the next 11 months and will pay for pre-pay prescription/ dental/ optician (DS needs specialist prescription glasses and has a long term health need). Food, beer, social life will need to come out if he loan and jobs. We’ll be saving to support the year abroad!

Out of interest,I just checked. I paid about £35 a week in 1994 for my room in halls. Basic, but safe, warm and 5 minutes walk across campus. That equates to about £90 a week now. Why are the halls we are looking at around £150 a week??

I think £150 per week is at the higher end (unless London). The ones at the Uni DS is looking at range from £95-109 for shared kitchen and bathrooms. He's looking at private, which is a double studio flat with kitchenette and en-suite, access to gym, games room etc which are coming out at between £135 and £150. But a lot of extras included, not as basic as normal halls.

@afromom There is a huge North/South divide here. DD is in the cheapest room her uni provides (southern but not London), and it's a self-catered shoebox for £120/wk. In her town, private halls with all the trimmings are £200+. She knew this in advance and factored it into her shortlisting process!

If DD needs an en-suite for medical reasons and the accommodation is university owned or owned by a third party acting on behalf of the university the university should not charge her the extra. If it’s private accommodation DSA can refund the difference.

DD2 gets the minimum loan, we top up to the maximum amount and ensure she has a stock of non-perishables/toiletries at the start of each term.

Thanks @PhotoDad, I suppose that makes sense as it's reflective of the north/south divide for other housing too. DSs Uni choices are in the midlands, so probably naturally cheaper than those down south. It's very unfair for young people who want to study at southern universities.

@afromom We're from the North-East, and even here, there are pricey spots (Durham springs to mind). DD that the 'cost' of going to her first choice would be a tiny room and considered it worthwhile anyway.

The real unfairness comes with unis who allocate accommodation fairly randomly, DC can get landed with a much higher rent bill than they had planned.

Dd lives on minimum loan and we pay her accommodation and phone. She also tops up in the holidays by doing some work. This is outside London.

What’s the minimum loan please? Is that paid yearly, monthly, weekly?

DS gets minimum Student loan, we pay 6k a year towards his rent so he has his SL to live off (works out about £100 a week). When he comes home I normally send him back with enough food for 2-3 days, or a bag of his favourite things that he wouldn't normally buy himself.

Additionally we pay for his mobile and we paid for him to join the boxing society

Depends on her accommodation costs but probably around £500 a month on top of the accommodation

Same costs as York. Durham also expensive.

DS doesn't work at Uni, but works 40-45 hours a week during holidays at the pub he's always worked at

Hadn’t read this properly. Sorry for asking about minimum loan. Seems quite popular to pay their accom/bills and then DC has min loan to live off at 4k a year or if term time only (40 weeks) a£100 a week.

When is the loan paid please?

@kimlek which Uni has 40 wk terms. 40 / 42 wks first year hall contract normal, but actual terms / semesters are more like 30/ 31 wks in total for most; less again at Oxbridge. Cambridge at least was an absolute bargain for accommodation, and for all three years.

Three times a year, usually just before each uni term starts.

Maintenance loan payments, from my DCs experience at least, paid in the first week of term, so late Sep / early Oct; Jan and April.

@boys3 i don’t have any DC at uni yet and assumed they were 40 week minimum given that’s the min time in halls for 1st year. I’ve no idea how many weeks they do actually spend there. Doesn’t a private landlord expect 52 weeks? I’m amazed you can rent for just 30 weeks. Is that what you’re saying?

£500 a month
We pay accommodation as well
They don’t work term time

I mean 52 weeks for 2nd and 3rd years? Especially if staying in same accom

Another one who pays accommodation and they live on minimum loan. At Warwick this was similar to topping up to recommended full loan. In Bristol we’re paying alot more. If you’re on a tight budget you need to check accommodation costs when looking at unis. Both ours work in holidays but not term time.