DH is limiting Y12 DC to universities in the north due to ££££

[BatteredHonda]

DC is in Y12 and wants to apply to KCL, Bristol and Exeter - alongside other unis. DC will qualify for minimum maintenance loan and we are therefore expected to top up/pay the accommodation. We struggle to make ends meet as it is so DH has said DC canNOT apply to southern unis - let alone London ones. He is recommending Leicester, Newcastle, Swansea, Belfast etc instead. DC is furious but I do get where DH coming from. What are your thoughts?

You sound like you think your dh is wrong to talk about it. What’s your suggestion?

Here are some stats for Manchester to help you with costs, I suspect other universities have a similar accommodation service that can help www.manchesterstudenthomes.com/Statistics

I applied to unis in the north for exactly the same reason. It's a sensible thing to do. Unless your DC wants to get a job to support his studies. Although in fairness, i still had to do that in the North anyway.

Note that some of those accommodation costs for Manchester students include Liverpool and Preston, because people are commuting from other cities now.

So that’s £3957 for maintenance loan plus you’re going to top up to £6000 to match the max maintenance loan of £9975? That’s very generous. Sit down with him and budget for rent, weekly food shop, books (course books are very expensive) etc and show him what he will have left over. This will hopefully give him a reality check.

OP I think you need to get serious with him. You need to remember after his first year he will need to find a house to live in too and student housing rent outside of the uni offer is not cheap.

How nice he’s managed to not have a job - perhaps you need to welcome him to the real world. I worked throughout college, and when I was at uni was working full time hours (remote job so I was lucky I could do it from my bed - totally know it’s not possible for everyone). I went to a Russell group, and still got a first - and had a great social life too. It set me up well from getting onto competitive grad schemes.

it’s possible for him to do it, he just doesn’t want to.

Bristol in particular is tough getting accommodation, there's such a shortage generally.

Yes channel 4 suggested this but also seen Manchester and Scottish universities mentioned as currently hard to find student private rents.

Can he do babysitting? I used to do loads of this at his age, and took my schoolwork with me.

haven't read the thread. I gave my kids a strong steer like this too and they both had to have a gap year to earn to help too. Daughter heard me, son didn't. I'm a single mum. His allocated accommodation in Y1 in Bristol was £13,000, though in the end we managed to find somewhere cheaper. His student maintenance is £7500 and I am already overstretched (on a reasonable income) covering the additional £2500 I need to give. Next year will be really tough. If the child is desperate to go somewhere more expensive, maybe they need a gap year or two first, to earn to help make up the shortfall.

My DD only applied to Northern universities for this very reason, but this was her own decision, I didn't forbid her to apply for southern ones. DD knew we did not have much money to spare and she wanted her income to stretch as far as possible. She also worked all the summer holidays, and my DM made a contribution to her living costs.

I would have preferred her to go to our local one tbh, it had a good reputation at the time. Especially as it turned out she ended up staying in the North, and we live in the South.

King or Leicester? Exeter or Swansea?

Thoughts? Your dh is an arsehole who is limiting his ds's ambition. HTH.

If you have agreed a budget to give your child, it’s entirely up them if they chose to go north or south. They can get a job to supplement their income right?

We told DS not to apply to London Unis for the same reason - although he did look at Bristol. In the end he did go to uni in a cheaper area.

Maybe the conversation should be had with your DC about finances and how they'll have to get a job if they choose a more expensive area.

Parental income has always determined maintenance loan. If you got the maximum it was because your household income was low. This is not new.

It's hard in Bath too and there was a huge shortage of accommodation in both places last year so students' were commuting in from all over the place

Back in 1977 when I applied, my dad said only apply to universities within a 2 hour drive if I wanted a lift with my stuff

I don’t think your DH should be telling DS where to apply - simply saying that DS will have to work to pay the difference himself.

unfortunately your husband is right regarding how much things cost, my daughters friend is at UCL and her halls for 1st year are £11k and rental for next two years is likely to be more.

There are more affordable decent unis in the midlands and north like Birmingham, Loughborough, Nottingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield. Where the cost of halls would be £4K - £7.5K. it will be more will rentals in subsequent years.

This is all really helpful - thank you. Will get DC to look at cost of accommodation in each of his preferred uni cities. The trouble is - as I said upthread - there is no guarantee he will get the cheaper accommodation (shared bathroom etc). I am horrified @redmapleleaves1 at that £13k for Bristol!

Have you tried discussing with your DC that he can go to uni in the north, and then look for a job in the south / London after graduation? This will be a more affordable way of exploring the south of that's what he wants?

@WarProf DC wants to read history. We not trying to talk him out of that although we wish he’d look at something a tad more vocational!

Well, your DH can't forbid him but the facts are, you can't magic money out of nowhere. He needs to do some serious thinking about the kind of debt he will get into if he goes to Uni further away, what kind of salary he will get in his chosen career, how long it will take for him to pay it off and how much interest he will pay. Too few students think about this. My daughter is living at home and commuting in, as are many other students on her course. We live in Scotland so her fees are being paid and she is trying to get through Uni debt free. People talk about the 'Uni experience' but it is not worth the debt it comes with, to her. She also took a gap year and worked her backside off to give herself a savings buffer. Student jobs are getting harder to come by and loans do not cover all the costs. This is the reality and it seems your son needs a hard dose of it.

If he’s applying to study history he will definitely have time for a part time job.

OMG! Imagine having to mix with international students! Nightmare!

I agree about London, too expensive. One of my DCs was in a city you quote as being expensive, the other in one you quote as being cheap. Their accommodation costs were more or less identical. Going out will be cheaper in places like Newcastle, Swansea etc, I would have thought, but not necessarily accommodation - plus, as you have already mentioned, there is no guarantee of getting the cheaper accommodation anywhere they go.