Living at home

[Nix32]

Has anyone’s teenager chosen to go to uni close to home in order to avoid accommodation costs? How has it worked out for them?

Both my DDs went to uni in our home city. They seemed quite happy to stay living at home and avoid accommodation costs. I was happy for them to continue living at home as I had/have a good relationship with them both.
As we live in Scotland where there are no university tuition fees this meant they both left uni entirely debt free. Both subsequently moved out.

Same positive experience as @Naepalz for my two sons (also Scotland). Both moved out after graduation. Both glad not to have any student debt.

DD had two friends who were living at home at the start of the first year. One subsequently dropped out of uni, not really sure why but the commute was apparently a bit much and she just wasn't happy. The other one felt that she was missing out on the social side and ended up moving into halls mid year.

I think living at home works well for some students if you live close enough to the campus to mean that they don't have a significant commute and if the student just wants to get the degree/ isn't really bothered about the whole student lifestyle/social aspect etc. And of course, they will save a huge amount of money/debt doing it that way. It wouldn't suit all students though.

I don't think living at home necessarily needs to dilute the student experience. My elder DD admittedly wasn't particularly interested in the social side but the younger one was very socially active and was a member and later office bearer of several university societies. She spent a lot of time out and about especially in her first 2 year at uni.
I think family dynamics play a part in how successful this would be though. I was a fairly laid back parent and treated my kids as adults. They had the freedom to come and go as they pleased and I didn't question them much about what they were up to.
Lastly although this may have no relevance to the OP my youngest daughter has ASD and might well have struggled at uni if living away from home. She appreciated my support, when needed to navigate the change from school to uni and would probably have struggled on her own at 18.

We weren't sure DC1 with ASD was going to cope with the whole uni experience, so only applied for universities with less than a 1 hour commute - easy given we are London outskirts. He lived in halls for year 1 and made perhaps 1 friend on his corridor as it was a "quiet" flat - they were all ASD and so no one really talked to each other! He might have worked better not in a quiet flat, but you never know how loud they are going to be. He came home a fair bit, and having trialled mid-week rush hour commuting, he did that for year 2 & 3, which worked as his lectures were mainly only 2 days a week. He's saved a fortune - he paid £30 a week on travel, vs £230 pw rent plus buying his own food living in London itself.

Think how it might work out for you also. Sometimes felt like my DH and I were living in a student house share (might be less of an issue if you are not so close to uni or DC not so sociable)

I think the advantage of not living at home is that sense of independence and trying out adult life without parents around. I think the social side of university will be narrow if dc wants a good time after the last bus or train! Societies don’t meet late but the parties will continue! Often the ones going home don’t get invited or they have to crash on the floor. It’s not the same for them but some are home birds and not ready for being away and don’t take the loan for living at home. Lots save it at a decent interest rate so I’ve heard.

It’s not the same experience as living away from home
It might suit some people better,but it has to be acknowledged it is a different experience
Our DC all wanted to go away and we were happy to fully financially support them so they all left/will leave with no debt ( Scotland)
They all had an absolute blast

We said if they chose to live at home we would still suggest living in halls for first year for the "experience" of it, making friends, being able to join in impromptu kitchen conversations at 11pm and last second arrangements on the whatsapp group chat for either the flat or the course etc. Then it was up to them if they wanted to continue to live out or at home.

I think several things play into it. The ease and cost of the commute, the friendships they may already have, the personality of your child. My sister lived at home whilst I was away at uni and had a great time, always out, crashing at different places but she also had a boyfriend who worked and a group of friends who didn't go to uni. She had had a gap year working, kept the job whilst at uni.

Her son also stayed home but was a complete homebody and literally went to lectures and came home, never stayed out, never tried to meet up with other people. Was he happy? Absolutely, he loved it, this was fine for him but he is a completely different personality to my sister who is larger than life. My sister feels like he missed out even though they both lived at home for uni.

You can always go to uni and live in your room too, not go to lectures as lots are online, not join societies, not venture out very much. Accommodation costs can be a driving factor and rightly so. Ds has just finished his first year and was looking at what he could rent on Rightmove local to home for the same price. He was shocked by it.