Is anyone else’s DC opting for the most expensive “premium” halls?

[badboss2020]

We have submitted the application for DD to go into halls. For various reasons she has applied for the most expensive premium en suite type of halls. There are a lot of this type of room so I assume a lot of people do go for them, but now she’s paranoid that she’s going to be seen as rich/posh/tory (whatever that actually means!).
There is always a lot of talk about the cheapest options at various unis but the other end doesn’t get mentioned much.
We aren’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, it’s only for a year so we felt like she should have a chance in the nicest environment?!

Which uni? I think both my DSs went for a mid level budget. Great mix of people in London. In Bristol fairly posh (not too many Tory’s though!)

If you can afford that, which is probably in excess of £200 pw, as well as your own housing costs, I would say you are in fact pretty well off.
What do you want us to say?

My daughter went into private halls as the uni halls were teeny and grim and quite far out of the city centre. Honestly the kids in these were just a grossly untidy/dirty/selfish as they often are anywhere else! She did get a nice bedroom and 24 hour security on reception plus things like a postroom so it was worth it for that and being closer to the uni and city centre. But I wouldn't assume the kids will be nicer people because their parents have more money - there will still be loudness/people being rude or nasty etc.

No-one will care plus it's comfortable.
She will find it hard to slum it in second and third year though!

When I was at Uni my hall had all basic rooms with shared bathrooms and it was fine, plenty of private school kids there too! Some other halls were ensuite but we mostly socialised with people in our own halls and where we were friends with people in different accommodation I don't think anyone thought anything about it apart from oo that's nice. I don't see the point in spending more than you need to unless there's a reason eg a health issue but everyone has different views I guess.

Of course you are quite well off. We are not that badly off and scraping together the basics to get DS into cheap halls up north.
There are lots of other kids in similar situations so she will not be alone.

Yep DD did the same in first year and it was worth the money for her to have some privacy and good amenities. Shes in second year and in a house share… equally as nice but only slightly cheaper. No one will make comments, I don’t think anyone would care tbh.

I accept the comment about being well off if we can afford the £230 pw rent. She’s our only so I think that really helps. But for context we live in a very small 2 bed flat and she has never had her own bathroom or even a double bed before. We have one 16 year old car!
It wasn’t at all about expecting nicer people in the premium halls. Almost the opposite really, more her worrying that her flatmates won’t be her type of people.

It depends where your DC is going and what you think is extravagant.

At my DC's London uni the choice was sharing a room and a bathroom with a stranger plus kitchen and social space with up to 10 others versus sharing a kitchen and social space with up to 10 or so others but having your own en-suite room. The latter is more expensive but sounds like a sensible option for a first year student to me. The other factors are close to versus miles away from campus.

All this said, most university residences are pretty shocking in terms of size and quality.

Well if the hall is £230 pw that's more than £9k over a 40-week let (as is standard for uni halls); that's quite a lot. How much is her loan? Are you paying all the accommodation cost?

It’s up to you obviously. I am sure there will be all kinds of YP in the halls and en-suite is usually more popular. I guess there won't be anyone there on maximum loan (ie a really low HH income) as the hall fees would eat it all up.

But plenty of people who are not posh have the money to sub at that level. A friend of mine is paying £10k for their DC's shared house this year. They are not posh (they are well-off though).

It will vary by uni. Can she look at reviews of accommodation online.
My DD’s friend came through clearing and ended up in expensive accommodation where all other students in her flat were rich internationals from one country and didn’t include her/spoke own language. She hated it and spent most of her time at my DD’s cheapest accommodation where most of the freshers were.

Yes. Dd has ASD. Private, comfortable housing is going to go a long way towards her success at university. Even if it is a stretch, we will make it work.

Ds1 is in private halls. He's in the silver accommodation so he is in what looks like a small housing estate of 5 bed terraced houses. The silver houses have 5 bedrooms, 2 shower rooms and a kitchen. I think the nicer houses have en suites and living rooms.

We are not remotely well off and we had to ask his grandparents to be a guarantor because we didn't qualify. There seems to be a mixture of different people where ds1 lives but it's a performing arts place so maybe more diversity than most.

The student crowd was the website I was thinking of with accommodation reviews.

The main issue will be that she may well be living with/socialising with flatmates who have got a lot of spare cash! In my (and DC’s) experience, those who lived in the posh halls (Tory Towers!) had loads of money to go out (often had come from public schools), so you might find yourself struggling to keep up financially. Groups went skiing at Xmas and Easter together as well for example.

I think it’s pretty sound advice to select halls with people who will probably have with a similar budget to you!

Most of the rich students are uni tend to vote Labour Lib or Green, never known them say being rich means you'll vote Tory.

Dd is going into the most expensive halls but its £157 a week her loan will cover most of it, we'll just need to pay the rest which works out at around 100 a month.
It was worth it because its a nice room, en suite and free WiFi. The cheaper one at 125 a week didn't have WiFi.

This. It was 20 years ago but I got a scholarship that offered to pay for my accommodation. Stupidly I chose the most expensive, catered option (at Bristol) and swiftly found myself the only Northern state schooler in the hall and fairly socially and financially excluded from a lot of things. It was nice having a cleaner for a year though. I did make friends but the friendships didn't last much past Uni and I do regret not opting for a lower budget hall.

Rich/posh/Tory is not a synonym for nice! Where did you get that association?

Tik tok can also be a source of info re halls.

We went for the top uni accommodation for our daughter. There was a good mix of people. I too wanted her in a nice environment for her first experience away from home.

On our area the top range halls are predominantly 80% foreign students. They are the only ones who can afford and want to live isolated with their own bathrooms and locked spaces, so for us we would avoid the top top price brackets and go more midrange.

Those companies spent lots marketing overseas to be able to charge premiums.

£230 a week! Where is this OP? (One to avoid..!!)

Does it have its own kitchenette as well?

Only my friends child has just down graded because she said the posh halls were too isolating. No one seemed to leave them and no communal kitchen.

She still has her own loo but shared kitchen now and is happier- but they certainly don't socialise in the same way uni students did when I was there

How do the allocations work? Is the pretty much guaranteed to get his accommodation or is it more of a lottery? Is £230 a week substantially higher than the norm at this university?

Assuming it's only allocated to people who have actively chosen this accommodation, my main worry would be with a PP that the majority of the other students will be from very affluent families and expect to socialise and live accordingly. Will your DC feel under pressure to keep up with them? Is she sociable enough to find a social life outside of halls if the one in hall is outside of her budget?

Yes, it's likely that other students will assume she's from an affluent family and make associated assumptions such as your OP, and possibly consider they have nothing in common. Although they will hopefully still take time to know her and find out what she's actually like

(My student DD told me in some bemusement at Christmas that one of her housemates next year - who is the friend of a friend - apparently always shops at Waitrose. I don't think DD has even ever been in a Waitrose.).