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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

pregnant student help !!

8 replies

kxyxx · 25/02/2021 22:15

i need help/advice on my current complicated situation so ill explain in a nutshell, im in my first year of uni currently 24 weeks pregnant due to give birth in june, ive decided to carry on my studies without taking a gap year as this is better long term. i couldnt stay in my student accommodation due to being pregnant and obviously i wasnt allowed to have a baby living with me there, because student loan is tight as it is i didnt have money for deposit and first months rent and many private rents wouldnt accept me becuase i was a student and the ones that accepted students didnt allow babies! i decided to go down the council route as i was about to be homeless, i was placed in a B&B and have recieved my call today saying there is a house for me (temporary not permemnant) i was over the moon but was told that the rent is £200 a week not including bills! i thought surely there is some help with this as council housing is meant to be affordable but no , usually youd get housing benefit to help with the cost or even cover it but because im a student i dont qualify and am expected to pay this out of my own maintenance loan, i get the maximum loan and only equated to 170 a week so my income doesnt even cover this rent? theyre saying there is nothing they can do im not entitled to any benefits because ima student its like im being punished for trying to succeed

OP posts:
BabyElephant2 · 25/02/2021 23:19

I had exactly the same as a student. No matter what I did I was worse off trying to better myself as a student but it is possible to push through, I’ve got my degree now but it was difficult and at times felt impossible on so little income.

I can’t remember which way round but either the loan or grant gets taken into consideration for your housing benefit but they did still pay a large portion of housing benefit and as a student council tax is free.

I think your situation may be different as your child isn’t born yet, however as soon as they are born you should be entitled to housing and child related benefits.

Is a shared house or rented room a cheaper option until the baby is born? I know that’s far from ideal whilst pregnant.

June is not a long time away, keep pushing them.

bushhbb · 25/02/2021 23:32

You need to apply to universal credit!

They don't use housing benefit anymore really. Go to UC and make sure the money is there before baby is born

Tell SFE (you'll have to post a letter or wait til sept when you do a new application online). You'll get more (parents learning allowance of £1.7k) and subsidised childcare. PLUS with the baby you'll be classed as an independent student so you'll hopefully get more financial support.

And emergency grants from university, you could get a few thousand.

bushhbb · 25/02/2021 23:34

You absolutely are entitled to benefits btw, I got universal credit of £500+ living at home with one child- no living costs. Also maxed out maintenance loan

Of you have a child as a student you WILL be entitled, just not as a single

Original poster
kxyxx · 26/02/2021 00:00

Yeh I know I would get financial help when I do have the baby , how much that will actually be idk until the time comes but the council have put me in a very bad position , they also have a one offer policy so if I reject this house tomorrow I’ll be on the streets, they knew from about 2 months ago my circumstance and apparently the £200 is the standard rent for all their temporary accommodations this is more than what I was paying in private halls , so they failed to tell me this knowing I wouldn’t get benefit ? The whole reason for council housing is because you can’t afford private rent it’s meant to be affordable. Yet I’m not even left with money for food and basic utility bills just because I’m a student ? There is no way I can pay the full rent on top of everything else at the moment , surely they’d have to come up with a solution as it’s the council that give housing benefit and charge the rent ?

OP posts:
Sophia889 · 27/02/2021 09:01

Hello, I've just come accross this post and wanted to let you know about a couple of services that may be able to help: Turn2Us is a charity that can offer advice and guidance to people going through financial hardships. And there is also a website called 'entitled to' which allows you to input your personal details/info (eg age, postcode, dependants, living circumstance etc) and it works out how much in benefits you would be entitled to. I've come accross both of these through work and have found them handy when supporting the clients I work with. I hope they help a little. Good luck with it all xx

www.turn2us.org.uk

www.entitledto.co.uk

Fivestar22 · 03/01/2025 13:04

kxyxx · 25/02/2021 22:15

i need help/advice on my current complicated situation so ill explain in a nutshell, im in my first year of uni currently 24 weeks pregnant due to give birth in june, ive decided to carry on my studies without taking a gap year as this is better long term. i couldnt stay in my student accommodation due to being pregnant and obviously i wasnt allowed to have a baby living with me there, because student loan is tight as it is i didnt have money for deposit and first months rent and many private rents wouldnt accept me becuase i was a student and the ones that accepted students didnt allow babies! i decided to go down the council route as i was about to be homeless, i was placed in a B&B and have recieved my call today saying there is a house for me (temporary not permemnant) i was over the moon but was told that the rent is £200 a week not including bills! i thought surely there is some help with this as council housing is meant to be affordable but no , usually youd get housing benefit to help with the cost or even cover it but because im a student i dont qualify and am expected to pay this out of my own maintenance loan, i get the maximum loan and only equated to 170 a week so my income doesnt even cover this rent? theyre saying there is nothing they can do im not entitled to any benefits because ima student its like im being punished for trying to succeed

Hi did u ever get help or anything to resolve the situation because I'm in the same predicament x

Original poster
kxyxx · 03/01/2025 13:17

Fivestar22 · 03/01/2025 13:04

Hi did u ever get help or anything to resolve the situation because I'm in the same predicament x

Show quote history

Hey ! It in fact did work out in the end, I moved into a private rented flat as it was cheaper (while sorting this I moved in with family temporarily) I was able to carry on with uni without a gap year and graduated this last June with a first class! My daughter is 3 now, as you can imagine the journey was not easy yet very much worth it for the security of a lifetime career path (if you want to carry on with uni you absolutely can all u need is to want to) I did only live in that flat for a year and ended up going to a different council after leaning from the original posts situation I just didn’t tell them I was a student (there’s no way they can find out , this may be controversial to some but in my opinion you gotta do what u gotta do) I was placed into a temporary accommodation which was a lot more affordable and just been offered a beautiful permanent home yesterday !!! Learn from me, definitely look at the councils website to learn of the different criteria as every council is different , do not mention you’re a student as this just completely goes against you even tho SFE is peanuts! Unless the rent for the council you go to is affordable then is wouldn’t make a difference, you are entitled to housing benefit and universal credit as a student after your child is born, lmk if u have any more questions hope this helps

OP posts:
Fivestar22 · 06/01/2025 17:15

kxyxx · 25/02/2021 22:15

i need help/advice on my current complicated situation so ill explain in a nutshell, im in my first year of uni currently 24 weeks pregnant due to give birth in june, ive decided to carry on my studies without taking a gap year as this is better long term. i couldnt stay in my student accommodation due to being pregnant and obviously i wasnt allowed to have a baby living with me there, because student loan is tight as it is i didnt have money for deposit and first months rent and many private rents wouldnt accept me becuase i was a student and the ones that accepted students didnt allow babies! i decided to go down the council route as i was about to be homeless, i was placed in a B&B and have recieved my call today saying there is a house for me (temporary not permemnant) i was over the moon but was told that the rent is £200 a week not including bills! i thought surely there is some help with this as council housing is meant to be affordable but no , usually youd get housing benefit to help with the cost or even cover it but because im a student i dont qualify and am expected to pay this out of my own maintenance loan, i get the maximum loan and only equated to 170 a week so my income doesnt even cover this rent? theyre saying there is nothing they can do im not entitled to any benefits because ima student its like im being punished for trying to succeed

Hey congratulations everything worked out in the end xx and I'm glad you got your permanent home now and your post has really helped because I will take your advice and because telling uc I'm a full time student has done nothing to help me and when you was in a private rent Flatt that was affordable did benefits pay it of for u x and also for your temporary housing accomadition did benefits pay that of for u while getting sfe because that will be so uplifting and I will go down the same route x I tried to reply to the paragraph u posted last but it wouldn't let me but I'm doing it on this one x because right now I'm in temporary housing by a charity and I got told I can't get benefits now I have to give all my student finance to the rent and its just so fucked for not getting no help

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