Students parents - any tips

Kruger

Go with Halls for the first year, otherwise you'll end up with a "random" living with your son. Speaking from experience I found halls to be the best place for new students, buy the flat for his second year,

ps, And at least expect some parties etc

kittiwoz

a) The "no parties" rule sucks and is totally unreasonable. How about a "no friends" rule as well? Wouldn't a better rule be neighbours must be informed in advance and in writting of any parties (we always write a letter to the neighbours and have had birthday cards and well-wishing notes in return), noise must not exceed reasonable levels, you must clear up afterwards and breakages shall be paid for.

b) Refusing to repair or replace broken furniture is unfair on the paying tenant. Certainly you can charge for breakage and spoilage (but not reasonable wear and tear) but you can't expect a tenant paying £260 pcm for a fully furnished flat to live with broken furniture.

Took_Me_Away

Aye you cant really expect your son to not have parties. I mean how you gonna know pop round unexpectedly all the time? That's a very quick way to become unpopular for sure. If you were going to be like that you would be like my old landlord... and guess what we just left!

freebie_junkie

sounds like a bobbins place to live with all those rules, he'd be better off in halls paying for it himself out of his loan/earnings (thats what i did when i lived in halls- my mum and dad never had to pay my accomodation/bills/owt)

lizzie12_2

Your son is very lucky to have his "own" flat as you put it...... are you also having a key to do "spot checks"?

Would he have the same rules at home?

adr0ck

this article may help

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9559-2281048.html

Alikay

We're in a similar position - husband is on 40% tax and I don't work (why, oh why won't government allow me to give him my tax allowance?!). We have 2 younger kids and a huge mortgage, but don't qualify for any help for DD going to uni. I feel sad that she's aware that her studies will have a big impact on the family budget, and we will all have to make adjustments, but it IS a priviledge to be able to have 3 years studying full-time. Why should the government have to pay for her to get a good education (and hopefully eventually a better job) when there are people needing hip-replacements and heart bypasses? ( lets not go into the wars/ ministerial salaries/ expensive administration area- we all know how crap they are at spending our taxes fairly!!)
She'll just have to manage, and we'll just help her as much as we can.
As the others have said, your son would really benefit from a year in halls -could you let the flat out to other students for his 1st year, then let him move into it with a friend in year 2?
No parties does seem a bit harsh (and unrealistic!) maybe a "no huge wild raves with in excess of 30 people" rule might be better! And furnishing the flat with second hand and cheap ikea bits and bobs would be better than making him feel responsible for keeping stuff nice. Students don't expect nice co-ordinated rooms, just make sure things are safe to use.

thriftyjo

A word from another parent and mature graduate - instaed of paying for flat I agree with halls - they are part of the uni experience and will help him to make buddies for life. You can then use the money to buy him the other things that he will forget to buy - cos student loan/grants ussually goes on beer and nights out - things like books - second hand from Amazon - other supplies from places like https://www.eco-office-supplies.co.uk who have an eco-student section - or tesco online - all these places you can purchase items and have them despatched to a different delivery address. Also topping up his mobile will be great so he can call you when he needs more £!
https://www.eco-office-supplies.co.uk is doing a competition for tips on eco-students so you may get some usefule tips there.
Good luck and I hope he enjoys Uni!

thriftyjo

and don't forget freecycle for furniture etc!

skippie

Please do not buy him a flat.

As have been said here Halls are an invaluable first year, meeting new people, a more rigid timetable (roof over your head, no bills to pay, food at set time, computer rooms, often close to uni and obviously hundreads of people his age in the same boat.

I know a girl who lived in a flat her folks had bought in the second year, she fell out with a lot of her friends, as she was overly concerned with the state of the flat, and the fact that most of the stuff in the flat was hers/her parents. This led to a rather miserable second year for all concerned.

In the third year, she struggled to find new housemates, and was stuck there herself.

Add to this the fact that students by and large are hopeless, lazy, messy and rather disrespectful of their surroundings. This could create far more problems than the one you are hoping to solve.

Why not support him by paying his accomadation and helping him out financially when his student loan runs out before the end of the term?

You are making a consistant impact through out the years, your not as likely (and neither is your son) to suffer as much stress, nd he has more flexibility to experience really living independantly with friends.