Moving out of halls

Oldernotwiser · 26 November 2011 at 12:39AM

It might be worth your while to work out exactly how long your daughter would actually have to be in halls until the end of February. Although that's three months away, with Christmas holidays, exams and reading weeks, that could be as little as 7 weeks that she needs to be there.

devildog · 26 November 2011 at 10:43AM

Good point made by ONW. I think that if you an get away with a terms rent to go for it. I took a look at a handful of Uni's terms and conditions re leaving accom and generally if you withdraw from uni course you pay rent to end of term, if you stay on the course but want to move out the obligation is for a year's rent.

If you can swap accom with someone else or can find someone who is living out but who wants to live in then penalties are pretty minor although so saying some of the Unis do have considerably higher penalty/admin fees than we had to pay.

marvell-kid · 26 November 2011 at 4:56PM

You might also like to know that if she is recieving a student loan. Her entitlement will decrease is she moves back home. So you will need to take into account the loss of loan that will occur and what out going costs that will occur from travelling to and from university. Uni accomodation takes the money termly so that you know how much exactly you have left to spend until your next loan (My loan was £1,200 - Rent was £900 so I had £300 plus my overdraft and savings to live off)

In response to it being expensive, what is she finding expensive as there are ways to reduce outgoing costs. Also is there any way you can help her, ie with a food basket every so often, im sure since she's left your own outgoings have reduced.

And in response to her being home sick, many coach/bus companies offer discounted tickets if booked early enough so she can travel home for a weekend every so often. A student rail card is relatively inexpensive (or free with natwest account changed to a student account) and booking train tickets well in advance reduces cost travelling home.

I am in my 3rd year of uni and halls was one of my best memories and I feel developed me as a person, because of how basic it was, how much independence I had, The friends I met (in halls and on my course). Also christmas is coming and she will be spending it with you, so by the end of it she might want to go back.

I would hate to see someone give up on an experience of uni, without thinking it through. Don't just think of the way out, think of everything that will happen. Skype is a free way to make 'phone calls' and you can see each other with webcams if you need to.

I hope this helps

minerva_windsong · 28 November 2011 at 3:23PM

nikinak wrote: »

Well she wasn't made aware that she had to stay for a specified length of time when she moved in. Surely she's not going to have to get out of a contract if she hasn't got one?
Home sickness she'll deal with in her own good time, although knowing her its more to do with the people she's being forced to share with than an independance issue. Halls are a bit about the luck of the draw. Commuting will be cheaper a cheaper option, so kind of sensible really.

I don't mean to sound glib but how much does she see of people from her course outside lectures/seminars etc, and is she in any societies or sports clubs? I ask because when I was at uni the people in my halls were fine but I never really socialised with many of them after the first couple of weeks or so; most of my friends were people I knew through my course or various student societies, and so I saw my halls as more of a place to eat and sleep rather than expecting them to be the centre of my social life. This also helped with dealing with annoying housemates if that's the problem because I wasn't spending enormous amounts of my time around them.

I would however be encouraging her to stick it out a bit longer before making any decisions though, at least until after Christmas.