Student Son About To Start Year 2 Advice Needed!!

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it

My son is just finishing his 1st year at uni and has managed reasonably well with his student loan/grant and only just gone into his interest free o/d (not maxed). However next year he has to move out of selfcatered halls and into a house with friends. The problem we're having is that all the agents are putting pressure on these kids to sign up now and pay the rent from July, even though term doesn't start until October - and it has to be a 12 month tenancy. So along with a bond of 35% and months rent in advance of £300 (each) he has to find this and pay his halls for the last term £800, so thats his next student loan/grant installment gone already and he doesn't receive it until 23rd April :eek: !! Then no student money until October. He does work in the hols and is reasonably (:rolleyes: ) good with his money however I'm worried the lure of plastic will be too much of a temptation as he'l be so skint. We are not in a position to help him financially and have prepared him a budget but he will have about £20 a week to live on for everything food/travel/socail etc. I'm sure millions are in the same boat but would appreciate any advice.

FatJock

hello,

I had the same issues when I was a student (several years ago) and there are some alternatives. My uni had 'wardens' in the Halls of Residency. Basically they looked after the block and mentor students in return they either received free rent of a reduction on the rent. I knew some students who did the for 3 years. Might be something he could look into.

Also, does your son want to move in with his mates or can he wait until a couple of weeks before the star of the new academic year and select a place then. Many students sign up for houses now and unfortunately drop out of the second year for a number of reasons.

Alternatively your son could rent a room and stay there for the summer. the down side of this is he may have to pay full rent, might miss his family and friends and will need to get almost a full time job to cover all the bills etc.

Hope this is useful to you.

Cheers
FatJock

slowlyfading

I'm in my second year and had to do the same has he got any savings he could use? I dont really have any other suggestions... sorry x

in_debt_again_but_dealing_with_it

Unfortunately no savings - definately not a prudent 19 year old! He has a job at home in the summer so staying in Bristol not a realistic option. I'm trying to persuade him to hold fire with the rental as I'm sure there are houses still available in September (still 12 months let though can't avoid that) just means he'll have the summer earnings to save towards it. But his friends have wealthy parents and they're all eager to sign up now - just trying to encourage him to be sensible and not fall into the cc trap!! With hindsight we should have seen this coming but I (wrongly/naively) assumed that he wouldn't need to find a house until Aug/Sept! doh!!

OrangeProse

As someone who was once in your son's position, I can understand where you're coming from on this one.

Honesty and (patient) explanation is always the best way, and when I first started at university I had a chat from my Dad telling me that whilst he and my Mum supported me and would help me however they could, they would not be in a position to give me any money during my three year course.

I guess knowing from the outset what the situation was helped me find my feet, because I managed the whole process reasonably well. Once my accomodation was paid for that was my student loan gone; I worked for everything else, like everyone else!

In terms of helping him stay away from plastic, you can advise him against it but ultimately he will make that decision himself. You just have to make sure he's in receipt of all the facts.

If he can't cook already, teach him. Being able to cook for yourself means healthy food, cheap. I could do things with a jacket potato and a tub of value mince that you wouldn't believe when I was a student.

Oh, and give him this website. It is truly a magnificent resource for advice and information, and can really change a person's ideas about money on a fundamental level. Plus, if the Old Stylers can get me making meals for pence then I'm sure they can find amazing and creative ways to make his £20 stretch a very long way indeed!

Good luck.

slowlyfading

I hate to say it, but there's not many houses left in September, because a lot of students who go through clearning in August have to find somewhere to live and do so at the end of august/beginning of September. Hope he sorts it out
Nicola x

OrangeProse

I never lived with my friends when I was at university. I saw too many people do it and have the whole thing ruined by an argument about ginger biscuits, or something similar.

All of my friends now (I'm 29) are in the same boat - not a single one of them is still friends with someone they lived with at university, even if at the time they were inseparable as a group. My brother, who graduated this year, ended up having to evict his 'best friend' from a shared house because the guy kept spending his rent money on coke, amongst other things.

So if he doesn't get to live with his friends, it's not the end of the world. He'll still see them - and in so many ways it's better. As long as he gets a room which is clean and allows him to work, and is close to transport links to the university and libraries, he's in the best place.

And if you think pushy parents on rent deposits are bad, just wait until one lad's mother turns up EVERY WEEKEND to clean the whole place because she's never taught him to hold a loo brush and thinks that it's a "woman's job to clean up after her son" (that's her quote not mine). This happened to my brother too. Silly old moo.

nic82

I don't know if this will help, but we had to sign-up to a 12 month contract in our final year (we managed to negotiate a 10 month contract in the second year for Sept-July, which was still a month longer than we needed it but better than a 12 month on).

Although we had a 12 month contract in the final year, we negotiated with the landlord that we'd have the house from 1st July-30th June but that for 1st July-30th September we wouldn't access the house and in return for that we only paid 1/2 the rent for that period. Our uni didn't go back until around 6th/7th October, so there was still around 7 days to move in after we were "allowed to".

We made sure that this was written into the contract, along with the fact that we agreed we wouldn't have keys until after this initial three month period.

Although the landlord wouldn't be getting as much rent, he would know his house is empty and not at risk from being wrecked by students (not saying that your son is like this, but I know from experience what some can be like) during this period. The landlord also would have less work to do during this period, as he wouldn't have tenants ringing up saying "the heating's broken, the shower's blocked, etc".

At the same time, your son and his friends have the knowledge that they've secured somewhere to live for the second year but are not paying the full 12 month rent.

nic82

Also, something I should have added...although I agree with what OrangeProse says that it's not the end of the world if he doesn't live with his friends, from personal experience I think it's great.

I graduated two years ago and keep in touch with the five girls I lived with in my second year and third year. We arrange to meet up at least 6 times a year and although not everyone can meet every time and we live pretty much at different ends of the countries and everywhere in between, I really believe we will all be friends for life.

bobbie78

you might want to have a look at the student board and see if they can advise, I'm sure there are lots of people going through similar there.

Also it might be worth applying for the student union hardship fund, he may not get it but it might help if he does. This is a grant to help out students, most uni's have them or something similar under a different name, to help with these kind of big problems.

slowlyfading

nic82 wrote: »

Also, something I should have added...although I agree with what OrangeProse says that it's not the end of the world if he doesn't live with his friends, from personal experience I think it's great.

I graduated two years ago and keep in touch with the five girls I lived with in my second year and third year. We arrange to meet up at least 6 times a year and although not everyone can meet every time and we live pretty much at different ends of the countries and everywhere in between, I really believe we will all be friends for life.

I agree, I'm living with four of my friends and we have the best time but that doesn't mean its the end of the world if he can't live with his friends. x