How does a teenager move out? 27 March 2022 at 7:23PM in Benefits & tax credits 16 replies 3K views

Spendless

This is mostly a hypothetical question but it was something my (nearly) 19yo asked me recently and  I'd  like more knowledge.

DD has been living in a different part of the UK since September to access a short course, which finished earlier this month. She is now returning home and has found a summer job, only a few hours per week contract  but likely to be given more hours. However it's tourist related, so likely to finish in the Autumn.  She is applying for 3 year degrees but in the event she isn't successful (performance related, so goes on audition not just grades/UCAS points) then knows she needs to look for work that's more hours. Frequently jobs locally are NMW and the question she asked me was how does someone her age afford to move into their own place on their own? My feeling was you can't you have to wait until you are older and earning more or have someone in your life to share with you? That is what I had to do. I got a junior management job aged 24, but in the nearest city which tended to pay more but then I needed a car not brand new but reliable enough  to make the commute, so another 3 years of paying finance till the car was paid off and only then could I get my own place by myself. I know it wouldn't have taken as long if a long term partner would have been interested in sharing with me as my sister met her boyfriend at 17, engaged at 19, mortgage at 20 because 2 full time jobs plus a preferential mortgage rate from the bank she worked for and married at 23, but I didn't have that situation.

Is this what everyone's young adult does, lives at home until their personal situation changes?

sammyjammy

Some young people have no choice, believe it or not there are children that are unwelcome in what was their family home after the child related benefits end, which if NEET can be 16.  Hopefully if they have someone to guide them they can claim benefits including help with rent in a shared house, not a life any would choose.

Spendless

sammyjammy said:

Some young people have no choice, believe it or not there are children that are unwelcome in what was their family home after the child related benefits end, which if NEET can be 16.  Hopefully if they have someone to guide them they can claim benefits including help with rent in a shared house, not a life any would choose.

Yes, I understand that and I am aware of foyers. ttps://www.yourhousinggroup.co.uk/find-a-home/young-peoples-housing/ and those moving out of the care system. DD has a friend who turned 18 last year during the 3rd lockdown, working but no alternative but to return to the parents she'd been removed from a few years earlier once her foster placement ended. 

I'm more talking about youngsters in my daughter's situation though. I don't know of any young people who aren't at Uni or living with parents/family unless they're older and have gone on to better paid jobs. What do they do, or don't they and they do stay at home until they either earn more or meet a partner?  

comeandgo

I think they house share.  I know my daughters both did in their younger days until they either owned enough to get their own place or moved into boyfriends house.  I think they had a ball and made some good friends.

NedS

I agree the key is to share. Housing rates on UC for under 35s living alone are low and unlikely to fully cover the cost of a 1 bed property. Sharing a 2, 3 or 4 bed property with friends is a lot more cost effective and thus more attainable.

One of the online benefits calculators can be used to run some scenarios based on potential earnings and rents in your area.

TBagpuss

Yes, house share - they live in HMOs or rent jointly with a group of friends, or live as a lodger with another person or family.

HMOs where each tenant has a separate, individual contract with the landlord are less financially risky, as they are not on the hook if a housemate doesn't pay the rent / share of bills, but you have less say in who you are sharing the house with (potentially none, other than whether you are happy with the existing occupants at the point you sign up) renting with a group of friends mean you have more choice about who you live with, but are normally jointly and severally liable for the rent so can be left on the hook if a housemate doesn't pay.

elsien

Yes, both my nephews had to house share for their first job after finishing university as the jobs were nowhere near the parental address. One is on good wages but it's a London job so just not affordable to get anywhere on his own at the moment. And house share can (depending on the other people sharing) mitigate the loneliness of new job/new area. 

Robbie64

I house shared all through my 20s after finishing university and moving to London to start a job. I couldn't have afforded to rent somewhere by myself but I wouldn't have wanted to anyway, I don't think I would have wanted to live alone when I was in my 20s.

Spendless

Thanks all for the replies. I've now got something to tell her to look into should she broach the subject again. 

TELLIT01

First step would probably be a flat or house share.  I would thing the number of teens who could afford a place entirely of their own as a first property would be minimal.

peteuk

My daughter went to Uni and we helped with her rent for the first two years (50/50) she now has a P/T job and shares a flat with her b/f (he works F/T). Had we not been able to do so then she would have struggled certainly for the first year. 

Like most students she is in "debt" (Uni Fees and Student Finance) although I believe she's saving some of her finance and wage.