Uni accommodation ppl have no idea!!

moped_mark

Hello All

Right, I left working in July so that I could have a break between Work and University. During this time I had to start using my Overdraft to live and pay off bills etc, so that I could come to University!

I have received notification of my loan and Halls or residence payments.

I have worked out that Term one loan payment will only just covers the hall payment with £47 to live on for 13 weeks. When term 2-3 are over £700 each. The University accommodation office will not make the payments equal. I have nearly reached the limit on my overdraft and I have no money to live on until January!

Today I tried speaking to my bank (Natwest) and asked what they could do to help me and they said they could do nothing as my overdraft is at its limit!!

Has anyone got any advice? I have applied for a few jobs and had an interview today. I'm just worried that if I don’t get a job soon and the Uni and Bank don’t help, I'll have to quit University!

Poppy9

If you have no family to help you out you are just going to have to get a job - any job, if you want to stay at Uni.

Local councils are always looking for Lollipop men/ladies & cleaners. Not very glamourous but you get the min. wage and fixed hours working for the council. Loads of our office cleaners are students. They start work at 5pm and work till 7pm 5 days a week.

Swiss_Toni

Faced with a similar problem, I got a job working for the Uni Accom Office!

And with a few hours a week got free rent.

Assuming you are more mature than the average 18 yr old, look smart, speak well and live rent free.

Well, it worked for me.

eml_3

Also, talk to your students union advice centre and/or welfare officer. They can help you apply for any other funding you are entitled to and also feed back and put pressure on the Uni accommodation department to reconsider their billing schedule.

Midas

If you are out of money, there are hardship funds at all universities to help you. You'll need to apply though and prove that you have no money (e.g. bank statements showing up to overdraft). Consult your uni's advice centre/student union.

pug_in_a_bed

Have a look and see if any halls are hiring student halls tutors. You get subsidised rent in return for benig on duty a few nights a week. I did this and it was so handy, you work a couple of waking nights a week dealing with stuff like lost keys, fire alarms and so on. I did it for four months and was woken whilst on duty only 8 times.

Karnam

some accomodation offices allow you to pay monthly (particularly if you say something like you get paid monthly) so it might be worth asking for that

Barcode

What university is this? Mine has a hardship fund which is very generous and does not have to be paid back. Last year, I applied expecting a few hundred pounds (max) and they gave me 400 pounds a month for three months!

It is worth applying as often, the university needs to get rid of the money so that they receive the full amount of hardship funds next year; if they still have funds left, next years hardship allowance will be less. So by the time I applied, they were practically giving it away.

There should also be small loans of about 50 pounds from the student union for basics like food.

You could consider switching overdrafts. You don't say what the limit is, but my Barclay's student one allows me to go up to 1500 pounds. Then again, I've banked with them for years before I became a student, so I don't know if this would be different for you (they knew my history).

moped_mark

I am at Manchester Metropolitan University. How do you mean switching the overdraft? As I'm with Natwest I'm not allowed another student account. I have just look at the Halifax Student account and the max overdraft is 1750 which looks good should I need to change bank account!

mistyarthur

I go manchester met!!! I applied for the Halifax account but they only gave me a 1000 pound overdraft and said they would reconsider it when I got near the limit so they might be worth a look, but I just opened a Natwest and explained about the fact I was going to close the Halifax but I hadn't yet so might not get the overdraft and he said well they've approved you for it so you might as well take it (£2250 in overdraft available now!!!)
I would definately find out about hardship funds because almost everywhere has some even if it is just an advance on your loan.

Phonix

get a 0% credit card but most importantly apply for a hardship loan.