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Accommodation is more than my maintenance loan?

Hi everyone, so I want to study at Edinburgh next year, and all of the accommodation I like is more than my expected maintenance loan I will receive. Will this mean I have to pay back extra after I graduate? I have no idea how it works because I know a lot of people are in the same position, and I don't know how people have worked around it in the past. Any help would be great!
If it is more than your maintenance you will either need another source of income or opt for cheaper accommodation.

You wont pay back 'extra' because what you are allocated won't change, you will have to find some way around it
Reply 2
Avatar for VannR
VannR
21
Original post by Grace Appleby
Hi everyone, so I want to study at Edinburgh next year, and all of the accommodation I like is more than my expected maintenance loan I will receive. Will this mean I have to pay back extra after I graduate? I have no idea how it works because I know a lot of people are in the same position, and I don't know how people have worked around it in the past. Any help would be great!


No, unfortunately, it means that you will not have enough money from your maintenance loan alone to afford your accommodation. The ways people used to get around this is to either already have savings from part-time work, get a part-time job at university, or have their parents foot the bill for the extra money. Failing that, you'll need to find cheaper accommodation.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by VannR
No, unfortunately, it means that you will not have enough money from your maintenance loan alone to afford your accommodation. The ways people used to get around this is to either already have savings from part-time work, get a part-time job at university, or have their parents foot the bill for the extra money.

If I have a part-time job, while at uni, and savings beforehand, can I pay the rest of the price of the accommodation with that?
Original post by Grace Appleby
If I have a part-time job, while at uni, and savings beforehand, can I pay the rest of the price of the accommodation with that?


It will depend on how big the difference is between the loan and the rent charge as you will also be needing to pay for food/essentials etc throughout.

How much is the shortfall?
Reply 5
Avatar for VannR
VannR
21
Original post by Grace Appleby
If I have a part-time job, while at uni, and savings beforehand, can I pay the rest of the price of the accommodation with that?

It honestly depends on your budget. Figure out how much you have, how much you'll need to spend whilst at university, and how much you will make for certain at part-time work. If the margins are really thin, you might have to just consider a less expensive accommodation option.
Original post by GabiAbi84
It will depend on how big the difference is between the loan and the rent charge as you will also be needing to pay for food/essentials etc throughout.

How much is the shortfall?

The shortfall is approximately £100 ish, which I don't mind paying straight away to cover the rest of the rent for the accommodation., as I have a part-time job. Do you think that would be allowed? I'll have savings as well, and get a job at uni to cover food, clothes, etc.
Do you have a job, or savings, or can your parents subsidise you? You need to consider that you are not only going to need extra money just to pay the rent, you're going to need extra money for food, transport, clothes, equipment, activities...

The normal solution is to look sadly at the lovely expensive accommodation you wish you could afford but can't, and choose between the cheaper but less nice options which you can afford. It is completely normal for students and younger adults not to be able to afford to live where they'd like to.
Reply 8
Avatar for VannR
VannR
21
Original post by Grace Appleby
The shortfall is approximately £100 ish, which I don't mind paying straight away to cover the rest of the rent for the accommodation., as I have a part-time job. Do you think that would be allowed? I'll have savings as well, and get a job at uni to cover food, clothes, etc.

It's not just allowed, it's relatively normal for people to do this. Just try to make sure that you're able to break even each year over the course of a term and the holidays. You don't want to graduate from university with absolutely no savings.
Reply 9
Avatar for Bue21
Bue21
4
I assume as your loan doesn’t cover the accommodation you aren’t entitled to the maximum amount. Maintenance is calculated on parental income so you should have a conversation with your parents to see if they can help at all - the Government assume Parents are in a position to make up the shortfall. Unfortunately this often isn’t the case and you will need to work to plug the gap. Start saving as soon as possible as accommodation often needs to be paid termly and the first 2 terms are longer than the third. Maintenance loans are also paid termly but in 3 roughly equal amounts so the shortfall is greater at the start of the year if that makes sense.
Original post by Grace Appleby
The shortfall is approximately £100 ish, which I don't mind paying straight away to cover the rest of the rent for the accommodation., as I have a part-time job. Do you think that would be allowed? I'll have savings as well, and get a job at uni to cover food, clothes, etc.


Of course it’s allowed.
(I’m not entirely sure what you mean by you don’t mind paying it)
Basically you get an amount of maintenance loan which you can spend however you like. If it doesn’t cover your rent you need to make up the money. If it’s £100 a month short then you also need to be thinking about money for food and to live so you will need to be working for that plus an extra £100 a month to go towards the rent.
If it’s only £100 short for the year then it’s just the food and living really you need to be earning enough to cover.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Grace Appleby
The shortfall is approximately £100 ish, which I don't mind paying straight away to cover the rest of the rent for the accommodation., as I have a part-time job. Do you think that would be allowed? I'll have savings as well, and get a job at uni to cover food, clothes, etc.

The university recommends no more than 15 hours of part time work a week during term time.

However, once you start getting internships (depending on the sector), you may start earning quite lucrative pro-rata salaries for an undergraduate over the summer, so you may not have to work part-time throughout the entire degree.
It is common for parents to subsidise their children at uni if they can afford to (if they can't afford to the children should be able to access a larger loan) so I would have a chat with your parents about it but if they can't/won't help you financially then you have no choice but to choose cheaper accommodation or commit to a part time job.
It's not uncommon to find accommodation costs exceeding your maintenance loan, especially in places like Edinburgh. But don't worry; you won't have to pay back extra after you graduate just because of this.

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