Finding Universal Credit a bag of frustrations again and it’s getting me down. Earlier this week I had a good call with a course leader for an online part-time Masters programme. It sounds like I’d be well placed to secure a place on the programme so excitement abounded only to come crashing down when I began looking into how Masters loans interact with Universal Credit. Frankly I couldn’t understand it, after initial devastation (lazily I relied on Google which was no help and suggested the whole loan would be treated as income despite most of it being used for tuition fees) I was relieved a little to see something about it only counting 30% as income in recognition that 70% (in reality more) goes on tuition fees. So are we back on? Am I about to embark on a 2 year online masters? We’ll see, I want confirmation of the rules and will have to work out what it would mean for my finances but it’s possible!

I am struggling to pay rent as due to my health issues, I'm not able to work.

Not qualified for advance payment from DWP makes me again in rent debt.

The calls and letters from housing are making my health deteriorate day by day.

Where is the light end of the tunnel?

I stay in a council flat with my daughter.

We moved in a year ago after struggling with high private rent for 10 years.

The garden is shared with other flat owners. They are particular about keeping it neat and tidy to an almost obsession. But won't share garden tools. I bought a hoe to loosen the earth to remove the weeds and weed killer for the weeds between the paving slabs which are constant repeated jobs. Everyone except me in the block has a shed. It would be £250 + manual costs to have it put up and levelled which is not a priority. I bought a garden storage box which cost £40 to store the tools but it has no lock on it and is plastic. I had to weigh it down with a boulder I found on the beach for strong winds, which happen regularly in the North of Scotland.

Fortunately a neighbour cuts the grass as it would cost me a lot to not only purchase a mower but also it would use electricity.

Last winter my water pipe burst in the kitchen. The council did necessary repairs but it's a mess. They painted over the wet walls which ran and there's big streaks of water marks. The cost of kitchen paint is £25 for 2.5 litres. As I am disabled and no family support it would cost £50 per hour to hire a handyman to do the job.

There were no floor coverings in the flat when we moved in. I had to purchase carpets and vinyl flooring 1 room at a time. In total it cost me £2000. No built-in wardrobes meant buying 2 flat pack wardrobes at £99 each. A handyman charged £70 each to build them.

In private rent homes. White goods are included. A new washing machine cost me £210 in the sale + £70 delivery + £70 installation.

A basic fridge freezer cost £240.

Had to purchase curtains / blinds for each window as flat is on the ground floor. Roller blinds worked out cheaper than curtains and curtain poles. A cheap roller blind costing £10 cost £50 each to be fitted by a handyman. There are 6 windows in the flat.

Paying a handyman to put together 2 bed frames cost me £200.

The flat had a damp problem which has been treated however emulsion paint to redecorate each room is £12 for 2.5 litre tin.

Wallpaper would be lovely but more expensive + paying someone to do the decorating more than doubles the cost.

I am worried about my housing rent charges as it fluctuates with my income. Managing now carefully that I can manage other household expenditure besides paying rent and other essential bills.

There are lots of things to talk about when it comes to housing expenses especially with people living in Home Office accommodation. I have been living in the Home Office accommodation for over 4 years. No renovation has been done ever since including repainting of the house, replacing broken cupboards and floors.

It's a DAY TO REMEMBER AND BE GRATEFUL FOR. I RECEIVED A NEW JOB OFFER TODAY.

Good day

Just day by day really 🤨😏

Feeling really overwhelmed at the moment with half term and hospital appointments and kids birthdays and filling in forms and applications and then to hear that the government is considering removing ehcps for children in mainstream is the icing on the cake. Taking from disabled people, children or adults is simply wrong.

Without his Ehcp my son would become a school refuser, he wouldn't have access to his 1 2 1 and his key worker. The school would simply suspend him as opposed to help him and honestly right now I feel this government do not have any of our best interests at heart. I suppose if I had money I'd be able to privately educate or home educate him but that's not a luxury I have at the moment.

This government is pushing our children deep past the poverty line and removing any accommodations and support that would otherwise make this bearable.

This has a knock on effect on my mental health and that of my children. When the future looks bleak and you already fight every day to simply survive it's easy to sink into negative thoughts and worries to spiral.

I’m currently stuck in a private rented flat, I can’t afford to start work when my child turns 3. I am better off on benefits than I am working, with no security in my housing.

It's difficult but just get through though costs especially food, it's shot right up

I, like you, previously rented private properties, because I preferred the sense of choice of location and the type of home we lived in.

Obviously, private renting generally comes at an increased cost compared to social housing prices. We were fortunate to have stayed at one property for sixteen years the rent increased during the first 3 years then after that it stayed the same for the rest of the time we lived there, although it meant the property wasn't maintained as much as it needed. For instance I went halves with the landlord on a new shed when the old one started collapsing. Then out of the blue the landlord announced he needed to sell the place. That's not to say I didn't keep the place looking clean and tidy. I repainted the walls and replaced his old cooker, but generally I didn't carry out more expensive alterations or repairs. For example, we never had new carpets. I couldn't see the point of spending my money on replacing expensive items like this for if we were to need to leave it wasn't something we could take with us. So I would buy second hand rugs to preserve them and carpet cleaner to maintain the appearance of them.

So, over the years the house became shabbier and shabbier because I certainly didn't have the spare funds to update the place. Also the landlord did less and less maintenance as the years went by. Although, if it was an electrical issue or when he decided to replace the tatty fascia boards or have the 10 foot hedge chopped down, we thought it was a miracle. So much so, by the time we left the place, the bath panel, which I had repeatedly repaired and repeatedly requested he but a new one, was held together with industrial tape of a completely different colour just to stop it cracking or from hurting ourselves on the sharp shards.

Now because the landlord gave us the choice to either quit living in that house after sixteen years as soon as we could or stump up a further £150 for six more months before being turfed out on the street with no 'safety net', we rushed to get the first available property we could get our hands on.

Again it was a privately rented property, and again the rent was increased during the two years we lived there. Also some repairs were carried out initially over the first twelve months we lived there, in fact we were given a new cooker within the first six months. Only after this time we were either gaslighted about the issues with damp, mould and guttering problems, or we were expected to put up with problems that started to become apparent after living there for longer. For instance the electric kept tripping out when using certain appliances. The extended kitchen would flood during heavy rainfall, and there was a dreadful problem with the front door not locking or the key getting stuck.

All in all, we were overjoyed to finally be offered a property with social housing.

Although the initial moving in here was costly, I used the deposit from the previous property towards costs and I was fortunate to have help paying for moving costs and a reconditioned cooker from the St Vincent de Paul society.

I had no real choice but to buy carpets for the place, as we aren't likely to be moving again anytime soon so I had to stomach the costs for them.

As for furnishings, we previously bought second hand goods at the old address, and they have fitted here at the new one.

The difference we pay in rent has made it far more doable for us.

Thankfully my neighbours each side have already taken care of the fences all bar one panel which is broken but still standing, so until it really needs replacing I'm not worrying about it until the time comes.

Also, as we had to downsize our bills are also a tad cheaper than they were. So over the long term we are saving money a little bit on energy payments.

However, the biggest upside to social housing for me has to be the fact we now have a more secure tenancy than we used to have. So the security makes the extra cost worth the while. Even with the renters reform bill going through, I doubt we would have benefited from the perks of it. In my experience landlords tend to be very shrewd. I dare say they will find ways to bend the rules and regulations regarding private renting.

Overall, there hasn't been anything here we have needed to replace or repair that isn't covered by the housing association.

The only other outlay I have is with storage and furniture. This is the first time in years I've had to purchase wardrobes. I had some backpay which I've used for this.

I imagine my money will always be spent on replacing appliances or furniture as and when they break no doubt. But I would have had to do this in privately rented accommodation anyway.

I am a council tenant. At first of every month, I put aside some money for rent and then council tax and energy bill which is priority bills. I will spend the rest after paying the essential bill and others. Sometimes it is very difficult to live on with the rest of the money as everything's price gone up within the last few years. So tried to cope with the limited saving at the moment.