You make a valid point spicemom. my mother too would not be happy living with my wife and kids. she needs her own space. unfortunatley she is not that independant that she can live alone - i do her shopping, pay bills etc. so i have an added problem of having to look for 2 places! the housing allowance will help with 1, but the other will have to come out of my salary, and i have realised rentals are very expensive.....