HOME COMFORTS
I built my TWELVE year old daughter a £25K apartment – people troll me for ‘leaving her on her own’ but she’s fine
The decision to give the pre-teen her own space was to create "generational wealth"
A MUM who built her 12-year-old daughter her own apartment has hit back at trolls slamming her for "leaving her on her own".
Audrey found herself at the centre of backlash after sharing a video of herself cleaning the palatial space on her TikTok page.
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With trolls almost immediately attacking her for her decision to allow her daughter to stay in the premises "on her own".
However, in an , Audrey said that the "apartment" is actually just the upstairs of their garage which has been converted to give the pre-teen her own space.
And she doesn't even call it an apartment herself - that's just what people on social media have been calling it.
Explaining how they came up with the idea to create places for their daughter and son to live, Audrey said it was after their house was destroyed in a fire that they started thinking about it.
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"We were very disheartened when we lost our house in the fire and had to start over, so we thought to ourselves, how can we turn this into a blessing?" she said.
"And we started thinking about generational wealth and our kids.
"So we thought one thing we could do for them was to create places for them to live in our house so that they can save up for their own house and they're not ever going to waste their money on rent.
"We are not millionaires but we can create generational wealth by allowing our kids to live with us as long as possible."
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The build cost the couple around £20,000 ($25,000) and comes complete with a bathroom, kitchenette and its own heating and cooling system.
Despite Audrey's explanation, she was still targeted by trolls in the comments section, one of whom wrote: "What I don't understand is that a 12-year-old child has an apartment, isn't it illegal for them to live alone?"
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"Alone?? It’s upstairs in our home," Audrey hit back.
"I don’t understand the question. Our garage is attached to our home!"
"Why don't your children have bedrooms in the actual house?" another responded.
"I think 12 years old is too young to be separated from the house like that."
However, speaking to Fabulous Online, Audrey said that the "apartment" isn't actually separate from their home, and you even have to access it through their house.
"I see a lot of confusion online about that," she sighed.
Home upgrades that add the most value to a house
The best renovation to add value totally depends on your property, the local market and your potential buyers.
shared a list of upgrades that will instantly add value to your home.
- Loft conversion - increase of 15%
- Off-street parking - adds £50,000 to property price
- New kitchen - increase of 15%
- Garage conversion - increase of 15%
- Cellar or basement conversion - increase of 10-15%
- Open plan living space - increase of 3-5%
- New bathroom - increase of 3-5%
"Comments like 'I would never want my young child on her own like that'.
"But she’s definitely not on her own. She’s just upstairs, essentially!"
And others were quick to praise Audrey and her other half for coming up with the idea.
"I love to see a parent that actually understands the seriousness of having a child and how to teach them how to succeed in life and not how to please the adults in their life!!" one wrote.
"You are doing more for her than you will ever know!! I wish someone did this for me!"
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"It gives her independence, the space to live in her own space and take care of herself which is something she would’ve learned now or later on in her teen years so this is really helping her," another pointed out.
";It provides autonomy, which adolescents need. But her mother is still there to provide guidance," a third said.
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