Whitney doesn't seem to be at all realistic in what they can afford though. The fact is, if they are having to scrabble around, borrowing money to get together what is actually quite a small deposit (2.000) when they've both been earning and living rent free for months so should have been able to save, how on earth are they going to be able to afford the rent each month? Especially when she has stopped work? And the rent on a London flat, even if just one bedroom, would easily be 2.000 per month, plus of course all the Utilities which i assume Mick and Linda are currently paying. Do they go to relatives every months to help with their rent?

She shouldn't be naive given her upbringing but I'm surprised she isn't more concerned about the possibilities of things going wrong given she has ended up homeless in the past.

She also seems determined to have a big wedding - where is the money for that coming from if they are renting their own place?

Fair enough about Lee's qualifications but why not have him get a better paid job first to they have some security before they make the commitment of their own place?

As it happens, i think Wakefield would have been more sensible in many ways. There was a house already in place, with a manageable rent and there are jobs up there. Certainly more financially feasible than London. If the worst happened re Lee's health, they could have come back and I actually think being away from the Carters could do Lee some good re his emotional health. Yes, they're loving but Mick and Linda are also suffocating with very high expectations, even if they don't realise they are doing it.

I'm sure Linda believes it is coming from a good place and much of it is. It is natural for a Mother to want to protect her child, even once an adult and to feel that they know best and their child 'needs' them and will suffer away from them.

But there is also a distinctly selfish element to it. We know that she wanted a family to make up for her Dad dying and has taken most of her identity and self worth from it. What happened when her kids started growing up, and away from her? Her answer was to have another one because she seems to need to be 24/7 mothering in a way that just isn't necessary once a child has got to adulthood.

It did seem to come across that she would be unhappy with Lee and Whitney moving anywhere, even next door, even if they did have the money, on principle. Look at her reaction to "we've been looking for somewhere to rent for over a month". She did seem to see it as an insult to her, that they should want to stay with her, even if they had the money to leave, simply because she is so wonderful and if they love her, they'd want to stay.

Re Kit Kat post (having trouble quoting)

I think like most in real life they would have to claim top up benefits, i.e tax credits and housing benefit.

It would of course be more realistic for them to sit it out and save, but plenty of people have taken the leap before to move, I think more then anything for Whitney it is Linda's overbearing nature that is wanting her to move, if she like this now how will she be when the baby arrives (if the actress is not still on maternity leave)

It not good for a first time mother to have another trying to overtake and dictate to them and this will likely happen with Linda, despite Linda probably not realising she doing it, I think Whitney is seeing warning signs already.

As you said why it coming from a place of love and protectiveness it's also coming from a selfish point as the thought of her family leaving and starting their own life and her having no control in that is what is pushing her to guilt trip them and act this way, Mick and Linda likely could of scrapped together the deposit if they wanted too..

I bet that even if Jonny passes his Law degree and gets Articled so he is earning a decent wage, Linda will still have the face ache when he wants to move out. They'll be some reason that she thinks he shouldn't do it, that it for 'his best' that he stay tied to her apron strings.

She is just that type of woman.

I'm not saying that as a criticism necessarily - a lot of people do have an inset fear of their children flying the nest and see them not wanting to be near them as a type of failure (if they loved me, they'd want to stay mentality) and Everything we've seen of Linda from the start indicates she she falls into this group.

Other would consider themselves to have failed as parents if their children didn't want, and weren't able to stand on their own two feet almost as soon as they have reached adulthood and whilst still loving them and wanting to see them, want more of their own life and space back.

For many, the prospect of having their child and grandchild over the road, so able to see them whenever they wanted to but not be under their feet would be their ideal set up.

I wonder how much this s to do with Whitney and not Lee. From the moment she clapped eyes on her she was taken with her. I always felt that she saw her as the daughter she never had....a complete contrast to Nancy. I remember her wanting Johnny to marry her despite his young age. Lee has lived away from home before, Nancy lived with her boyfriend when they first arrived and she did relent pretty easily over Johnny. Yet the thought of losing Whitney is making her panic.