Is £1,500 a month normal for a room in London?

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DD is starting her grad job (finance) and is looking to move to London, she's 24. She wants to be within walking distance to work and is insisting on an en-suite and a modern flat. Most of these are coming up at about £1,500 a month for something big enough for a desk too.

Her take home will be roughly £3,400 a month. But this seems like an awful lot to spend on rent!

More like £900pcm in a house share in my experience (DD). In Camden.

Yes if she is central and wanting to walk. Many get the tube in and pay around £1000. But actually if she works out what travel costs would be the £1500 might come out around the same or less.

Has she lived in London before? Does £1500 include any bills? Is that zone 1/2?

For a nice central flat with an en-suite + possible other amenities, sounds about right if it's a 2-3 bedroom!

Could find something much cheaper if she was willing to compromise, however for the first time I think it would make sense for her to go with it - on her salary it'll be affordable, depending on bills. She might realise after a year that actually she values more £ in her pocket and wants to look elsewhere!

Well, if she wants an en suite....
But she'll have plenty of money left after rent, so seems pretty sensible.
She's 24 - it's her decision.

No it is not. London is vast and very few young people have the luxury of walking to work in central London, let alone an ensuite room.

London is horribly expensive but a very good room in a shared house (not a HMO) can be had in many areas for £700 to £900.

DD has house shared so far. So no ensuite! About £1k each in Peckham, Kings Cross and Hampstead.

Welcome to London.

What would be normal in London would be a commute, an old building converted into flats and a shared bathroom. Oh and no room for a desk.

She is describing what people work their way up to when they are well paid, not a first place for a 24 year old.

DD is paying £1200/month for a room in a 2 bed flat, north London.

At 52k a year I think she is well paid. I know it's London, but still, she's 24, and most 24 year olds don't earn anywhere near that for a first job, even in London.

She is well paid. However I found the London lifestyle sucks money out of you and if she has spent it all on rent, she won't have anything left for all the other stuff that feels so incredibly important at the time.

I was lucky and got a friend who was into Moneysavingexpert so we obsessively made sandwiches at home while everyone else in the office went to Pret for lunch every day.

Depends on what is included. When I started work in the 90's spending half your salary on rent and bills was the norm. And that wasn't London.

DS, 24, slightly higher salary, is paying £1200 for a small room in a shared 2 bed nice flat in Camden. Has his own bathroom as the other, bigger room (£1400) has an ensuite.

Yes, it can be normal for something that is a step up from a student type house arrangement.

A lot of users will tell you about the past but yes that's fairly normal a room is between £900-1.5k I pay, £1.1k zone 4

A family member has found a one bed flat in Kings X for £1550 but they are a couple and it was a bit of a fluke that it popped up and they were on a lunch break and could view immediately. A shared space offers a bit of security and a social life however if she's 24.

When under a graduate training contract years ago, I had a colleague who'd moved from the Midlands who lived behind Oxford Circus and walked to work. The flat was expensive, but they loved the location, and after nights out they didn't need taxis or trains home, so it made financial sense, as well as being convenient.

The rent sounds reasonable if your DD is able to walk to work, as she will have no commuting costs, or after nights out in town.

My DS has a room in a shared house in Bethnal Green 900 pounds a month,

If she wants an en-suite and space for a desk and walkable it'll cost more.

If she's in finance her pay should go up pretty fast, which will balance the rent. Life's for living when you're young and being central helps. She might want to move out when she finds out how boring The City is after hours though!

£1100 sw london

Go for Zone 1
be willing to share a bathroom
~ £950 a month

House next door is 4 bed and rents for about £1k per room. But I don't think there are ensuites although there are 3 bathrooms I think. Rooms are decent size but they also seem to work in the living space.
If she wants all the things it's going to cost. If she's prepared to compromise then she can probably do cheaper

I rent out a two bedroom flat in zone 2. Nice area, small flat, no en suite. £2750/month, so £1375/each, plus there's all the bills on top. My upstairs neighbours are going to try for £3000/month as they have a small outside terrace.
Tube/bus probably still needed for most jobs (unless working at the local school or numerous cafés, but not for that salary)!
She can afford it though, if that's what she wants then it's her decision.

For her criteria that sounds about right, but it’s not very common in London to be able to walk to work. She’d probably get a nicer and bigger place with an en suite for less if she sucked up a bus or tube ride to work like most people do.

I’m surprised no-one’s been along yet to say she really should live in Penge!