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!

Sounds right and affordable. It’s her choice! If she’s working long hours it’s nice to get 20 mins exercise of a morning rather than slogging in on the tube.

Normal price for a nice room in a central location. I've always preferred to live centrally and it's nice to walk to work and not have to deal with public transport, especially when finishing late (which your DD will often be). Always shared with other people who like the convenience of being close to work, and lots of other colleagues do too. It's more expensive for the same size of accommodation further out, and not everyone can afford it, but worth it and affordable if she is starting out in finance.

If it's central and en-suite that's normal. I rent my 1 bed flat out in zone 3 right by the tube for £1600 so zone 1 will be a lot more. My first grad job 20 years ago my salary was £32k and rent was £900pcm for a studio flat in zone 1. But I had barely any other expenses (could walk everywhere) as I worked all the time, and your DD will be the same. Grad jobs in the city are long hours so it's nice to have privacy and a nice space to come home to sleep..

I didn't bankrupt myself still managed to save and was prudent otherwise - so hit all the 'expected milestones' in my life. It's not the end of the world to spend most of your salary on rent initially to avoid a long commute on an already long work day and enjoy the fun of central London. That's the big benefit of finance jobs! Having the money to afford a nice lifestyle.

Bloody hell, I used to live in zone 2 thirty years ago and my rent was £55 a week. I officially feel really old.

Deprnds where, what sort of building its in, (if its portered for example) spec of the place, purpose build or conversion. It's contextual, you can't compare a place in marylebone to say, Peckham.

I always made my own packed lunch sandwiches when I lived in London. That was even before the 2008 credit crunch when I left!