For LGBTQ+ people, picking a place to live isn’t just about balancing budgets and commuting needs. We also need to consider our safety, and how open the area is to accommodating queer and trans people.
Just south of the River Thames, the London borough of Lambeth has one of the highest LGBTQ+ populations in the country – and it’s bustling with queer spaces.
According to the latest Census, 8.3% of Lambeth’s residents are LGBTQ+, while neighbouring Southwark rests at 8.1%. The only other area to trump both was the City of London, at 10.3%.
Of the top 10 local authorities with the highest number of LGBTQ+ residents, seven were in London, while Brighton and Hove unsurprisingly took home the prize as the gayest neighbourhood in England and Wales at 10.7%.
Contrary to popular belief, though, not everywhere in London is always sparkles and glitter.
Safety remains an issue, as one in five LGBTQ+ people have experienced hate crime on TfL services, while queer venues remain under threat. Between 2006 and 2022, more than half of London’s LGBTQ+ spaces closed, with numbers falling from 125 to just 50.
With that in mind, it’s more important than ever that LGBTQ+ people feel safe in their living situation – whether that means access to a queer-friendly yoga session, or a gay bar to dance the night away.
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Why is Lambeth so popular with LGBTQ+ people?
From Vauxhall to Brixton (AKA, the home of queer pop festival Mighty Hoopla), there’s so much in Lambeth enticing queer and trans people to the area.
For starters, there’s the iconic Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Hailed as the ‘beating heart of Vauxhall,’ it’s the oldest surviving queer venue in South London – a title which has earned it Grade II-listed status.
Built between 1860 and 1862, drag shows were reportedly held there as early as the post-WWII years as servicemen returned from war.
Throughout the 1980s, Lily Savage (Paul O’Grady’s drag persona) had a regular show there, taking to the stage four times a week for eight years – long before The Lily Savage Show first aired in 1997.
Gay icon Princess Diana was also known to frequent the beloved RVT and was once smuggled into the venue by Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett. They dolled her up in men’s clothes, and no one batted an eyelid.
These days, the RVT channels the spirit of Pride 365 days a year, with regular performances from the likes of David Hoyle and Myra DuBois.
Also in Vauxhall, LGBTQ+ bar and club Eagle serves up tipples aplenty in their beer garden, and hosts residents Horse Meat Disco every Sunday. Beats the end of the weekend scaries, right?
Serving up drag and cabaret to Lambeth locals since it first threw open its doors in 1981, the Two Brewers in Clapham is still open seven days a week.
It’s not just wall-to-wall partying either: there are also sober-friendly events, including Sheila Simmonds’ famous Busy Lady Bingo and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK live streamings.
Just around the corner in the borough of Southwark, there’s also the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre, a not-for-profit space for queer and trans people that hosts everything from LGBTQ+ ballet to co-working spaces, meditation and writing clubs.
What it like accessing housing as an LGBTQ+ person in 2025?
June might mark Pride Month, but the reality is that LGBTQ+ people still face issues accessing housing.
Research from Stonewall shows that almost one in five LGBTQ+ people have experienced homelessness; these statistics increase to 25% of all trans people.
The majority of these cases are caused by direct rejection from families over their LGBTQ+ identity, too, as 77% of people surveyed by akt said that ‘family rejection, abuse or being asked to leave home’ was the cause of their homelessness.
Shortly before becoming homeless, more than 50% had their family members force them to stop expressing their LGBTQ+ identity, figures which rise to 64% for trans people and 55% for disabled people.
The University of Stirling also finds that LGBTQ+ people have poorer housing outcomes than their straight and cis counterparts, too.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual people specifically are less likely to own their own homes, while throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there were instances of gay and bisexual men having their mortgage applications refused because of the stigma tied to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
So, we’ve still got a long way to go to carve out safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people – not just in housing and in London, but everywhere.
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