Whoever dubbed Brighton “the queen of the coast” had amazing foresight, or a wicked sense of humour. The Sussex city likes to think it is the gay capital of the UK – and it might be right.
Ever since 1786 when the Prince Regent began work on the campest palace in Europe – Brighton Pavilion – the city has been a magnet for Londoners looking for away-day fun. What happens in Brighton stays in Brighton.
Today it stays in Brighton long-term – as a large resident LGBT population. Brighton & Hove city council estimates that 15% of the population identifies itself as LGBT (compared with 7% in Manchester), and the city has the highest number of residents in same-sex marriages or civil partnerships. Official figures suggest around 1m LGBT visitors a year come to Brighton.
The principal property implication is in the leisure sector, but there are growing connections with residential development. Unlike other regional cities, Brighton does not have a tightly defined gay village. That’s because Brighton is one big gay village, says John Carmichael, the council’s tourism marketing manager.
Brighton & Hove is different to most other UK cities in that LGBT life and businesses are spread across the whole place. While Kemp Town is the heart of Brighton’s gay community, LGBT life can be seen across the city.
There are more than 35 dedicated LGBT bars and venues, but pretty much all service businesses, from cafés to hotels, are LGBT-friendly, as frankly they would not survive if they weren’t,” he says.
Ric Morris runs the popular Piers and Queers history tours in Brighton, offering interested visitors the chance to walk in the footsteps of Oscar Wilde and Dusty Springfield. He says: “There is a concentration of gay businesses around St James Street and the nearby seafront – look for the rainbow flags – but these days a lot of gay people go to ordinary neighbourhood bars and restaurants. And although there are dozens of gay hotels listed for Brighton, there are fewer than there used to be.”
Premier Inn is aware of the market opportunity. It has one Brighton hotel with 161 bedrooms, but is looking for more, including a seafront 180-bedroom hotel, and two 60-bedroom sites close to the A23 and A27 trunk roads. It also wants a 60-bedroom Hove hotel, possibly with a restaurant.
The hotel chain’s head of marketing, Russell Braterman, used to run his own Brighton hotel in fashionable Kemp Town until he and his partner sold it in 2012. He says: “We were an out gay couple running an upmarket hotel and we thought it would appeal strongly to LGBT visitors from London, and it did, but they remained a minority of guests, even in Brighton. These days it is too easy to say there are gay markets – I am not sure there are such things any more.”
The next test of the market will come in the residential sector. While gay buyers form a reliable market for Georgian terraces, they have not always made such an impact in the new-build sector.
Elliot Lipton’s First Base could be about to test the waters in its first move outside London at Brighton’s Anston House – a £100m mixed-use scheme designed by Conran + Partners (EG 6 June, p38).
The 200-home redevelopment follows an earlier failed attempt by Urban Splash and Investec. But gay buyers are often pioneers into new territory, and this scheme, funded through a joint venture with Hyde Housing Association, could be a winner.
The £700m upgrade to London’s Victoria Station set for completion in 2018 – and promised improvements to the famously unreliable commuter services to Brighton – have also been expected to promote gay migration to the coast.
Those with a foot in the door of Brighton property doubt it will make any difference. Brian Bickell, chief executive of Shaftesbury, has a second home in the city and has pondered moving there full-time.
He says: “I looked at commuting, but it is two hours door-to-door from Kemp Town to the West End, and a season ticket costs £5,000 – so that’s four hours a day lost, and lots of money, on unreliable trains. And if you want to live near the station, the property prices rival those in London anyway.
“Brighton is a fun place, but improvements in Victoria will not encourage people to move who would not have moved here anyway.”
Main image © Alex Sudea/REX/Shutterstock
This article was first published on 26 June 2015
