Partnering with Tonic Housing to create the UK’s first LGBTQ+ retirement community at Bankhouse

Inside Housing today, highlighted our partnership with Tonic Housing who are opening UK’s first LGBTQ+ retirement community at Bankhouse, our assisted living scheme in Lambeth

We’re excited to be part of the first first LGBTQ+ affirming retirement community in the UK. All Bankhouse staff will be given LGBTQ+ training and Tonic will co-create events with residents based on their interests, including collaborations with other LGBTQ+ organisations and support providers.

Tonic Housing was set up in 2014 to address the issues of loneliness and isolation among older LGBTQ+ people and has purchased 19 homes within Bankhouse.

Anna Kear, chief executive of Tonic Housing, said: “We are making history today, realising a long-held dream to provide a safe place for older LGBT+ people to live well, in a community where they can be themselves and enjoy their later life. We applaud the mayor of London for recognising and supporting the needs of older LGBT+ Londoners.

“We intend this to be the first of many Tonic retirement communities, achieved by working in partnership in London and other cities. These first homes, that are already built and currently empty, will enable people who need and want this accommodation to have the benefit of it immediately.

“Working with One Housing, we can complement the excellent care services that they provide for residents in the scheme. We intend that future Tonic schemes will provide a range of tenures directly, created through further acquisitions or new developments. Bankhouse is an important milestone in Tonic’s evolution. We’re so excited to get our future residents settled in their new homes and living in our community. Moving in is just the beginning!”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “I am proud to support Tonic in creating the UK’s first LGBTQ+ retirement community. London is an open, diverse, inclusive city and I’m delighted to see these long-held plans come to fruition with the help of this loan and my Community-Led Housing Hub.”

Richard Hill, chief executive at One Housing, said: “We are delighted to be working alongside Tonic Housing and the [Greater London Authority] to provide homes for older LGBT+ people. We have a long history of investing in homes and communities and providing assisted living to older people.

“We look forward to welcoming new LGBT+ customers to Bankhouse, where they’ll be able to enjoy all the advantages of independent living with on-site care and support when they need it.”

Read Inside Housing’s full coverage of the project here.