The power of the pink pound has long been known to property professionals but they are having to rethink their strategies to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by this market. A widely accepted view is that gay men have historically invested in property in unpromising postcodes and have helped make these areas desirable to all: examples include Soho, Earls Court, Hoxton and Vauxhall in London, Greenwich Village and Hell’s Kitchen in New York, Eixample in Barcelona and Surry Hills in Sydney. Another common perception is that gays, with plenty of disposable income, are more design-conscious and urban-dwelling, caring more about architectural excellence or the potential of a plot than the performance of the local schools.

But that is not necessarily so, says Justin Lloyd, managing director of Brighton-based 4 Sale Estate Agents, which was set up as a gay-owned company aiming to serve homosexuals in the late 1990s. “When people think of the stereotypical gay apartment they think of a fashionable two-bedroom unit with fabulous entertaining space and the latest gadgets,” says Lloyd. “But the gay market is extremely diverse. We have buyers looking for everything from a one-bedroom bolthole to a seafront stucco mansion.