Residents in Lambeth are being left with impossibly long waiting lists for secure bicycle storage that is leaving them vulnerable to their bikes being stolen, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

Lambeth Council has 828 on-street bike hangars each of which can store six bicycles, making the borough’s provision the fourth highest in London. But the borough has the second highest concentration of bicycle ownership, after Islington, and has a reported 13,989 people on the waiting list, SW Londoner reports. This means the waiting list is roughly treble the council’s total bike storage capacity.

Lambeth Council does not directly manage the applications and maintenance of the hangars, which are owned by both Cyclehoop and LockIt Safe. The council does however set an annual rent of £30 a year, subsidising Cyclehoop’s standard £72 fee.

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SW Londoner also submitted FOI requests to several other local authorities in London and found Camden and Haringey had the next longest waiting lists – around 7,500 each -, as well as substantially fewer bike hangars – 370 and 419 respectively.

In response to the findings, Cycling UK said they were disappointed by the findings.

“Hangar space is really important. People might not appreciate it if they live in a house with somewhere to store their bike, but it’s difficult to carry a bike up two flights of stairs to a flat.” Campaigns Manager Sophie Gordon said.

“Cycle theft is also quite an off-putting factor for many people who want to cycle, especially if you’re on a low income you’re more likely to worry about being able to afford to replace a bike.”


Lambeth also has some of the highest rates of bike theft in the city, more than twice as high as the London average. Data from the Met Police shows 102 bikes were reported stolen in May, a 24 percent increase on the same time last year.

Residents have also reported being frustrated by having bikes stolen whilst waiting to be allocated a bike storage space. One resident said said he would not replace his stolen bike, saying the theft, “really reframed my experience of that area and London more generally. I’m a lot more cautious these days, and more scared of strangers. Another said he “felt like crying” after he had two bikes stolen in a six month window.

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“Councils always reference installing bike lanes to make cycling more appealing, which is great. But these waiting lists are so, so long. As long as you can’t get a space in a hangar, you’re not going to be inspired to buy a bike.”

Lambeth Council has been Labour-governed since 2006. However, in last month’s local elections the Green Party won the most seats and subsequently formed a minority administration with the support of the Liberal Democrats. When contacted for comment, Lambeth Council said, “The waiting lists for hangars reflect the very high demand for cycling parking in Lambeth, and the financial constraints affecting the delivery of bike hangars to meet this.

“The council historically has not done enough to get those lists down, and reducing the number of people waiting for a bike hangar will now be a priority going forwards.”

The council has previously pledged to ensure every resident lives within 100 metres of a secure bike hangar by 2030, as part of the borough’s Kerbside Strategy “to transform 25 percent of kerbside space into places for people, and not just cars.” Published in 2023, the strategy’s other measures also include installing electric vehicle charging points and tree planting.