I lived in one in Brixton too years ago. It was more of a speakeasy. We used to get the odd one or two dodgy geezers knocking in the early hours. It was quite difficult to get minicabs to pick us up from our gaff, they'd always so 'no sorry' and hang up. Wasn't til one actually turned up and I asked him why cabs never liked coming to our flat and he told us what it used to be and what used to go on in there
Only after he told me that I realised my room was a gambling/cards room. Had low cielings with the hooks/wierd light fixtures still there in the middle for the low hanging light
racist