Sink estate

A sink estate is a British council housing estate characterised by high levels of economic and social deprivation. Such estates are not always high crime areas although there is a strong correlation between crime rates and sink estates in large urban areas.

Thus, the Harefield estate on the edge of Southampton was a sink estate in the last quarter of the twentieth century even though its crime rate was significantly lower than that of inner city areas. In London, however, all the no-go areas (such as the estates in Peckham before its regeneration, Harlesden or Gospel Oak) are all sink estates.

The West Midlands has been home to numerous sink estates, although many of these have been regenerated or are in the process of regeneration. These include the notorious Castle Vale in Birmingham, Galton Village in Smethwick in Birmingham, Hateley Heath in West Bromwich/Birmingham, Low Hill in Wolverhampton, Priory Estate in Dudley, Chapel Street in Brierley Hill and Goscote in Walsall.

Sink estates in northern England include Cantril Farm in Liverpool, Halton Moor in Leeds, Manor Estate in Sheffield and the now-demolished Hulme Crescents in Manchester.

Sink estates were largely created by the 'right to buy' system popularised by the Conservative government after 1980. Council tenants in more popular areas (usually those which included larger properties) were far more likely to buy their property, leaving less popular areas (usually inner-city areas, those with higher crime rates or less attractive housing) under council ownership, exacerbating existing problems and further alienating the people "abandoned" in those areas from wider society. Owner occupiers are traditionally rare in tower blocks of multi-storey flats.

The origin and meaning of the term 'sink estate' is unknown. The phrase came into usage in the 1980s, and was probably a term coined by journalists.

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