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. Sink estates are predominantly found in North and East London (including North West/North East) and in the boroughs of Camden, Islington, Haringey, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Hackney.

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 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, Low Hill in Wolverhampton, Priory Estate in Dudley, Chapel Street in Brierley Hill and Goscote in Walsall.

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

Many "sink estates" were created by the demolition of old "slum" properties in the 1920s and 1930s and the wholesale moving of the tenants on to new council estates.

The origin and meaning of the term 'sink estate' is unknown, although it is believed it may refer to being at the depths of society. The phrase came into usage in the 1970s, and was probably a term coined by journalists. [1] It is now commonly used in media such as this BBC article. Sink estate may refer to behavioural sink, which is a characteristic exhibited by animals forced to live in overcrowded conditions.