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.

The origin and meaning of the term 'sink estate' may refer to being at the depths of society. The phrase came into usage in the 1980s, and was used by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair in 1998, when he referred to "so-called sink estates" in a speech, such as the Aylesbury Estate. Sink estate may refer to behavioural sink, which is a characteristic exhibited by animals forced to live in overcrowded conditions.

In the worst estates crime happens openly while victims are afraid to do anything or have no confidence that the police will act effectively. Encouraging residents to report crime would help turn such estates round. Lack of coordination between police and housing departments can exacerbate problems. In one estate women escaping domestic violence were regularly housed in the same flat. Local criminals knew which flat and targeted the women to hook them onto harmful drugs and use the flat for criminal purposes. The police and the council did not communicate over this.

Forcing criminal types together creates a culture of crime where individuals have to be tough to survive.

The underclass (...) [is] a product of ghettoisation. Taking a bunch of people with social and fiscal problems and forcing them to live en masse together is an idiotic idea that is destined to create a culture of perpetually spiralling criminality. If we want the disenfranchised underclass to adopt the morality of the mainstream, social housing needs to be integrated into mainstream society.

According to centre-right think tank, Policy Exchange neglect and segregation caused rooted trouble in UK social housing such as domestic violence and crime. Unemployment, single parent families, and limited parenting skills are cited.

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