Sink estate, (The phrase shows up in a search but...)

Posted by Lewis on June 21, 2004

In Reply to: Sink estate, (The phrase shows up in a search but...) posted by Bruce Kahl on June 19, 2004

: : The phrase "sink estate" shows up in a search but there really isn't much information. Does the phrase refer to poor housing conditions or poor employment or more generally poor socio-economic status? Is it purely slang? What would a government report call persons in the "sink estates"?

: Looks like "sink estates" refer to the crime infested, squalid parts of a city---the other side of the tracks.
: I could not find a definition per se but if you peruse the links provided below you can get an idea of what the phrase means.

the use of 'sink' in local government circles is to describe a place where people who have failed go. the misfits and the unwanted usually end up being consigned to particular housing estates or schools where other failures are the only people left. there may be a number of different origins for 'sink' but perhaps either the concept of the kitchen sink or subsidence are the origin - of the two I favour the kitchen sink, as that has connotations of dirty dishes that nobody can be bothered to wash.