Council House - Examples

Examples

Becontree in Dagenham is the largest area of council housing in the UK with a population of over 100,000. Building started in the 1920s and took eleven years to finish. There is only a small part of Dagenham that is not Becontree, and some do not consider Becontree to be an estate but really just the bulk of a town. Otherwise, the largest estates are Wythenshawe in the south of Manchester and Bransholme in the north-east of Hull. Arron Way in Corby was a large estate, although the majority of the housing became derelict and the area is now undergoing regeneration. Other large estates across London include Ashburton estate in Putney, Alton Estate in Roehampton, Churchill Gardens in Pimlico, Aylesbury Estate in Walworth, a vast series of estates in Gospel Oak (especially around Queen's Crescent Market) including the Bacton, Wendling, Lamble Street, Southfleet, Denton, Kiln Place, North Kentish Town and the Ludham and Waxham estates, plus the Ferrier Estate, and the Thamesmead Estate in South-East London.

There are also numerous large council estates in the West Midlands. These include Castle Vale in Birmingham, Newtown in Birmingham, Low Hill in Wolverhampton, Hateley Heath in West Bromwich, Blakenall Heath in Walsall, Priory Estate in Dudley, Tanhouse in Halesowen, Camp Hill in Nuneaton and Chapel Street Estate in Brierley Hill.

In Scotland, Glasgow has the highest proportion of social housing. The largest estates include Drumchapel, Easterhouse, Castlemilk and Pollok. In Edinburgh there are several estates on the outskirts of the city, including those at Craigmillar, Wester Hailes and Sighthill.

Council estates in Greater Manchester included the Hattersley overspill housing estate.

Wales also has many large council estates. These include Caia Park in Wrexham, Bettws in Newport and Ely in Cardiff.

There were also many large council estates in Yorkshire. There are some pit villages, such as Grimethorpe, which are almost entirely composed of original council housing. Estates in Leeds, West Yorkshire include Cross Gates, Lincoln Green, Gipton, Seacroft and Halton Moor. Bransholme in North East Hull is the largest in Yorkshire. Sheffield boasts the award winning Park Hill (now being redeveloped).

In Tyneside large council estates include Byker and Walker in Newcastle, Felling in Gateshead and Meadow Well in North Tyneside, the site of violent civil disorder during the early 1990s. A large urban regeneration scheme is also being planned for Scotswood in the West End of Newcastle after decades of urban decay and high crime levels.

The Red Road flats in Glasgow were once the tallest residential buildings in Europe, but are now earmarked for demolition in local council regeneration plans. Cottingley Towers and Cottingley Heights in Cottingley, Leeds are also particularly notable in their considerable height.

New towns built across Britain in the 20 or so years following the end of the Second World War were predominantly made up of council housing, but many of these have since been further developed to see private housing become the most frequent accommodation. Many commuter towns around London have large areas of Council Housing.

An early and famous development of council flats was at Quarry Hill in Leeds. Modelled on Karl Marx Hof flats in Vienna, the complex was built by Leeds City Council. At the time they were considered revolutionary: each flat had a motorized rubbish chute leading to a central incinerator. The complex had its own offices, shops and gas works. The 1970s sitcom Queenie's Castle was filmed there. Long-term problems with the steel-frame structure lead to demolition, beginning in 1978 and there is now no evidence of their existence. The DWP and DH now have their regional headquarters on the site, alongside the West Yorkshire Playhouse.