Petition · past parliament
Stop using discriminatory language to describe our homes.
Rejected
16 signatures
What the petition asks
Housing estates have been vilified and demolished by subjective language in government policy. This has enabled the demolition of thousands of homes at a cost to their communities and our environment.
Government must commit to using non-discriminatory language when describing housing types.
Government must commit to using non-discriminatory language when describing housing types.
For example: Estate Regeneration Programme:
"There are estates, particularly those high-rise council estates from the 1960s and 70s, that simply do not work for the people who live there...These are places that encourage crime and have poor quality homes that are expensive and difficult to maintain"
"Across London, many estates of post war public housing are reaching the end their functional life, too often built as impersonal blocks at lower densities than our most successful neighbourhoods."
"There are estates, particularly those high-rise council estates from the 1960s and 70s, that simply do not work for the people who live there...These are places that encourage crime and have poor quality homes that are expensive and difficult to maintain"
"Across London, many estates of post war public housing are reaching the end their functional life, too often built as impersonal blocks at lower densities than our most successful neighbourhoods."
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the UK Government or Parliament to take a specific action.
We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. In particular, we're not sure which words or phrases you're concerned about. In any case, the quotation you've cited is from the then Major of London in 2014, rather than the UK Government or Parliament, albeit in a Government publication. We can only accept petitions which call for actions that are the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. For example, you could start a new petition calling for the UK Government or Parliament to stop using certain words or phrases in their publications to describe social housing estates, if that's something you'd like to happen.
We're not sure exactly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. In particular, we're not sure which words or phrases you're concerned about. In any case, the quotation you've cited is from the then Major of London in 2014, rather than the UK Government or Parliament, albeit in a Government publication. We can only accept petitions which call for actions that are the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you'd like the Government or Parliament to do. For example, you could start a new petition calling for the UK Government or Parliament to stop using certain words or phrases in their publications to describe social housing estates, if that's something you'd like to happen.
Timeline
| 17 May 2019 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 18 Jun 2019 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
16
Status
Rejected
Rejected
18 Jun 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.