Hateley Heath is a residential area of West Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. West Bromwich ( is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large Conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
History
It was developed during the early 1950s to rehouse people from town centre slum clearances, with hundreds of new homes being built by the local council. Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U The new homes initially very popular with their occupants, who appreciated modern facilities such as indoor toilets, bathrooms, running water, electricity and gardens.
By the 1980s, Hateley Heath had become a crime-fuelled "sink" housing estate with a very poor reputation. A sink estate is a British Council housing estate characterised by high levels of economic and social deprivation A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development
In January 1992, an Express & Star report on the estate revealed some shocking findings. The Express & Star is an evening Newspaper based in Wolverhampton, England, publishing 11 different editions covering the Black Country [1] It was estimated that six out of ten children living in Hateley Heath were involved in crime. Joyriding, burglaries and vandalism were just some of the many problems that were supposedly plaguing the area. To joyride is to drive around in a stolen Car, Boat, or other Vehicle with no particular goal a ride taken solely for pleasure Several shopkeepers had closed their stores due to theft and vandalism. In 1991 alone, West Midlands Police in Sandwell received no less than 1,006 complaints about crime on the estate - an average of once in just over eight hours. West Midlands Police is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the Metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. Car thefts and break-ins were the most common crime in the area, followed closely behind by burglaries and vandalism. During the year, 48 people on the estate were arrested on suspicion of criminal offences, though it is unknown how many of these arrests resulted in a conviction. What is known is that all but three of the people arrested were aged under 25. Unemployment and social deprivation were blamed for the decline of Hateley Heath, with almost 15% of employable residents being out of work. However, the nearby towns of Smethwick and Tipton had an even higher unemployment rate at this time. Smethwick (pronounced 'Smethick' is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47000
Over the last 15 years, Hateley Heath has improved with the aid of local community projects. One of the first phases of the area's regeneration came in 1992 when several blocks of unpopular council flats on the estate were demolished. Desirable private houses were built in their place.