buying a house on a council estate - how to suss out neighbours?

[patagonia09]

We've put an offer in on a house we like, which is on a council estate in south london. I think about 95% of it is still council owned, and almost all of the gardens are in a pretty poor state (overgrown), the state of the curtains and doors in most houses indicates the people living there are on pretty low income, and I'm starting to feel a bit put off.
To clarify, I don't think being on a low income makes you a bad person. But people who are troubled (addictions, mental health problems, etc) tend to end up on low incomes because they can't hold down employment and subsequently get dumped on undesirable estates by the council, given no support, and can end up being troublesome. The one thing I can't bear is NOISY NEIGHBOURS, and my worst nightmare is living somewhere surrounded by late night parties, drunk fights, etc.
Am I being a total snob? Or am I just being realistic? And most of all, is there any way to find out more before we go ahead with the sale? I contacted the council to ask if there was a history of complaints about noise in the area but they were totally unhelpful.

[Flossiechops]

There are massive differences from one council estate to the next. Over grown gardens and shabby looking houses would have me running without looking back tbh.

[Emsy1449]

I used to live in a privately owned flat in London but the flat above was council. The family were awful, the Dad was always yelling, the kids noisy (parents never took them out so it seemed, not even to nearby park), they constantly put sanitary towels down loo and blocked drains. We paid to have shared garden done up and they didn't maintain it. They were horrid. I moved.
Appreciate not all council tenants are like this.

I also have a friend who lives on a London council estate and always has gangs hanging around - intimidating to me. She has a baby and it's not where I would want to bring up my kids.

Personally I would not buy, but that's just me and maybe I am a snob

[mulranno]

I think that if you are having reservations now before you buy -- think about the problems you will have selling it on in the future. It might prove to be a a really poor investment. You are not being a snob - everyone has aspirations to live in the best place they can afford. I am sure that even if the estate is wonderful - the people there would love to move on and "upwards" - that's why it called a property ladder....just the same as I am keen to shift my large detached in an exclusive village to live on my own country estate (wink)