Edited sentence: Council estates have often been stereotyped as a source of crime.Council housing stock has sometimes been used to house those seeking refugee status ('asylum seekers'), who have no choice in their accommodation.In some parts of the country, especially northern Britain, some council housing is virtually unlettable.In the south and in London in particular, demand still massively outstrips supply.The current position is that council housing is a more and more residualised and stigmatised sector, with the term 'council' increasingly used as a pejorative.Whereas in its early years, council housing was an acceptable option for much of the population, it is now increasingly an option only for those reliant on social security