It's solid and purpose- designed

It's solid and purpose- designed."Other council flatties perceive that they are now considered fortunate. "There used to be a stigma that you were some kind of scuzzy crusty," says Charlotte Lindsay, an artist, who lives in a block in Islington. "Now loads of arts-related people on variable incomes live here."Annalisa Barbieri, fashion guru for this paper, lives in an ex-council flat in a smart part of west London Some people are snobby about it. "They say, 'Gosh, how interesting', and pretend it's cool, but secretly they're horrified." One guest was surprised to see a Mercedes in the parking lot, and visitors often ask if it is safe to park.

"Taxi drivers sometimes won't drive into the estate," she moans.Matthew Glamorre, singer with the group Minty and manager of the West End club Smashing!, has lived in his Islington council flat for nine years. "Having lived on the street before, I consider myself extremely fortunate," he says. People think it's sinister, but in fact it's a very optimistic building. Visitors always leave in love with it." Flats in Trellick have been valued at pounds 110,000 but they don't come on the market very often.Architecture and design critics make a distinction between good and bad council estates. "The good ones have clear interior spaces with lots of light, without the mess of conversion," says Jane Withers of Elle Decoration. "I suffered from vertigo when I got the flat, but loved it so much that I was instantly cured In fact, I can't stand to live on the ground any more Everyone has beautiful south and north views.

And it is low-maintenance."Merhemitch - whose father lives in a Soho tower block, above Jeffrey Bernard - has found that attitudes have slowly changed towards his home. "The preconception of the tower block as urban deprivation is a historical one and outdated There is no obvious urban decay here. "Trellick is very special," says Michael Merhemitch, an architect who lives on the 21st floor. Some have now re-entered the bottom end of the lettings market.But their diminished status is largely because they are not architecturally exciting, especially when compared to the sought-after council gems such as Spa Green in Islington, the Alton Estate in Roehampton, the Millbank Estate in Pimlico and the Golden Lane estate in Barbican, which when it was built in 1959 was feted as "the estate where the tenants pay by cheque". Also popular are the atmospheric workers' estates built by pre-welfare philanthropic trusts: Vivienne Westwood dwells in a building of this type.

Perhaps the most venerated council address in the country, however, is Trellick Tower. Designed by Erno Goldfinger - Ian Fleming nicked his name to use for his Bond baddie - this 30-storey, Grade II* nominated tower stands sentinel-like over Trustafarian territory in North Kensington. "They sold to junior yuppies in the 1980s, but the buyers couldn't sell them on," says Marsh. "There are some extraordinarily well-located blocks that are good value.