It depends - there's no standard answer. There is one near me that used to have a bad reputation but after "right to buy" was introduced the area started to improve noticeably. Not sure if that's because the tenants themselves started to take the area more seriously or whether it was just because eventually the area became slightly gentrified as the old residents moved out and new owners moved in.

On the other hand, there are other council estates around here that are hell holes that the council use as a dumping ground for problem tenants. I would strongly suggest visiting the area again at a different time of day to get a better impression.