Modernist magazine said Southgate's demise 'was a loss not just for Runcorn but for the entire second generation of new towns and to British architecture as a whole'. It said the estate was 'largely the victim of an original budget that was far too low to create sufficient quality for such a high-density scheme' adding if it had survived it would have become 'one of the major monuments to this significant period and a key site of architectural pilgrimage in northwest England'.