Much research from different disciplines has explored the crime-space relationship often with controversial results. By employing the “space syntax” analysis, this research proposes to examine the relationship between spatial layouts of housing estates and urban areas and spatial distribution of property offences, based on crime reports provided by the police, to see how far a definite and consistent relationship can be established. A major concern is the issue of the accessibility of housing layout (spatial configuration of open spaces) and the relative vulnerability of property crimes, such as burglary, criminal damage (vandalism) and car crimes. Case-studies cover a wide range of social classes: middle-high, middle-working and working class housing estates. They were carefully examined for a period of one year. The findings from this research provide empirical evidence for scepticism about the idea of “territoriality” and “defensible space” put forward by Oscar Newman (Newman, 1972), and suggest that, other things being equal, property crimes tend to cluster in those globally or locally segregated areas, particularly in cul-de-sac footpaths and rear dead end alleys, but also in those segregated short cul-de-sac carriageways which Newman considered to be the key to increase local surveillance and hence to exclude casual intrusion by non-residents. Positive features which make spaces safer are integrated through roads with front entrances on both sides, exactly those anonymous spaces Newman considers more prone to crime.