Raze inhabited area? Cockney tried to enter it (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
tear down
'raze inhabited area?' is the definition.
'tear down' can be an answer for 'raze' (synonyms). I'm unsure of the 'inhabited area?' bit.
'cockney tried to enter it' is the wordplay.
'cockney tried' becomes ''eard' ('heard' - as in trying or hearing in a trial - said with the 'H' dropped - a cockney accent.).
'to enter' is an insertion indicator.
'it' becomes 'town' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'eard' put within 'town' is 'TEAR DOWN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tear down that I've seen before include "Demolish" , "trash" , "Level" .)