| AdminHistory | The Housing Committee was established in May 1968, as a result of the Council’s new approach to streamlining its committees, and consisted of sixteen members of the Council. The committee had been set up to discharge the former duties of the Housing Management Committee (see BCC/1/CY) and the House Building Committee (see BCC/1/CX), and met every fortnight to discuss the issues of the two former committees on alternate meetings. It was also believed that the committee should not delegate to the quantity of sub-committees that had existed under the two former committees, so it undertook its own business with only one sub-committee, that on Lettings and Appeals, being appointed. The committee was supported by the Housing Department, under the authority of the Housing Manager, and the Building Department, under the authority of the General Manager.
The Housing Management Committee had previously overseen the administration and management of all houses in Birmingham. This had included dealing with housing applications along with interviews and visits; house letting; house tenant exchanges and re-housing if property unfit; management of ‘squatters camps’; house furnishings; costing, payment and undertaking of repairs; general complaints; permits (for keeping pets etc); arrears and the sale of Council houses and freeholds. The House Building Committee had kept housing conditions in the City under review, in consultation with the Housing Management Committee and the Health Committee (see BCC/1/AR). It also prepared and executed proposals for the provision and improvement of housing accommodation; acquired and prepared land for housing development, including compulsory purchase orders; developed housing estates; erected houses; undertook general house conversions; granted building licences; negotiated house building contracts; requisitioned housing premises; supplied building materials and provided assistance to housing societies. |