| Description | Minute volumes indexed. The minutes are handwritten and typescript format and signed by the committee chairman. Minute books BCC/1/AM/1/1/1 - 8 are entitled 'Estates & Buildings Committee', some with dates on the spines. Accounts and several inventories of public buildings are included in the minutes of the Estates and Buildings Committee of 1851 - 1875, which include the Town Hall, the Police Station in Duke Street, the Kent Street public baths, offices in Congreve and Edmund Streets, stables in Park Street and the Borough gaol. The first minute book for the newly named Estate Committee (BCC/1/AM/1/1/30) continues the minute sequence in the last Housing and Estates Committee minute book (BCC/1/BM/1/1/29). The New Estates Committee minute volumes are actually entitled 'Estates Committee' on the spine, but can be identified by their dates and labels. There is a clear break during February 1951 in the functions of the Estates Committee minutes, where the minute numbers begin a new sequence. The nature of the committee changes, in as much as its housing function was designated to the Housing Management Committee, which should be considered a separate series (see BCC/1/CY). The minutes include the reports of the Town Clerk relating to leases of municipal property and land; inspection reports relating to various properties which fell under the jurisdiction of the Council; various reports of the sub-committees of the Estates Committee; annual accounts and financial information; details on Estate Department staff and salaries; and associated papers and correspondence. The minutes from the 1930s to the 1950s in particular include a huge volume of reports relating to the progress of slum clearance works (including schedules of properties to be demolished under the provisions of various Housing Acts) and the building of the new municipal housing estates such as Kingstanding and Weoley Castle. These include schedules of land purchased to facilitate the building of houses (and compensation payments paid to landowners), details relating to council house tenancy agreements and repairs and alterations carried out on the houses. There are also reports on overcrowded properties, with reference to the Overcrowding Surveys carried out following the introduction of the Housing Act, 1935, and the minutes of the 25 May 1936 include a report upon the housing needs arising out of the Overcrowding Census carried out in 1936 (see minute 1 in BCC/1/AM/1/1/46). There are also lists of Council tenants alleged to have defaulted on rent payments. The minutes of 19 February 1935 include a report on the dilapidated 'hutment' accommodation at Castle Bromwich, one of several temporary solutions proposed to deal with the inter-war housing crisis (see minutes 11506 - 11507 in BCC/1/AM/1/1/43). |