| Description | The Housing Committee was initially appointed by Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting in November 1925 to consider the proposal put forward by Florence M. Barrow that Friends might assist the newly formed Birmingham (Copec) Housing Improvement Society Ltd. by offering financial support in the form of shares or loans. The Birmingham (Copec) Housing Improvement Society Ltd. aimed to purchase and improve the conditions of slum housing. At the time, there was a shortage of housing in Birmingham and much of it was inadequate: it was reported by the Medical Officer of Health that 4000 people were living in one room, 12, 600 people lived in two rooms and 58, 000 people had no separate sanitary accommodation.
The committee also aimed ‘to draw public attention to the appalling conditions still prevailing in Birmingham slums’, both within the Society of Friends and across the Birmingham. It arranged visits for Friends to see the variable conditions of houses in the slum areas of the city, as well as the new approaches to housing which were being undertaken by the city council on the new estates on the outskirts of the city. It organised a number of talks and presentations for Friends given by housing specialists, city councillors and others working in the field of housing aimed at raising awareness of the housing problem, covering subjects such as 'Personal Experiences of Housing Improvement in London', local housing regulations, and the Housing and Slum clearance Act 1930. It suggested that a conference on housing be held and worked with the Yearly Meeting's Industrial and Social Order Committee to arrange a conference at Friends House in 1929, with additional conferences being arranged at George Rd. meeting house, Edgbaston and also in Manchester. In addition, it brought the subject of housing conditions to the attention of both Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting and the Yearly Meeting on a regular basis. In 1930, it organised, together with Birmingham (Copec) Housing Improvement Society, a detailed survey of 500 houses, which highlighted how serious the housing issue was and culminated in a published report, 'Five Hundred Birmingham Houses', which received considerable publicity.
Another strand of the committee's work related to the provision of community facilities on the new housing estates which were being built by the city council outside the city centre. It was felt that many of the estates lacked a sense of community and this could be rectified by the introduction of community halls in which residents could take part in spiritual, educational and social activities. The committee appealed to Friends to contribute to the costs of constructing or purchasing a number of community halls. As a result, a hall was built on the Allens Cross Estate in Northfield, a hut was purchased at Perry Common and a small hall was erected on the Kettle House Farm Estate, with land being leased from the City Council for the purpose. The committee also called on Friends to help with promoting educational and social activities through Community Associations.
The committee was also involved in a number of other activities. It petitioned the city council about excessively high rents for furnished rooms in 1930 and successfully campaigned to ensure that the city council's Public Works Committee provided new housing with hot water supplies, which prior to 1931 had not been the case. It engaged in a campaign to ensure that the new housing estates being built by the city council consisted of the larger 'parlour type' houses as well as the smaller 'non-parlour type' houses, as the housing estates were mainly made up of the 'non-parlour' houses. It hoped that this would encourage a greater mix of social classes on the new housing estates.
With the consideration of the Overcrowding Bill the establishment of a national definition of overcrowding to be enshrined in legislation and for living rooms to be omitted from the calculation of how much sleeping accommodation was permitted in a house.
Among others, members of the committee included Florence M. Barrow, Theodora M. Wilson, Elizabeth M. Cadbury, Albert Bradbeer, Evelyn Sturge, Ronald Salter, Charles Watkins, M. Louisa Wilson, and Leonard P. Appleton.
The committee stood down in March 1939 because it felt that it could no longer actively contribute to resolving the housing problem. Public opinion by this time was more aware of the issue of housing and the city council was addressing the problem with a programme of slum clearance and rehousing. Much of the work the committee had initiated and supported was being and continued to be successfully undertaken by organisations such as the Birmingham (Copec) House Improvement Society and the Council for Community Associations. |