Perry Common is an area of north

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

that includes parts of both

Stockland Green Stockland Green is an area of Birmingham, England. It gives its name to a ward which is part of the Erdington formal district, and is located to the south-west of Erdington and north-east of Birmingham City Centre. The area is often mistakenl ...

and

Kingstanding Kingstanding is an area in north Birmingham, England. It gives its name to a ward in the Erdington council constituency. Kingstanding ward includes the areas; Perry Common, Witton Lakes and Wyrley Birch. The other part of Kingstanding falls ...

. It falls within the

Birmingham Erdington Birmingham Erdington is a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham, England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2022 by Paulette Hamilton of the Labour Party. Members of Parliament MPs 1918� ...

parliamentary constituency. North Birmingham Academy (formerly College High School) is located in Perry Common as are the Hawthorn Shopping Centre on Hawthorn Road and

Witton Lakes Witton Lakes (previously known as Upper Witton Reservoir and Middle Witton Reservoir) are a pair of former drinking water reservoirs between the Perry Common and Erdington areas of Birmingham, England (not in nearby Witton). Two brooks, arisin ...

Regeneration

Redevelopment has been carried out by

Witton Lodge Community Association Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. * Witton Gilbert, County Durham * Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, ...

, who have overseen the development of two large care homes as well as more than 300 new houses for sale and rent. The scheme also included the development of new roads, public open spaces and community facilities. On June 19, 2012 the Perry Common Community Hall was re-opened after a major re-fit and extension. The hall provides space for various regular clubs and activities, includes meeting and hot desk space for local businesses as well as serving as a base for the Witton Lodge Community Association.

History

The area was developed for

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

during the 1920s, with well over 1,000 families moving to the area from dilapidated inner city

slum A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inh ...

s. The houses were built from

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

in a style pioneered by Henry Boot Limited. By the 1980s, however, the estate was facing serious problems. Many of the homes were in a poor state of repair, with cracks in the walls and rising damp being just some of the many problems plaguing the now unpopular

Boot house Boot houses were houses built in the United Kingdom after World War I to accommodate the housing boom following the war. They were named after Henry Boot, whose construction company ( Henry Boot Limited), produced an estimated 50,000 houses betwe ...

s. During the 1990s, the city council earmarked 908 homes in the area for demolition.

References

External links

Perry Common LibraryCollege High School website
Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands {{WestMidlands-geo-stub