the first council houses in wednesbury were built in the early 1920s, but progress was low compared to nearby towns including tipton and west bromwich. by 1930, a mere 206 families had been rehoused from slums. however, the building of council houses rose dramatically at the start of the 1930s, the 1,000th council house being occupied before the end of 1931. by 1935, some 1,250 older houses had been demolished or earmarked for demolition. by 1944 there were more than 3,000 council properties; by 1959, more than 5,000; the largest development in wednesbury being the hateley heath estate in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which straddled the border of wednesbury and west bromwich.