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House Purchase

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Following the establishment of the BMB on September 1st 1919, the first meeting of the Bank's Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee was held at the Council House on Tuesday, September 9th 1919. Present at that meeting were The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor (Sir David Brooks), Alderman Lloyd, and Councillor Appleby.

 

The Minutes of that meeting noted that the following resolution (dated August 8th 1919)  had been received from the "Savings Bank Committee":

 

290     RESOLVED:- That the Lord Mayor, Aldermen Beard, Chamberlain, Lloyd and Williams, and Councillors Appleby and Gelling be appointed a Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee to deal with matters of detail arising in connection with the Bank, reporting to this Committee from time to time."

 

After Councillor Appleby was appointed as Chairman of the Sub-Committee, the [General] Manager submitted applications for advances in respect of the purchase of houses from four persons. Two applications were for houses located outside the City and were therefore ineligible in accordance with the Bank's regulations at that date. Particulars of the other two applications were as follows:

 

Applicant	House	Purchase Price	Advance applied for	Valuation
Mr Frederick    Hiscock, YMCA	276 Pershore Rd.      Edgbaston	£660	£480	£550
Mrs E R E   Wescombe, 103 Victoria Rd Stechford	103 Victoria Rd     Stechford	£250	£200	Not yet received

 

The valuation of the property in Pershore Road, Edgbaston, of £550, was provided by Mr S J Lancaster, the Superintendent Valuer of the Birmingham Overseers.

 

The Sub-Committee authorised that "an advance of £440 be made to Mr Frederick Hiscock, in respect of the purchase of dwelling house No 276, Pershore Road, such advance with interest thereon to be re-paid in monthly instalments within the period of 20 years." The Sub-Committee also instructed the Acting Town Clerk to prepare the necessary Mortgage Deed.

 

The granting of an advance of £440 to Frederick Hiscock (instead of the £480 applied for) was in accordance with the Bank's Rule 63 that "in no case shall an advance be made which exceeds 80 per cent of the market value of the property" - the market value being judged as £550 as valued by the Bank's valuer.

 

Although the Committee's minutes did not specify that Frederick Hiscock was "Applicant No 1", the Bank's Register of Securities confirm that he was. The Register of Securities was used to list details of the Deeds held by the Bank as security for the loan, and the register was informally annotated with the appropriate Application Number, just below the page number of the register. As shown below, the Deeds for 276 Pershore Road were initially registered with the Bank with the production of a "Contract for Sale" dated September 8th 1919 between Alfred Dunn and Frederick Thomas Hiscock. Further entries record the Abstract of Title; Requisitions on Title; Indenture of Underlease; and the Mortgage Deed dated November 8th 1919. The register also records that the advance was discharged on September 21st 1923.

 

Page 3 of the Register of Securities was used for 276 Pershore Road. The previous pages recorded the advances for 44 Franklin Street, Winson Green (Page 1 - Application Number 11) and 344 Shaftmoor Road, Hall Green (Page 2 - Application Number 19).

 

In regard to 103, Victoria Road, Stechford, the decision as to whether to approve an advance was left to the Sub-Committee's Chairman, plus another member of the Sub-Committee, after receipt of the Valuer's report.

 

With regard to the preparation of the Mortgage Deed and other documents, and examination of title deeds, etc, the Acting Town Clerk was requested to confer with the President of the Birmingham Law Society with a view to preparing the relevant documents in the same way that was done by building societies.

 

The Sub-Committee considered the appointment of a valuer, but this matter was referred to the Bank's General Committee. Eventually, Frank Wilde was appointed as the Bank's Valuer from May 17th 1920, at a remuneration of £150 for the valuation of 300 houses, and valuations in excess of 300 to be paid for at the rate of 10/6d per valuation.

 

In due course, Councillors Appleby and Gelling authorised an advance of £200 to Mrs Wescombe in respect of the purchase of 103 Victoria Road, Stechford.

 

At the General Committee's meeting held on September 22nd 1919, it was noted that ten advance applications had been received, and that these applications had been referred to the Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee. However, the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee held on the same date only considered five cases:

 

No.	Applicant	House	Purchase Price	Advance applied for	Valuation
7	J E Phillips 106 Lozells Road	6 Foley Rd Ward End	£380	£300	£320
8	M M Pinnock 21 Aubrey Road Small Heath	21 Aubrey Rd Small Heath	£250	£175	£220
9	J D Brown 128 Birchfield Rd	11 Gordon Rd Handsworth	£550	£440	£400
10	W A Coleman 29 Mason Road Erdington	29 Mason Rd Erdington	£425	£250	£300
11	Wm. Lane 111 Fernley Rd Sparkhill	44 Franklin St Winson Green	£240	80%	£200

 

The Sub-Committee followed the principles of the Bank regulations by granting advances up to 80% of the valuation, repayments to be made by monthly instalments within a period of 20 years.

 

From this date, it appears that a system of allocating consecutive numbers to each application as it was received was instituted. However, all Application Numbers were not reported to the Sub-Committee, probably due to procedural matters such as none receipt of a valuation, or withdrawal of the application.

 

The Sub-Committee's next meeting was held on October 27th 1919 when the applications numbered from 13 to 39 were reported: 

 

No.	Applicant	House	Purchase Price £	Advance applied for £	Valuation £
13	Law, A H	2 Ryland Road, Edgbaston	375	300	335
15	Jones, A A	123 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	275		230
16	Gregory, R	86 Windsor Road, Stirchley	375	250	225
17	Wright, W S	'Massandra' Gipsy Lane, Erdington	600	500	470
18	Whittington, F H	82 Crompton Road, Handsworth	650	520	680
19	Thompson, W H	344 Shaftmoor Road, Hall Green	450	300	375
20	Goodman, M	67 Beach Road, Sparkhill	275	150	285
21	Porter, E J	'Shaldon' Mayfield Rd, Acocks Green	325	260	300
22	Robinson, Mrs E J	245-7 Mansel Road, Small Heath	750	600	720
23	Wolverson, A E	45 Havelock Road, Perry Barr	385	308	385
24	Vines, Mrs C M	63 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	250	200	240
25	Cropper, T	148 Conybere Street	550	440	570
26	Clegg, J F	278 Alcester Road, Moseley	600	480	325
27	Norman, G T	Broad Lane, Kings Heath	250	225	250
28	Barkas, V V	49 Cannon Hill Road, Balsall Heath	300	200	300
29	Hickman, W	100 Gristhorpe Road, Selly Oak	232	220	230
30	Pugh, G	242-4 Hubert Road, Selly Oak	450	360	315
31	Finlay, J	132-4-6-8 Rann Street, Ladywood	635	400	700
32	Pounder, Mrs C A	79 Springfield Road, Moseley	320	300	375
33	Smith, G E	Cole Bank, Hall Green	750	600	660
34	Brindle, F B	49 Lordswood Road, Harborne	350	280	400
35	Thomas, R G	103 Southam Road, Hall Green	1175	600	840
36	Cooke, Mrs E	32 Farm Road, Sparkbrook	450	360	600
37	Newham, A J	9 Clarence Road, Moseley	600	350	500
38	Austin, Mrs M A	276 Edward Road, Edgbaston	650	350	650
39	Andrews, W H	31 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	250	200	230

 

Commencing with the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee on November 21st 1919, the Manager's reports to the Sub-Committee included (at the request of the members) how applications were dealt with: 

 

No.	Applicant	House	Advance applied for £	How dealt with
40	Parsons, H G	87 Blytheswood Road, Tyseley	180	Granted
41	Walker, H E	85 Blytheswood Road, Tyseley	180	Granted
42	Fewster, W E, Mrs	77 Springfield Rd, Moseley	380	£320 granted
43	Bladon, W H	113 Waverley Road, Small Heath	220	Granted
44	King, C E, Mrs	115 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	200	£180 granted
45	Clegg, J F	5 Jeffries Road, Sparkhill	288	£170 granted
46	Sheldon, R A	727 Chester Road, Erdington	540	£280 granted
47	Evans, J J	47 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	200	£180 granted
48	Moorhouse, M A	118 Monica Road, Small Heath	200	£160 granted
49	Cooper, S H	109 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	200	£180 granted
50	Ensor, Mrs A A	69 & 71 George St, Lozells	88	Granted
51	Beards, J	13 & 15 Albert Road, Aston	400	Granted
52	Barker, Miss R H	80 & 82 Victoria Road, Aston	190	£160 granted
53	Stanford, J J	11 Bromyard Road, Hall Green	160	Granted
54	Edwards, G P	100 Ridgeway, Edgbaston	220	Granted
55	Carey, H J P	42 Low Wood Road, Erdington	500	£360 granted
56	Mills, Mrs M	15 & 17 Rogers Road, Ward End	450	£250 granted
57	Taylor, S	35 Carlyle Road, Edgbaston	850	£500 granted
58	Baker, E G	61 & 63 Farndon Rd, Alum Rock	480	£280 granted
59	Ruddell, I	166 Heather Road, Small Heath	150	£140 granted
60	McDonnell, J J	170 Heather Road, Small Heath	150	£140 granted
61	Hardwick, W E	7 Court Oak Road, Harborne	500	Granted
62	Scott, R	41 Havelock Road, Birchfields	300	Granted
63	Edwards, W H	277 Yardley Road, Acocks Green	300	£200 granted
64	Richards, J	63 Beach Road, Sparkhill	150	Granted
65	Wood, H C E	2 Kings Road, Hay Mills	340	£270 granted
66	Griffin, Mrs R	744 Warwick Road, Tyseley	460	£450 granted
67	Howard, A A	71 Springfield Rd, Moseley	250	£240 granted
68	West, W	51 Cannon Hill Rd, Birmingham	240	Granted
69	Bunford, A H	29 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	180	Granted
70	Hobday, A W	224 & 226 Grange Rd, Kings Heath	200	Granted
71	Partridge, W	129 Showell Green Lane, Sparkhill	275	Granted
72	Armitt, J H	79 & 81 Sarehole Rd, Hall Green	480	£320 granted
73	Clifton, Mrs S	34 Farm Road, Sparkbrook	360	Granted
74	Bolar, J	1 Selsey Avenue, Edgbaston	200	£190 granted
75	Withers, B A	45 Regent Road, Harborne	125	Granted
76	Peach, F A	41 Bankes Road, Small Heath	150	Granted
77	Richards, W H	65 Beach Road, Sparkhill	150	Granted
78	Neill, J T	164 Heather Road, Small Heath	150	£140 granted
79	Dawes, Miss A J	40 Gladstone Road, Sparkbrook	240	£230 granted
80	Easom, C W J	37 Queens Park Rd, Harborne	280	Not completed
81	Green, G	280 Stratford Road, Birmingham	400	Granted
82	Mitchell, A	111 Aubrey Road, Small Heath	180	Granted
83	Kinman, J	127 Showell Green Lane, Sparkhill	300	Granted

 

Later, in the BMB's initial trading period from September 1st 1919 to March 31st 1920, meetings of the Finance & General Purposes Sub-Committee were held monthly to receive reports of the house purchase applications that were received. At the date of a meeting held on March 26th 1920, the application numbers had reached 471.

 

During this seven month period the amounts granted ranged from £100 to £1,120. The highest amount (Application Number 291) was granted to J Oldham who had applied for an advance of £1,200 to purchase 140 and 142 Albert Road, Stechford. With the number of applications increasing, the Sub-Committee reviewed the Bank's policy regarding the volume lent for house purchase.

 

The Sub-Committee recommended that the following limitations be adopted:

 

(1) That no advance for the purpose of house purchase shall be granted when the balance due in respect of advances already made represents 25% of the amount due to depositors.

 

(2) That the maximum advance to be made to a depositor in respect of the purchase of a house be as follows:

           (a) On a pre-war house                    £700

            (b) On a new house                       £1,000

 

By March 31st 1920, the amount advanced was £39,873 (on 148 advances, average loan £269), and the balance outstanding was £39,110, equal to 5.24% of depositors' balances. The surge of loan applications made shortly after the Bank commenced was reflected in the year 1920/21 when 816 advances were made amounting to £224,215 (average £275).

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