Blackbird Leys takes its name from a farm on the site first recorded in the 18th century. The land became part of the Oxford's Sewage Farm in the 1870s and ownership passed to Oxford City Council. With the growth of the motor industry between the wars, Oxford expanded to the south and east and the former villages of Cowley, Headington and Iffley were incorporated into the city in 1929. After the Second World War there was a grave housing shortage in Oxford and elsewhere. There was a huge council house building programme and about two thirds of Oxford's council houses date from this period. Blackbird Leys became ripe for development and the City Council began building the estate in 1957. It was largely completed by the 1970s but the estate was further extended in the 1980s when Greater Leys was built. Blackbird Leys is Oxford's largest council estate, originally built to accommodate some 10,000 residents in about 2,800 dwellings; an estimated 13,464 people live in Blackbird Leys to-day, making it bigger than historic Oxfordshire market towns such as Henley, Thame, Wallingford and Wantage.