By the end of the war, Liverpool had suffered much damage from the Blitz and much of its remaining housing stock was poor and considered slums. In an effort to improve these conditions, Liverpool Corporation began a policy of buying land in the surrounding areas and moving industry and people to newly developed 'over-spill' estates. This process culminated with the purchase of of land, including the land comprising Kirkby, from the Earl of Sefton in 1947 for £375,000 (£ inflation adjusted). Kirkby would become the largest of these over-spill estates for Merseyside. As development of the town grew, in 1949 Liverpool requested to have it officially designated a new town, but this proposal was rejected. Large-scale development began in February 1950 with the construction of the Southdene neighbourhood, with the first houses finished in 1952, the 5,000th in 1956 and the 10,000th in 1961. A population of 3,000 in 1951 swelled to over 52,000 by 1961, making it the fastest growing community in the UK by far. The Kirkby Urban District was created in 1958.