London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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City of London 1923

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London, City of ]

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27
are let off in part for residential purposes. It is, however, satisfactory to note that the
difficulty connected with the payment of inhabited house duty is now removed
and that in the future, assessment will only be made upon that portion of the
building used as a residence, and payment of inhabited house duty on the whole
premises of which the residential portion is only a part will not be enforced.
6. There are a few shops with residential accommodation. In these instances
the tenants have found their living rooms encroached upon by the necessity for
finding storage accommodation for business purposes. In other instances, the
premises being of several storeys, the top rooms are not used and are often far
from being satisfactorily clean. As a rule these premises are older houses which
have been slightly remodelled to fit the requirements of the small businesses
conducted. The circumstances under which the tenants reside are not always
satisfactory.
7. There still exists in the City a number of caretakers' apartments in business
houses. The provision for the caretakers is not always satisfactory and the value
of rooms for office purposes is so great that there is a tendency to reduce these
apartments to the minimum necessary, and to require unmarried persons to
occupy them. The problem of the caretaker's dwelling is a different one to the one
which is under review in this report and will receive separate attention on a future
occasion.
8. The majority of the remaining houses require detailed attention and in
respect of which a special report has been submitted to the Sanitary Committee.
THE EFFECT OF COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENTS.—With the decline
of residential population there has been an increase in the day population. The
removal of dwellings and the substitution on the cleared sites of commercial
premises has resulted in an increased day population occupying the area. For the
first time the Census returns give an analysis, so far as the area included in the
home counties is concerned, of the places of residence of persons living outside, but
working in the City, and in addition the returns indicate the place of work within
the same boundaries of persons living within the City area. These show
that the population of the City comprises 6,722 males and 6,987 females. Of these,
5,372 males and 3,650 females are above the age of 12 years and are engaged in
some occupation or are students above the age of 18 years. Of these totals, 3,370
males and 2,960 females work within the City area and 613 males and 70 females
have no fixed work place. To make the totals balance it should be noted that 97
males and 49 females did not state the place at which they were occupied. Of the
occupied males, 1,292 and of the occupied females, 571 work outside the area and
the districts in which they were so occupied are set out in the following summary.

Place of occupation of Citv Residents who work outside the City area :—

Essex56
West Ham C.B.21
Hertfordshire11
Kent15
London1,477
(distributed as follows)
Bermondsey38
Bethnal Green25
Finsbury205
Hackney47
Holborn136
Islington45
Lambeth24
St. Marylebone51
St. Pancras43
Shoreditch62
Southwark63
Stepney375
City of Westminster251
Middlesex34
Surrey16
Other parts of England and Wales133
Outside England and Wales121
Total1,863