London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Acton 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Acton]
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9
Under Section 1 of the Housing Act, 1035, a survey hart to
be made in order to ascertain the extent of overcrowding in the
district, and in October the Ministry of Health issued Memorandum
B, in which detailed instructions were given as to the methods to
be adopted in order to obtain the information.
Section 2 and the first Schedule to the Act set out the new
overcrowding standard which is to apply throughout the whole
country. Two standards are laid down, the first dealing with persons
per room, and the second relating the floor area of the rooms
to the number of inhabitants. The number of persons permitted
to use a house for sleeping is the lesser of the figures obtained by
using both bases of calculation.
For convenience, the two tables in the first schedule to the
Act are reproduced:-
Table I.
| Where a house consists of:— | The permitted number of persons is:- | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | One room | 2 |
| (b) | Two rooms | 3 |
| (c) | Three rooms | 5 |
| (d) | Four rooms | 7½ |
| (e) | Five rooms or more | 10 with an additional 2 in respect of each room in excess of five. |
(In using this table, a room of less than 50 square feet is not
counted as a room).
| II'here a room in any house has a floor area of:— | ||
| 110 sq. feet or more | 2 | |
| 90 sq. feet or more, but less than 110 | ||
| 70 sq. feet or more, but less than 90 | 1 | |
| 50 sq. feet or more, but less than 70 | ½ | |
| Under 50 sq. feet | Nil. | |
Approximately 12,000 houses were inspected, containing
10,943 tenements. Of these the tenements were as follows:-