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69
Households and Housing
The average size of the household continues to decline. In 1951 it was
just over 3 persons; more than 40% of all households were of one or two
persons, though less than 4% of the dwellings in the Borough are designed for
occupation by only one or two people. most of the houses in the Borough were
built at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century and
were designed for the larger families of the period Many of these houses
are now occupied by 2 or more families and in consequence amenities are often
lacking or have to be shared There has been an improvement in the overall
housing position since the last census. Although the number of families has
dropped by 1,000 there has been an increase of 1,500 in the number of selfcontained
dwellings. The average number of persons per room has fallen from
0.97 to 0.81. Overcrowding represented by the number of persons living more
than 2 persons to a room is one third the 1931 figure (2.6% compared with
7.7%). There are now 1,324 families which are overcrowded by Housing Act
standards, but in arriving at this figure it has not been possible to differentiate
between persons under 10 years of age and those over, nor to allow for
separation of sexes. Most overcrowding occurs in the Wards containing the
pre-war municipal housing estates, where the rate of overcrowding is regretfully
nearly double the average for the Borough
Household Arrangements
For the first time in a national census the survey has included an
enquiry into the provision of household facilities, The explanatory notes
point out that the questions appear to have been misinterpreted by some people
but it is considered that the figures give a broad picture of the general
position. It discloses the following information as far as Tottenham is
concerned: -