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
Carshalton 1925
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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The following Table shows the number of houses which contained varying numbers of inmates; the last column gives corresponding figures tor houses occupied by more than one family.
| No. of inmates. | No. of houses. | Percentage of houses | Two or more families. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 379 | 57.8 | 11 |
| 5 or 6 | 147 | 22.4 | 28 |
| 7 or 8 | 96 | 14.6 | 28 |
| 9 or 10 | 22 | 3.4 | 7 |
| 11 or more | 12 | 1.8 | 3 |
| 656 | 100.7 | 71 |
Under their housing scheme, which was carried out in 1921 and
1922, the District Council erected 59 houses in Poplar Road. Many
applications for houses have since been received, and at the end of
1925 the Council were enquiring- as to the purchase of a suitable site
for additional cottages.
During the five years, 153 houses in all were erected, viz., 38 in
1921, 35 in 1922, 16 in 1923, 25 in 1924, and 39 in 1925.
The District Council advanced loans under the Small Dwellings
Acquisition Act to the amount of £17,100 in 1925.
Overcrowding.—The Census Returns for 1921 showed that 30
families, representing 5.3 per cent, of the population in private
families, were then living under conditions of more than two persons
per room, as against 14 families, representing 2.5 per cent. of the
population, in 1911; the percentage of the population living under
these conditions in 1921 in the County generally was 4.3. In 1921,
among 778 dwellings containing less than six rooms, 44 were recorded
as occupied by two families, and 3 as occupied by three families; 5.7
per cent. of such dwellings were, therefore, found to be occupied by
more than one family.
The number of rooms per person, in houses containing not more
than nine rooms, was 1.18 at the Census, 1921, as against 1.20 in 1911;
the corresponding figure for the County in 1921 was 1.21.
The number of persons per house for the whole District in 1921
was 4.43, as against 4.40 in 1911. The figures obtained at the inquiry
in 1923 showed that the average number of persons per house, in the
cottages which were visited, was 4.56; it was found that there was
overcrowding in 16 of the houses, or 2.4 per cent.
The chief cases of overcrowding which came to notice in 1925
were the occupation of a five-roomed cottage by four adults and ten
children, and of two three-roomed cottages by three adults and six
children, and three adults and five children. One case of overcrowding
was abated by the allocation of one of the Council's houses, but it was
not possible to deal with the other cases owing to inability to find
alternative accommodation.