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 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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The history of known overcrowding since the survey of 1936 is indicated by the following:—
| Ward. | House s overcrowded at Survey 1936. | Houses found overcrowded up to 31.12.46 | Houses de-crowded up to 31.12.46 | Houses remaining overcrowded at 31.12.46 | Overcrowded cases remedied during 1946. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formal. | Informal. | Total. | |||||
| St. Helier North | 40 | 147 | 126 | 61 | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| St. Helier South | 40 | 132 | 128 | 44 | 11 | 3 | 14 |
| St. Helier West | 45 | 134 | 129 | 50 | 15 | 2 | 17 |
| North-East | 17 | 73 | 63 | 27 | 13 | 5 | 18 |
| North-West | 10 | 49 | 50 | 9 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Central | 9 | 18 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - |
| South-West | — | 6 | 5 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 |
| South-East | 12 | 39 | 39 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 173 | 598 | 563 | 208 | 59 | 17 | 76 | |
Of the 208 houses remaining overcrowded at 31.12.46, 152 were
owned by the L.C.C., 25 by the Carshalton Urban District Council and
31 privately owned.
Overcrowding is still our chief health problem and its extent is
greater than the number of cases coming to our official notice indicates.
It is ten years since the official housing survey to ascertain the
degree of overcrowding was carried out under the Housing Act, 1935,
and it is of interest to compare the position then and now. The
population in 1936 and 1946 at 60,000 approximately was practically
the same. The number of dwellings in 1936 was 15,207 ; in 1946
16,046. Although there were rather more houses after ten years for the
same population the number of outstanding applications for Council
tenancies rose from 337 in 1936 to 1,547 at the end of 1946. There
are two factors which go a long way to explain the apparent anomaly.
In 1936 there were opportunities for securing additional tenancies
other than through the Council's scheme, whereas in 1946 the only
reasonable prospect of so doing was by way of application to the Council's
housing scheme. The second is peculiar to Carshalton. In the year
1936 the district had just completed a very rapid and considerable
expansion, chiefly as the result of the St. Helier Estate. The effect
of this was a marked lowering of the average age of population and a
much higher proportion of the 5—15 year age groups. In pre St.
Helier days, these groups formed 11% of the total population of the
district, but in 1939 at the National Registration they formed 21%
of the total and it is probable that the percentage was as high in 1936
after the completion of the St. Helier Estate as it was in 1939. By
1946 these groups were aged 15—25 years and these are the marriageable
groups which create the need for additional homes.
There was more than one family in occupation in 146 of the 196
new cases of overcrowding, which came to notice during the year, 2
families in 102 instances, 3 families in 43 and 4 families in 1.
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