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The proportion of tenements with less than five rooms averages
65.9 per cent. of the total number of tenements in the County of
London. It is lowest in Lewisham (30.9), and highest in Finsbury
(85.1). The proportion of single room tenements (which averaged
14.7 per cent. in all London), ranges from 3.5 per cent. in
Lewisham to 26.4 in Finsbury and 27.0 in Holborn. Hence,
Finsbury is characterised more than any other Borough in London
by tenement dwellings of less than five rooms.
When we turn to the inhabitants of these tenements, we find
that as many as 77.4 per cent. of the whole population of the
Borough live in tenements of less than five rooms; 14,516 persons
live in single room homes (i.e., 14.3 per cent. of the entire
population); 31,482 persons live in two-room tenements (i.e., 31.2
per cent.); 21,280 persons live in three-room tenements (or 20.9 per
cent.), and 11,168 live in four-room tenements (or 11.0 per cent.).
These figures are of grave import, and bear an intimate relationship
to the health of the community.
During the year a large number of complaints of alleged
"overcrowding" have been made to this Department, and each
of these has received careful investigation. Most of such
complaints proved to be unfounded or grossly exaggerated.
In 138 cases however, overcrowding has been abated. 1 his
figure does not include 98 cases of overcrowding in registered
houses.