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It will be seen from the above that the number of
persons living under overcrowded conditions, i.e., more
than two to a room has increased from 10.9 per cent, of
the population in 1901 to 13.6 per cent, in 1911. In all
but eight London boroughs there is a similar increase in
the proportions of the population living more than two
in a room, and as suggested by the Registrar-General,
it may be partly accounted for by the limitation of the
inquiry in 1891 and 1901 to tenements of less than
five rooms, and the absence of any definition of the word
"room" having led to some amount of understatement
in these years of the families occupying tenements of
four rooms or less, and also to a tendency to stretch
the term room to cover a scullery, a lobby, closet, or
any other more or less distinct space within a building.
This is rendered more probable by the fact that the