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53
is one of 2.3 persons per room, and is an overcrowded one by the
terms of this definition. This definition takes no account of the
size of the rooms and has no validity in law.
2. Houses let in lodgings.—For houses let in lodgings,
and entered, as such by act of the Borough Council in the official
Register of Houses let in Lodgings, the standard of overcrowding
is a numerical one, and depends upon the available cubic capacity
and use of the inhabited room or rooms.
In registered houses let in lodgings, if a room is used for
living or sleeping only, it must provide at least 300 cubic feet of
free air space for each adult occupying it. If used for living
and sleeping, there must be provided at least 400 cubic feet of
free air space for each adult. Children ten years of age and under
must have half these amounts of free air space in each case. It
must be noted that these standards do not apply to every house
in Finsbury which is occupied by members of more than one
family. They apply exclusively to those houses let in lodgings
which are on the official register—to these and to these only.
3. Ordinary dwelling houses, not registered as "Houses let
in lodgings," and occupied by one family or by many families.
In order to sustain successfully in law a case of overcrowding in
these houses it is necessary to prove that the overcrowding is
injurious or dangerous to the health of the inmates. As a general
rule this is a very difficult thing to do—often it is impossble.
The courses then open are:—
(a) To ask the magistrate in assessing the overcrowding to
apply to the house or tenement the numerical standards
given above in (2). Magistrates are very reluctant to
take this course—a course which will certainly render
the judgment null on appeal.
(b) For the Borough Council to register the impugned house
as a house let in lodgings, provided it is occupied by two
or more families.