View report page

the street or on to a common landing or staircase to which visitors have
access, then each such portion is treated as a separate unit.
When an undivided house is used partly for business or professional
purposes it is treated as occupied by a private family unless the portion
used for non-domestic purposes consists of at least three rooms and is
more than one quarter of the whole. The dwellings shown in this
table are those occupied by private families only.
Rooms.—For the purpose of the Census the rooms enumerated are
the usual living rooms, including bedrooms and kitchens, but excluding
sculleries, landings, lobbies, closets, bathrooms or any warehouse, office,
or shop rooms.
In 1920 a return submitted to the Ministry of Health gave
the figure 2,183 as the number of houses to be built if the housing
needs of the Borough were to be met.
The Council in the same year decided to build houses on land
at the Newlands and Casino House grounds, and a scheme for
448 houses was passed. At the end of that year 30 were ready
for occupation. At the end of 1921 this number had increased to
296, and a further 140 were completed by the end of 1922 and the
remainder in 1923.
In 1922 private enterprise, which had not been able since the
War to build economically, began to erect houses, and at the end
of 1925 120 were erected. These houses were built for sale.
Overcrowding
Since the War overcrowding of rooms has been very prevalent,
especially in the northern part of the Borough, and the
Census Returns of 1921 give definite proof of this. Information
of housing accommodation obtained in the investigation of
infectious diseases shows that overcrowding does not diminish to
any extent from year to year. Obviously, it exists more amongst
the unemployed and very poor, and this can readily be understood
owing to their inability to pay for a requisite number of rooms.
A certain amount of overcrowding is also caused by the
desire on the part of many of the inhabitants, for economic
reasons, to live near their work. Camberwell is situated within
reasonable distance from the City and the Docks, and serves as
a dormitory. Further, the natural increase in the population,
i.e., the excess of births over deaths, is another factor to be considered
sidered, and, of course, the tendency for the inhabitants of the
central Boroughs to be pushed further out by the absorption of
houses into factories and workshops, and consequently causing a
continual stream of fresh inhabitants, also aggravates this question.
This problem will, it would seem, remain insoluble until
the overcrowding of London has been dealt with as a whole.
During 1925, 53 complaints relating to overcrowding were received.
ceived. No legal proceedings were taken, however, owing to the
housing difficulties. Nevertheless, in cases where it was found
that it could be eased by re-arranging the sleeping accommodation