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be utilised as a basis for the consideration of housing conditions in
any given area. The actual unit of distribution is neither the person
on the one side nor the room on the other, since in practice it is
always a group of persons, classified in the census as a "private
family," who share in common a group of rooms here denominated
the "unit of occupation." Hence the ratio of rooms to persons,
while forming a simple basis of comparison, is incomplete as a
measure of conditions relating not to the individual, but to the
family as a composite whole; and it is to the movements in the
size and accommodation of families that attention must be directed
for a more definite knowledge of the changes in the standards of
housing.
The inferior condition of housing in London, as compared with
other large towns or of England and Wales as a whole, is shown by
a table (VI.) giving the average number of rooms per person for
each size of family. The position in the towns in 1911 was generally
slightly worse than that of the whole country; but in the case
of London in 1911 the densities stood at a lower level for the smaller
families, while the comparison was noticeably unfavourable to the
county for all families of 10 persons or less.
The columns in the table showing the densities in London for
1911 and 1921 provide some expression of the changes in housing
conditions in the county during the past decade. It is shown that
it is only in families numbering one or two persons, where the density
was already lowest, that an improvement has been recorded, while
a deterioration has taken place for all other sizes of families, including
the larger families whose density was already approaching
the region of overcrowding.
Dealing with housing in the Metropolitan Boroughs, the
report shows that with regard to external characteristics, the
most diverse types of distribution are found in the City and
in Woolwich respectively. In the latter 89 per cent, of the
dwellings are private houses, while in the former 67 per cent,
are attached to, or form part of, business premises. Flats,
tenements, etc., predominate in Holborn (61 per cen.)
Westminster (43 per cent.), and St. Marylebone (44 per cent )
They are also numerous in Finsbury (42 per cent.), Southwark
(40 per cent.), and Chelsea (39 per cent.). In respect of room
accommodation Hampstead claims the first place with a general
average of 7.96 rooms per dwelling, while immediately following
are Paddington (7.53), Kensington (7.09), Stoke Newington (6.73),
and St. Pancras (6.57). At the other end of the scale the City
stands lowest (3.70), followed by Holborn (4.35), and the Eastern
Boroughs—Bethnal Green (4.49), Southwark (4.52), Finsbury
(4.67), Bermondsey (4.80), and Shoreditch (4.82).
Measured in terms of families per dwelling, housing pressure
might appear to be greatest in St. Pancras, where there are on an
average 2-3 families to each dwelling, and where only 17.6 per