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120
It is interesting to note that in order to simplify the comparison
suggested by the density of distribution, and to obtain an index
of the aggregate effect of the intercensal variation, the 1911 ratios
have been applied to the families of various sizes returned in 1921
for London, with a view to ascertaining the number of rooms which
would have been required in 1921 according to the 1911 ratios,
the comparisons, as before, being limited to families living in one
to nine rooms only.
The result is, that for the number of families of different sizes
returned in 1921, 3,754,500 rooms would have been required to
maintain the London 1911 ratios for families of these respective
sizes. This number exceeds the actual number of rooms returned
in 1921 (3,696,142) by 58,400 representing 1.6 per cent, on the
latter figure.
The conclusions to be drawn from an analysis of the housing
conditions in Battersea from the data supplied in the recent census
returns and from the results of a survey of a large number of houses
in the Borough, are:—
1. That, taking the Borough, as a whole, the conditions as to
housing are fairly comparable to the average of those for
the County of London.
2. That it is difficult to make a comparison as regards housing
conditions in the Borough with other individual Metropolitan
Boroughs.
3. That in the lower wards of the Borough there is ample
evidence of housing insufficiency, giving rise in certain
areas to serious congestion and overcrowding.
4. That, although in Battersea, as elsewhere, there has been a
marked decrease in the size of families during the intercensal
period, leading to an improvement in the unit of
accommodation, this improvement has only effected the
small family group of one or two persons. Thus, as the
census report shows, although, as compared with 1911,
more of the population is now grouped in the smaller
families housed at a density, e.g., of over one room per
person, and less in the larger families housed below that
standard, the redistribution has been accompanied by a
lowering of the 1911 density standards for families of
every size save those of one or two persons.
Finally, it is only necessary to point to the statement in the
report as to the inferior character of housing in London as compared
with that of other large towns or of England and Wales as a whole
to show that the housing conditions in certain areas of Battersea
are little better than the worst in some of the Eastern Boroughs.
The survey prepared by the Council in 1919 and submitted to the
Ministry of Health, inter alia, estimated the housing insufficiency
in the Borough at 500 houses. The results of the census returns