View report page

In 1897, the houses in Notting Dale where unfurnished as well as furnished rooms were let
constituted only 14 per cent, of the total "furnished" lodging houses, as compared with 37 per
cent, in 1912, so that on these figures there is a suggestion that an altered demand may be gradually
leading to the conversion of furnished into unfurnished tenements, unless the drop in the proportion
of the furnished tenements took place at one time, and was due to the completion of the Central
London Tube Railway and the exodus from Notting Dale of the men who had been employed in
its construction.
Reference to the Table in the Appendix will show that out of these 187 houses, 39 are let
by landlords who are also the keepers of common lodging houses. Mr. Hankins lets furnished
rooms in 11 houses in Crescent Street, which adjoin his common lodging houses in the same
street. Mr. Rusha lets furnished rooms in 13 houses in Crescent Street and Bangor Street, where
he is also the keeper of common lodging houses. Mr. Madden lets 10 houses in furnished rooms
in Blechynden Street, Portland Road and the Treverton Street districts at a distance of more than
half a mile from his common lodging house in the Kensal Road. Mr. Reynolds lets furnished
rooms in four houses which adjoin his common lodging house in Bangor Street, and furnished
rooms are also let at No. 9, by Mr. Nagle, the keeper of the common lodging house at Nos. 5
and 7 in the same street. If the superintendent of Dr. Barnardo's Home in Penzance Place be
excluded there are 7 keepers of common lodging houses in the Borough, of whom two only do not
let furnished rooms. The number of persons who keep more than five houses for the purpose
of letting furnished lodgings, without also keeping common lodging houses, only amount to six,
and these six persons between them let furnished rooms in 44 houses. The trade in furnished
rooms in the case of 83 houses, or close on half the total number is accordingly in the hands of
11 persons, of whom five also keep common lodging houses. The remaining 105 houses are
distributed amongst no less that 45 keepers in a small way of business as compared with the other
eleven who constitute the backbone of the furnished room system in Kensington. The common
lodging houses no doubt serve as feeders to the furnished rooms which are let by the same
keepers, but the figures show that without the trouble of keeping a licensed lodging house to serve
as the starting point of operations, anyone who understands the business can still find tenants for
the furnished rooms in ten or more bouses and enjoy profits which are commonly believed to be
substantial.