London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1935

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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44
For the purpose of determining the " equivalent number " of persons in a family, a child under
one year of age is not counted and a child between the ages of one year and ten years counts as
half a person. Only rooms normally used in the locality for sleeping or living purposes are counted
as rooms ; thus, sculleries, bathrooms, etc., are not taken into account in determining the permitted
number of persons.
The table gives a picture of the housing conditions (so far as density is concerned) of the families
enumerated in Kensington at the time the survey was taken. The thick black diagonal line in the
table separates the overcrowded families from those not overcrowded. The families recorded on
the left of the diagonal line are all overcrowded, and the worst cases of overcrowding are those
farthest from the line. The families recorded to the right of the line are families not overcrowded,
and those near the diagonal line are those whose accommodation is being used to the full extent
without being actually overcrowded.
The 1931 census revealed that there were in the borough 47,715 private families of all classes,
but many of these are provided with ample accommodation, and during the survey it was found
necessary to investigate the conditions of only 24,296 families in order to obtain particulars of all
actual and suspected cases of overcrowding. It is seen that 2,529 families are living under overcrowded
conditions.

The following table gives a summary of the survey for each ward :—

Ward.Total families investigated.Families overcrowded.Families not overcrowded.
North Kensington—
St. Charles8,3478287,519
Norland4,0435463,497
Golborne5,0997664,333
Pembridge2,2812022,079
South Kensington— Holland1,110451,065
Earl's Court1,084421,042
Queen's Gate2457238
Brompton1959186
Redcliffe1,892841,808
24,2962,52921,767

There were 2,342 overcrowded families out of a total of 19,770 surveyed in North Kensington,
and 187 cases out of a total of 4,526 families in South Kensington.

The tollowing table gives tne extent ot overcrowding in each metropolitan Dorougn in relation to overcrowding in London as a whole, and the proportion which the " equivalent number " of persons living in overcrowded conditions bears to the estimated total " equivalent population " in each borough :—

Metropolitan borough.Number of overcrowded families.Number of " equivalent persons " overcrowded.Proportion of estimated total " equivalent population " in the borough overcrowded. Per cent.
Battersea1,96810,3717.4
Bermondsey3,16317,04217.8
Bethnal Green3,89420,21921.7
Camberwell2,95015,7047.1
Chelsea7493,6616.6
Deptford1,3176,6047.1
Finsbury2,45812,18720.5
Fulham1,7959,3236.9
Greenwich1,0916,3567.1
Hackney2,65113,6006.9
Hammersmith1,7288,1826.8
Hampstead4492,0632.4
Holborn7003,2269.4
Islington6,75731,94111.2
Kensington2,52911,7867 0
Lambeth3,88119,7987.5
Lewisham1,0576,7283.3
Paddington1,9988,8796.7
Poplar4,08022,38616.8
St. Marylebone1,6197,3648.4
St. Pancras4,46420,71211.8
Shoreditch3,89819,35323.6
Southwark4,09620,47814.0
Stepney7,63238,86419.7
Stoke Newington4622,1934.6
Wandsworth1,80110,3333.2
Westminster1,0835,0304.2
Woolwich6833,6062.7
Total for County of London (i.e., exclusive of the City of London)70,953357,9899.1