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In the application of these tables account is only to be taken
of rooms which are normally used in the locality either as a living
room or as a bedroom.
In applying Table II each room of the size mentioned is to be
reckoned as capable of accommodating the number set out in the
Table, and the aggregate for all the rooms in the house is ascertained
in this manner. The "permitted number" for the house is the
aggregate number so obtained or the number given by Table I,
whichever is the smaller.
In a Ministry of Health Memorandum it was pointed out that
"this standard does not represent any ideal standard of housing, but
the minimum which is in the view of Parliament tolerable whilst
at the same time capable of immediate or early enforcement."
The survey fell into two stages, the first being a preliminary
enumeration to ascertain the number of persons in each family, the
number of children under 10 years of age, and the number of rooms
occupied. The enumeration, which was made in respect of 31,539
structurally separate houses occupied by 35,182 separate families,
was begun in the autumn, and showed (i) the families which were
overcrowded irrespective of the sizes of the rooms occupied (ii) the
families which were not overcrowded, and (iii) doubtful cases of
overcrowding, i.e., those in which families might be overcrowded
when the sizes as well as the numbers of the rooms occupied were
taken into consideration. The second stage of the survey consisted
of the measurement of the floor area of all the rooms in the houses
in which doubtful cases of overcrowding had been disclosed by the
preliminary enumeration, with a view to determining definitely
whether the families were or were not overcrowded on the standard
laid down in the Act. In this second stage of the survey, the ages
of children under 10 years of age were recorded and particulars of
the numbers of lodgers living with families were obtained.
The method adopted for selecting the doubtful cases of overcrowding
was to fix, in respect of each size of dwelling, an arbitrary