London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Lewisham 1962
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Lewisham Borough]
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Dwellings by tenure
Of the total of 73,421 "household spaces" the distribution was as follows:
| Number | Percentage | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Lew. | All Lond. | ||
| Owner-occupied | 28,754 | 340 | 15 6 |
| Held by virtue of employment | 1,242 | 1.6 | 2.7 |
| Rented together with business premises | 468 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| Rented from a Local Authority | 18,763 | 25.6 | 21.2 |
| Rented unfurnished from a private | |||
| person or company | 21,889 | 31 -9 | 460 |
| Rented furnished from a private person or company | 2,305 | 6.2 | 13. 8 |
Lewisham thus has more than double the average of owneroccupiers,
slightly more than the average of houses rented from local
authorities, and less than half the average of houses rented furnished,
compared with London as a whole.
Private households in relation to size, rooms occupied and density of
occupation
Of the 72,922 occupying households (of the total 73,935 households) the distribution of private households by numbers of persons per room was as under :
| Persons per room | Numbers | Percentages | Those sharing (numbers) | Those sharing and not having exclusive use of both stove and sink (numbers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Over 1½ | 2,315 | 3.2 | 564 | 405 |
| 1 to 1½ | 6,699 | 9.2 | 1,096 | 214 |
| 1 | 13,965 | 19.2 | 2,981 | 1,108 |
| ¾to1 | 10,032 | 13.8 | 1,154 | 85 |
| ½to¾ | 23,880 | 32.7 | 4,857 | 613 |
| under ½ | 16,031 | 22.0 | 2,240 | 296 |
Private households according to possession of certain household
arrangements
Of the 72,922 households 40 were entirely without a piped cold
water supply, and 2,567 shared a piped cold water supply with other
households. 15,270 households were entirely without a piped hot water
supply and a further 3,337 shared a piped hot water supply with other
households. 8,574 households were without a fixed bath (compared
with 13,245 ten years previously) and 11,269 (compared with 14,966
ten years previously) shared a fixed bath with other households. 205*
households were entirely without a water-closet (compared with 52
ten years previously) and 10,673 (compared with 14,807 ten years previously)
shared a water-closet with other households.
* The increase in this figure, compared with 10 years ago, seems
almost confined to "households and single household dwellings" of
which there were 16 in 1951 and 139 in 1961, thus accounting for 123 of
the increase of 153.