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
City of Westminster 1922
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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the reduction in persons in non.private families. Hospitals and nursing
homes show an increase from 1,745 to 1,853, but^there is a loss of
424 by the closing of Poland Street Workhouse and of 406 in military
barracks and hospitals; 10,865 persons, including staffs, were living
in 120 hotels, compared with 10,216 in 1911, but this latter figure
included also persons living in Inns and public.houses, which are now
classed as shops, so that the increase in the hotel population is greater
than that shown. Had the 5,000 persons occupying the smaller dwellings
who were absent on census night been at home, instead of a decrease
there would have been an increase in their population; the decrease in
the larger dwellings also would not have been so great. At the foot
of Table II it is shown that the number of families occupying dwellings
of less than 5 rooms was 76.6 per cent, of the total compared with
72.5 in 1911, while there is a decrease in the number of families in
the larger houses from 27.5 to 23.4, which indicates that the larger
houses are being given up or have been converted into flats and their
stables and garages into dwellings. Probably this has had some effect
in reducing the average number of occupants per room, as shown in this
comparative statement:—
Tenements.
1891.
1901.
1911.
1921.
1 room 2.9 1.8 1.6 1.4
2 rooms 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3
3 rooms 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1
4 rooms 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.9
He has worked out a number of interesting statistics for each metropolitan borough from which the following are abstracted:—
| Percentage of structurally separate Dwellings. | Westminster. | London. | Range of variation in London boroughs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum. | Minimum. | |||
| Undivided private houses | 34 | 68 | 89 | 10 |
| Maisonettes, flats, tenements, etc. | 48 | 21 | 61 | 4 |
| Attached to shops, etc | 18 | 11 | 67 | 7 |
| Rooms per dwelling | 6.09 | 5.85 | 7.96 | 3.7 |
| Families per dwelling | 1.44 | 1.60 | 2.30 | 1.09 |
| Persons per family, 1921 | 3.31 | 3.79 | 4.26 | 3.12 |
| Persons per family, 1911 | 3.71 | 4.15 | 4.66 | 3.56 |
| Rooms per person, all private families | 1.23 | 0.96 | 1.41 | 0.65 |
| Increase or decrease in dwellings, 1911-21 | – 2,903 | + 27,738 | – | – |
| Per cent. | – 10.7 | + 4.1 | +21.8 | –14.6 |
| Increase or decrease in private families | – 795 | + 96,946 | –— | – |
| Per cent. | – 2.3 | + 9.5 | +27.9 | –15.7 |
| Surplus or deficiency of rooms in 1921— On basis of County of London standard 1911 | – 1,525 | – 58,441 | ||
| Percentage | – 1.6 | – 1.6 | +30.6 | –27.6 |