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London County Council.
ACCOMMODATION OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN COMMON
LODGING-HOUSES AND SHELTERS IN LONDON.
Report by the medical officer on the subject of the accommodation of women and
children in common lodging-houses and shelters in London, giving statistics as
to the numbers for which there is now accommodation, the character of the
accommodation, and the localities in which the same exists.
(Ordered by the Public Health Committee to be printed, 22nd July, 1897.)
Public Health Department,
Spring Gardens, S.W.,
October, 1897.
This report is based upon an inspection I made in the months of June, July and September
of all the common lodging-houses and shelters in London (excluding those in the city) receiving
women as lodgers.
The intention of the report is to show the class of persons accommodated, the character of the
accommodation provided, and where men are also received into the common lodging-house how far
separate accommodation is provided for the two sexes. It is necessary at the beginning to say, by way
of explanation, that in dealing with this subject I have described as one house, two or more houses in
the same occupation having yard space, kitchen, washhouse, or water-closet accommodation common
to the several houses. Considered in this manner London may be said to have 73 common lodginghouses
receiving women, these houses providing accommodation for 1,505 single women or women
occupying beds for one person only, and 732 women occupying "doubles" or beds provided for
married couples, the houses thus accommodating 2,237 women.* Of these 73 houses very few receive
single women only. There are, in fact, only 18 such houses providing for 801 women, the remaining
55 houses receiving either single men or married couples or both. In 22 houses receiving 352 single
women, single men are also received, and in some of them doubles are also accommodated.
Considering next the accommodation for married couples, it is again found that very few houses
provide for this class only. There are but three such houses, these together receiving 87 married
couples, whereas the total number of houses receiving married couples is 52, accommodating 732
married couples.
Speaking generally, the accommodation provided for women is distinctly inferior to that
provided for men. In much less proportion have the houses they occupy been especially constructed
for use as common lodging-houses, but nearly all were originally designed to accommodate a single
family, and in many the only alteration made is the construction of a washhouse in the yard and of
additional water-closets. But while the accommodation is inferior the charges are usually higher. Not
infrequently when men and women are received into the same house, the women have to pay one penny
per night above the amount paid by the men. Women, I was told by more than one keeper, are less
desirable lodgers than men, and the expenses incidental to the working of a women's lodging-house
are greater than in the case of a men's lodging-house. Hence it is argued a higher charge is necessary
on account of the greater cost of maintenance. The charges for single women's beds range from
4d. to 6d. per night, and the privilege of allowing a regular lodger to have a bed on Sunday night
free is rarely extended to women. The usual charge for a double is 8d., but in some houses where but
few married couples are received, 10d., or even 1s. and 1s. 6d. is charged.
There is often only one kitchen for use in houses occupied by both sexes. In houses
accommodating singles of both sexes and doubles, and in which two kitchens are provided for separate
use, the married men may use the women's kitchen, but the married women do not always use the
single men's. In a number of houses separate water-closet accommodation is provided for the two
sexes, but it is difficult to say to what extent this separate use is maintained in practice. In several
instances, at the instigation of the Council's inspectors, the yard in which the water-closets are Situated
has been sub-divided by wooden partitions, so as to make this separation more complete. But while
separate water-closets are generally regarded as being desirable, the need for separate washhouses is
less recognised; thus, in houses occupied by men and women, both sexes often either share a common
washhouse in the basement or the washhouse which is used by both consists of basins situated
beneath a roof in the yard and is open on three sides. Occasionally a foot bath is provided but no
fixed bath. The need for better common lodging-house accommodation for women is evident.
As a rule the houses are well maintained, the water-closets clean, and provided with water
supply, and the yards well paved; the condition of cleanliness of the houses varies, but as a whole is
* In a very few houses among the cubicles provided for married couples is occasionally a cubicle containing
a single bed which may be used to accommodate either sex, but generally used by women. These are not
included in the above figures.
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