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46
1919
sons to the acre, in the North-West Ward 17, in the South-East 63,
and in the South-West Ward 82 persons to the acre..These figures
of course, include open spaces, factories, &c.
Based upon the standard of overcrowding of houses adopted
by the Registrar General, the number of overcrowded dwellings in
the different wards was as follows:—North-East 16, Sttttfch-West,
30, South-East 40, South-West 157.
It is very difficult to formulate a standard for overcrowding
of rooms. A Royal Commission laid down as the standard for
soldiers in barracks in peace time 60 square feet of floor space per
man, and 600 cubic feet of air space. This floor space is reduced to
40 square feet in war time. Another standard of overcrowding
often used is that contained in the bye-laws regulating houses let
in lodgings. It is usually 500 cubic feet per adult and 250 cubic
feet per child under 10 years of age.
These standards are excellent and are not vitiated by such
errors as the varying size of rooms, &c. But they are impossible
of adoption unless a house-to-house inspection be made of every
house in the district. The standard of overcrowding adopted by
the Registrar General has been in existence and adopted for many
years. Under this standard it is assumed that a house is overcrowded,
if occupied on an average by more than two persons per
inhabited room. It is a standard easy of adoption, and in the
main is as useful as well as a fairly accurate one. It is open to the
criticism that it does not take into consideration the size of the
rooms or the use made of them.
Adopting this standard, at the end of 1918, it was found that
238 houses were overcrowded in Acton and it may be interesting to
give the streets in which overcrowding occurred, together with the
number of houses overcrowded. The figures were as follows:—
Acton Lane 9
Avenue Road 1
Beaconsfield Road 1
Berrymead Gardens 3
Berrymead Road 3
Bollo Bridge Road 11
Bollo Lane 9
Bridgman Road 4
Burlington Mews 2
Church Path 2
Mill Hill Road 1
Mill Hill Grove 2
Mill Hill Terrace 2
Mills Row 1
Meon Road 1
Midland Terrace 1
Old Oak Lane 3
Orchard Place 1
Oldhams Terrace 1
Osborne Road 7