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In Acton, 16,942 dwellings were inspected, and this number
represents over 80 per cent. of the total houses in the district.
The definition of "room" in Section 12 takes account of
the custom of the locality. In those areas where it is customary
to use a large kitchen for living purposes, that kitchen would be
counted as a room; in those areas where it is customary to have
a small kitchen, not usually used for living purposes, that kitchen
would not be counted as a room. It is probable that even in areas
where customs and conditions are comparable, the decisions of the
local authorities as to what constitutes a room are not completely
uniform.
In Acton, the two forms of kitchen are met with ; the more
numerous is that type in which there is a small scullery used for
cooking purposes. In our survey the scullery was net reckoned
as a room.
In many instances, especially in the larger houses, one of
the rooms has been converted into a kitchen, and though used for
all purposes, it was, of course, reckoned as a room.
Local authorities also varied in the way they have tabluated
the less usual forms of occupation. For example, one house may
be occupied by two unrelated families who may have separate bedrooms
but share equally all the other accommodation. Some
authorities classified this as two families, dividing the accommodation
between each according to circumstances ; other authorities
treated this as one family with lodgers.
This variation of standard also accounts for the difference
in the number of one-roomed, two-roomed, &c., tenements obtained
in the survey, as compared with the number of the several roomed
tenements or families in the census report. The rule followed here
was to reckon a lodger, if he occupied a furnished room, or obtained
his meals with the family, as part of the family, and included in the
tenement occupied by the family. If, on the other hand, the lodger
Occupied an unfurnished room and obtained his meals outside,
or Cooked his own meals, the lodger's room or rooms were reckoned
as a separate occupation.
There are 1,536 housing authorities in England and Wales
from whom returns should have been received. When the Report
on the Overcrowding Survey was published in July 1936, 1,472
authorities had submitted returns in a form which enabled them
to be included in the summary tables for the whole country. The