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of houses or flats of parlour, living room, scullery and three bedrooms
Most of the former had accommodation for 6 units, but in a few
instances, they had sufficient accommodation for the maximum of
7½ units allowed in a four-roomed letting. Most of the parlour type
houses had accommodation for 8 units, but in some there was accommodation
for 9½ and 10 units.
From form " C " it will be seen that 179 of the Council houses
had accommodation for 6 units, and 173 had accommodation for
8 units. An examination of form " C " also shows that with one
exception overcrowding in the Council houses could be entirely
obviated. It is not, of course, suggested that this re-arrangement
is in many cases practicable, as the rents of the parlour-type house
vary from 19s. l0d. to 23s. 7d. per week, and it is a platitude to say
that the larger the family the less able are they to afford the higher
rents.
Another reason for the relatively greater incidence of overcrowding
in Council houses is the fact that most housing authorities
have endeavoured to carry out their duty to deal with the worst
housing conditions, and to give preference to large families unsuitably
housed. Probably it would be true to say that the highest
incidence of overcrowding in Council houses would be found in those
districts which paid most attention to this aspect of their duty
In one area the percentage of overcrowded families in Council housewas
48.4 but the total number of houses owned by this authority .
was insignificant, and too serious attention need not be paid to
it, but even in houses owned by the London County Council the
percentage of families overcrowded was 10.5. It has been pointed
out that in housing schemes promoted by many Councils, the removal '
of overcrowding is not always the primary consideration. Even
housing Committees look askance at large families, and enquiries
are naturally made into the history of applicants, their ability to
pay the rent, and the conditions in which their houses are kept.
There may be good and sound reasons for this procedure, but it results
in an outlook which differs from that of a public health committee,
and the problem of overcrowding is relegated to the background
In spite of this, housing authorities have taken as tenants the
families with young children, that is, families growing in age and
numbers who in course of time outgrow the accommodation
available. The usual result of this procedure is to increase tIrrelative
incidence of overcrowding in Council houses, but occasionally
it has an entirely different effect. Table " C " brings out this latter