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Although the population for Willesden as a whole has decreased, there has been an increase in Church
End, Mapesbury and Harlesden, whereas the four best wards have shown reductions in population, which
have been more marked in Kensal Rise and Roundwood. (See Table 2, columns D and E.)
The increase in the number of houses and flats between 1936 and 1948 is largely offset by the number
of dwellings destroyed by bombing. In addition, many houses have been requisitioned for bombed-out families
and have become overcrowded as a result of increases in the family. (See Table 3.)
The families who are probably the most overcrowded are those who live in a single room. In Mapesbury,
where the largest number (347) of families have been placed in requisitioned houses, 10 per cent of the families
in the ward occupy a single room, as compared with 4 per cent for the Borough as a whole. (See page 27,
Social Survey Report.) Mapesbury also has more subdivided houses than any other ward. (See page 86,
Social Survey Report, Appendix II, Table 1.)
There is also a concentration of families occupying a single room in Harlesden and Manor. (See page 27,
Social Survey Report.)
Willesden Green has particularly suffered because many small industries have commenced there since
the war in accommodation usually reserved for living purposes. These industrial premises in converted houses
have not only reduced the amount of living accommodation, but have also introduced new dangers to health
because they are often insanitary. It is significant that whereas an average of 51 per cent of the Willesden
residents work within their own district, 66= per cent of the population of Willesden Green work in that area.
It is difficult to estimate the general effect of industry on the T.B. rates in Willesden because 40 per cent of the
residents work outside the Willesden area and many outside residents travel to work into the area.
Other general factors which must have affected the tuberculosis rate are: the premature discharge of
infectious tuberculosis cases from sanatoria and hospitals at the beginning of the war, and the fact that today
there is a shortage of sanatorium beds, which means there is often a delay of six months between the diagnosis
and admission to sanatorium for treatment. During this period many of the infective cases come in contact
with susceptible persons because of the overcrowded conditions in the homes.
A study of the changes in the T.B. rates at different ages shows some interesting features. With the single
exception of the age group 65+ (males), there is a marked rise between 1936-38 and 1946-48 in the number
of new cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, which was particularly marked in the age group 0-15 (numbers nearly
doubled) and 15-35 for males (increase 26 per cent). This may very well be due to the persons in these age
groups being particularly susceptible to tuberculosis infection in conditions of overcrowding in the home. By
contrast, there has been a fall in the number of new cases of non-pulmonary tuberculosis in all groups, with the
exception of 35-65 (females) and 65+ (both sexes).