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89
From the foregoing it will be seen that Shoreditch is seriously overcrowded both
as regards the number of buildings it contains and the number of persons housed
therein.
A large proportion of the dwellings are old and dilapidated, and though originally
designed as the houses of single families are now inhabited by two families or more
without having been adapted for this purpose.
Of the families living under these conditions, it may safely be said that a great
number would not continue to do so if both the extra rent for better accommodation,
and the cost of travelling between the areas in which this is available and their
workplace, could be afforded.
In a word, the housing difficulty in this Borough is due not to a lack of houses, of
which there are already too many, but to the fact that owing to a complex variety of
circumstances, too many people are compelled to live in this small area.
For many years the population of Shoreditch has been decreasing; this tendency
being due to the replacement of dwelling houses by business premises in the
neighbourhood of the City, and to the improved facilities for travel which make it
possible for those who can so afford to live in less crowded areas.
But for the war and subsequent legislation, the effect of industrial and economic
causes would undoubtedly have been to accelerate the demolition of dwelling houses,
and the industrialisation of the area. The Rent Restriction Acts, however, have
checked this tendency.
In considering changes in the population to be anticipated in the future, it would
appear certain that industrialisation, and consequent fall in population, will continue,
but how quickly or slowly this inevitable change will occur must depend to a great
extent upon future legislation as affecting the security of the tenant.
I have to thank Mr. Bean, the Council's Valuation Officer, for the following note
showing the relative numbers of dwelling houses and business premises in the Borough
at the present time:—
"Of the 17,195 separately rated hereditaments appearing in the rate book,
14,183 are occupied as dwelling houses, or are rateable as such, and 3,012 are
occupied solely for business premises."
The number of separately rated hereditaments per acre in the Borough is 26.
Overcrowding.—There are a great many houses in which there are two or more
persons per room, and in which persons of the opposite sex over twelve years of age
are obliged to occupy the same sleeping apartment, although not living together as
husband and wife.
Owing to the generally overcrowded state of the Borough and the very great
difficulty experienced by poor persons in finding alternative accommodation, it has
not been practicable to apply a uniform standard of overcrowding to all cases. The
attention of the Health Committee has, however, been directed to houses in which