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67
SECTION V.—HOUSING.
General Housing Conditions. In all the three parishes of
the Borough the large majority of the houses are occupied
by the working classes. 89 per cent, of the dwellings are
structurally undivided private houses, 4 per cent, are flats,
maisonettes, tenements, etc., and 7 per cent, are attached to
shops, warehouses, offices, etc. Most of the houses contain
four to six rooms and over 63 per cent, of the population live
in houses of this capacity. The houses in the Borough are
situated in roads or streets, but there are a few in courts and
alleys in the old parts of the Borough. There are no backto-back
houses. During the war period the Government
erected 1,298 houses of the garden city type in Eltham and
1,885 hutments in East Plumstead and Eltham.
Shortage of Houses. There is a very serious shortage in
the number of houses in the Borough. During the years
1901-1910, 453 new houses were built annually ; in the period
1911-1920, 533 were built annually, and in the last five years
the numbers have been as follows:—202, 138, 172, 230 and
324, giving a yearly average of 213. Empty houses have
been unknown in the Borough since the early days of the
war. Woolwich is one of the peripheral London Boroughs
and London's central population is always moving outwards.
As a result of the operation of these factors one would expect
to find the population of this Borough had less house room.
A comparative study of the Census returns of 1911 and 1921
shows that in 1921, 141 per cent, of Woolwich families were
living in two rooms, whereas in 1911 only 9.7 per cent, were
so living. We find evidence also that 17.9 per cent, of Woolwich
families in 1921 had available dwelling space of six or
more rooms, whereas in 1911 25T per cent, had this accommodation.
The number of persons living more than two per