View report page

52
Population in relation to Housing.
The following facts obtained from the census figures of 1931 are
interesting in their relation to the housing problem of Camberwell.
The living population of this Borough enumerated as at midnight,
April 26th-27th, 1931, numbered 251,294—males 118,627,
females 132,667, as compared with 267,198 at the enumeration
which took place at midnight June 19th-20th, 1921, a decrease of
15,904 persons.
The number of dwellings occupied was 42,114, as compared with
41,419 at the census enumeration in 1921, an increase of 1.7 percent.
Concurrently with this increase, the number of private families has
grown by 3.5 per cent., from 66,104 in 1921, to 68,435 in 1931.
An analysis of the returns shows that 23.3 per cent. of the total of
private families belong to the category of two persons per family,
23.0 per cent. to three persons per family, 17.7 per cent. to four
persons per family; these three categories thus accounting for
64 per cent. of the whole.
Families of 8 persons or more only account for 4 per cent. of
the total.
For census purposes a single lodger boarding separately from
the occupier is regarded as a separate family.
The 1921 census showed that there was a population in private
families of 259,591, occupying 248,529 rooms, or 1.04 persons per
room, and at the last census it was shown that 242,604 persons
occupied 253,360 rooms, or 0.96 persons per room.
A ratio of two or more persons to a room has been taken by the
census authorities as a standard of overcrowding. This is of course
an entirely arbitrary standard.
The following figures provide definite evidence of improvement
in the housing conditions of Camberwell. although it should not
be overlooked that families housed at, or above, a density ratio
of two persons per room are not necessarily overcrowded:—
Camberwell.
London.
1931.
1921.
1931.
1921.
No. of private families with density of
more than two persons per room
4,029
5,149
89,600
110,495
Percentage to total private families
5.9
7.8
7.5
9.9
Population in such families
25,331
33,321
541,352
683,498
Percentage to total private family
population
10.4
12.8
13.1
16.1
Factories, Workshops and Workplaces.
Particulars of the number of factories, workshops and workplaces
showing the nature of the business carried on at these