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94
IV. Shops 2,144
V. Others, including shops, factories, workshops,
wash-houses, public institutions, places of
worship, amusements, &c., housing 2,778
persons 117
27,714
The number of unoccupied dwellings on the night of the
Census was 523, containing 2,863 rooms.
Size of dwellings.—Slightly more than half the total dwellings
(15,297) contain six to eight rooms, 8,648 four to five rooms, 1,931
one to three rooms, and 1,740 have nine or more rooms.
Size of families.—The average size of families is shown as
3.82 in 1921, as compared with 4.17 in 1911, the corresponding
figures for the County of London being 3.79 and 4.15 respectively.
The total number of private families is 42,988.
The return of dwellings occupied by private families in
Battersea shows that there are 11,385 (about 25 per cent.) families
living in three rooms, 9,958 (22.3 per cent.) living in four rooms,
(approximately half the total private families occupying three to
four rooms). Twenty-five per cent. of the families occupy one
or two rooms and the remaining 25 per cent. occupy five or more
rooms. The Census returns further show that there has been a
marked increase during the decade in the number of families
occupying less than five rooms each. In 1911, 70.4 per cent. of
families were living in less than five rooms each, while in 1921 the
number of families occupying four rooms or less was 75.3 per
cent. of the total families.
The average density in Battersea as measured by the number
of rooms per person is 0.96 and is exactly equal to that of the
average for the County of London. The density varies as might
be expected in the different Wards, ranging from .73 in Winstanley
Ward to 1.4 in Broomwood. Following Winstanley, Nine Elms
Ward shows next highest density (.78) and then in decreasing
ratio, Church (.82), Park (.88), Latchmere (.90), Shaftesbury
(.97), St. John (1.10), and Bolingbroke Ward (1.20).
An examination of the figures extracted from the Census
returns, shews that in relation to the Borough as a whole, the
figures do not appear to suggest that actual overcrowding is prevalent.
The Registrar-General in his report points out, however,
that, although there has been a marked decrease in the size of
families during the intercensal period 1911-1921, leading to an
improvement in the unit of accommodation, this improvement has
only affected the small family group of one or two persons, and
that a deterioration has taken place for all other sizes of families
including the larger families whose density was already approaching
the region of overcrowding.