Report on the overcrowding survey in England and Wales, 1936.

Date:
1936
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on the overcrowding survey in England and Wales, 1936. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/186
    The tables in the Appendix relating to houses belonging to housing authorities serve to show not only the overcrowded families but also the way in which those authorities are disposing of all the accommodation which they own. Table CCl, for example, brings out some striking facts. There is a type of house erected b authorities in large numbers throughout the country, namely, the house with kitchen, living room and three bedrooms with a total superficial area of about 760 square feet. According to Section 37 of the Housing Act, 1930, such a house provides adequate accommodation for a working-class family of 5 individuals. The permitted number for such a house on the overcrowding standard would vary from 54 to 7 according to the sizes of the bedrooms. Table CC1 shows that at the time of the survey 2,515 of such houses were occupied by only one person, 337 by only 14 (one adult and one child) and 34,400 by only 2 persons. A similar position is shown in the case of larger houses, with permitted number from 74% to 83, e.g., the three- bedroomed house with a parlour as well as a living room, or a house with one living room and four bedrooms, where the table discloses that 1,930 such houses were occupied by only one person, 256 by 14 persons and 29,103 by two persons. The most common explanation of this state of affairs is that the houses in question have been in the same tenancy for a considerable number of years. When the houses were first let-—perhaps 15 years ago—they were fully occupied, but in course of time normal incidents like marriage and death have re- duced the number of occupants. The existence of these under-occupied houses simplifies the problem of abating overcrowding in municipally-owned houses. Even after proper allowance has been made for cases where undue hardship would be caused by a change of tenancy it is clear that by rearranging some of their tenants amongst the houses at their disposal, housing authorities will be able to get rid of — a substantial proportion of the existing overcrowding in those houses. In order to give a picture of the way in which the housing accommodation provided by local authorities is actually utilised, Table XVI has been drawn up. The table shows the average number of units in a family occupying accommoda- tion of a given type, and gives the relation between this average number and the “ permitted number ”’ for that type. Table XVI Density of occupation in houses owned by housing authorities Dwellings with the permitted number in Column 1. ; Uncrowded. | Overcrowded. « - Most usual type of accommodation Permitted di ed Lem seed Nushabercs corresponding to the permitte ; number in Col. 1. Total Average Average Number. No. of No. of No. eh No. ‘naa 3 units in units in family. family. i 2. 3. 4, 5. 6. oe Upto 2.. | Subtehancy’.. * 7) SE) pais 95721 eye 24 Sub-tenancy or dwelling for aged 30,310 | 26,968 1:96 3,342 4-] 3 couple. 34 Sub-tenancy or dwelling for aged 66,813 | 63,642 2:72 3,171 5-88 4 couple. 2 |_Two-bedroomed non-parlour house. . 67,845 | 61,928 | 3-34 5,917 6-14 | Three-bedroomed non-parlour house | 365,729 | 338,645 3°77 | 27,084 7°49 SID Do bole u ne Three-bedroomed parlour house, or 260,310 | 257,126 | 3-89 3,184 9-] four-bedropmed non-parlour house. bole ee ee he ee ey Oo] tol 9 or over Houses of larger type with 4, 5 or | 74,681 | 74,115] 4:1 566 | 10-29 more bedrooms.