The Post-War Housing Shortage
Sometimes described in the post WWII years as `the housing shortage’, the Australian effort to address a very serious issue has over the years come to be called `the housing boom’. Undoubtedly it was a boom in demand and activity. There was also a notable increase in home ownership, achieved in many cases through dogged individual effort and years of sacrifice.
Changing social attitudes offered new opportunities, but also reduced the options. Emphasis in government housing plans was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the sale of low-cost houses. At a time when various influencers had reduced the availability of rental houses, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-ops were offering greater opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a jump in building input costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the passing of legislation for the 40-hour working week, and drastic increases in the cost of building materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building labourer a higher salary than a tradesperson had received in early 1946.
To keep both labourer and tradesman economically employed the builder needed a continuous flow of materials which was a rare occurrence in those times. Lack of skilled workers also meant poor quality building and a blow out in construction time.
Contract prices were loaded with an increasing profit margin as an insurance against unseen problems. Under commonwealth price control, builders were entitled to a 10 per cent `profit’ on the contract price. Above award payments were not recognised in price control and yet builders often found a need to pay above award salaries to ensure building completion.
Unexpected costs could happen when, for example, timber flooring was suddenly unprocurable, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported Baltic flooring.
With locally made cement taking forever to turn up, a truckload from across the border was sometimes purchased at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices hardwood flooring material had, by 1948, increased 100 per cent in value. Cement had risen by almost 20 per cent and clay roofing tiles by more than 25 per cent. A gallon of quality paint costing around 30s ($3) in 1939 had risen some 40 per cent by 1948.
When added to rising costs and shortages of materials the government restrictions, limiting the area of a new home to 12 squares (111.48 square metres) for a timber house and 1250 square feet (116.12 square metres) for a brick house, completed the recipe for an imposed cost-cutting.
The economical plan was necessary; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and wide open porches disappeared, reducing the shelter at the front of the house to the absolute minimum. Ceiling heights had been slowly reduced from the turn of the century and were now typically nine feet (2745 mm). Until the government construction restrictions were lifted in 1952 the acceptance of no-nonsense functionalism was as much an imposed state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.
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