The Post-War Housing Boom}

Often described in the post WWII years as `the housing shortage’, the national effort to address a very serious problem has in time come to be called `the housing boom’. Undoubtedly it was a boom in demand and building. There was also a marked increase in house ownership, achieved in many cases through heroic individual effort and years of sacrifice.

Changing social attitudes offered new opportunities, but also narrowed the choices. Emphasis in state housing social engineering was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the sale of budget houses. At a time when various influencers had cut the amount of rental accommodation, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-ops were offering more opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was at a time of a rise in building input costs.

High on the list of factors linked to rising building costs were the passing of legislation for the 40-hour working week, and drastic increases in the cost of construction materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unskilled building worker a higher wage than a tradie had received in early 1946.

To keep both labourer and tradesman productively employed the builder needed a continuous flow of materials which was a rare event during this period. Lack of skilled workers also meant lower quality work and further loss of time.

Contract prices were loaded with an increasing profit margin as an insurance against unseen contingencies. 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 rates to ensure building completion.

Unexpected costs could happen when, for example, hardwood flooring was suddenly unprocurable, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported Baltic flooring material.

With locally made cement taking forever to turn up, a delivery from interstate was sometimes bought at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices timber flooring material had, by 1948, doubled in price. 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 dwelling to 12 squares (111.48 square metres) for a timber house and 1250 square feet (116.12 square metres) for one in brick, completed the recipe for an imposed cost-cutting.

The economical plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and generous porches disappeared, reducing the shelter at the front entrance to a minimum area. Ceiling heights had been gradually 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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