The Post-War Housing Boom}
Often described in the post WWII years as `the housing shortage’, the nationwide effort to address a very troubling problem has in time come to be called `the housing boom’. Undoubtedly it was a boom in demand and activity. There was also a notable increase in house ownership, achieved in many cases through dogged individual effort and years of sacrifice.
Changing social conditions offered new opportunities, but also narrowed the choices. Emphasis in government housing social engineering was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the ownership of affordable houses. At a time when various factors had reduced the amount 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 building costs were the introduction in 1948 of the 40-hour week, and marked increases in the cost of building materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building labourer a higher wage than a tradesperson had received in early 1946.
To keep both labourer and tradie rationally 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 building and a blow out in construction 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 wages to ensure a reasonable output.
Unexpected costs could happen when, for example, timber flooring was suddenly unobtainable, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported timber for flooring.
With local cement taking forever to turn up, a delivery from across the border 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 home to 1200 square feet (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 economy.
The economical plan was necessary; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and generous porches were deleted, reducing the shade at the front entrance 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 a mandated state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.
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