The 1940′s Housing Shortage
The Post-War Housing Shortage}
Often described in the post-war years as `the housing shortage’, the Australian effort to fix a very troubling issue has over the years come to be called `the housing boom’. Without a doubt 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 conditions offered new opportunities, but also reduced the choices. Emphasis in government housing social engineering was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the sale of affordable dwellings. At a time when various factors had reduced the availability 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 costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the introduction in 1948 of the 40-hour week, and marked increases in the cost of construction materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building worker 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 thing in those times. A shortage 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 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 a reasonable output.
Unexpected costs could arise when, for example, hardwood flooring was suddenly unobtainable, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported flooring.
With local cement taking forever to turn up, a batch from interstate was sometimes bought at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices hardwood flooring had, by 1948, doubled in value. Cement had risen by almost 20 per cent and clay roofing tiles by more than 25 per cent. A gallon of first-grade 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 a brick house, completed the recipe for an imposed austerity.
The economical floor 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 of the house to a minimum area. Ceiling heights had been slowly reduced from the turn of the century and were now usually 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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