The Post-War Housing Shortage

Sometimes described in the post-war years as `the housing shortage’, the national 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 heroic individual effort and years of sacrifice.

Changing social conditions offered new opportunities, but also reduced the choices. Emphasis in state housing plans was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the ownership of affordable houses. At a time when various factors had cut the availability of rental dwellings, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-operatives were offering a wider range of opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a jump in construction costs.

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

To keep both labourer and tradie economically employed the builder needed a continuous flow of materials which was a rare event 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 salaries to ensure building completion.

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

With locally made cement taking forever to turn up, a truckload 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 value. Cement had risen by almost 20 per cent and terracotta roofing tiles by more than 25 per cent. A gallon of first-grade paint costing around 30s ($3) in 1939 had risen at least 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 design modesty.

The economical plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and generous porches were deleted, reducing the shelter at the front of the house 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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