The 1940’s Housing Shortage
Often described in the post-war years as `the housing shortage’, the national effort to address a very troubling problem has over the years 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 dogged individual effort and years of sacrifice.
Changing social conditions offered new opportunities, but also narrowed the options. Emphasis in government housing schemes was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the ownership of low-cost dwellings. At a time when various factors had cut the availability of rental accommodation, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-ops were offering greater opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a rise in construction input costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising construction costs were the passing of legislation for the 40-hour working week, and steep increases in the cost of building materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unskilled 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 thing in those times. Lack of skilled workers also meant lower quality construction 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 wages to ensure a reasonable output.
Unexpected costs could happen when, for example, hardwood flooring was suddenly out of stock, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported timber for flooring.
With locally made cement taking forever to turn up, a truckload from interstate was sometimes contracted at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices timber flooring had, by 1948, increased 100 per cent in price. Cement had risen by almost 20 per cent and terracotta roofing tiles by more than 25 per cent. A gallon of quality paint costing around 30s ($3) in 1939 had risen by 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 cost-cutting.
The economical plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and wide open porches were deleted, reducing the shelter at the front entrance to a minimum area. 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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