The 1940’s Housing Shortage
Sometimes described in the post WWII years as `the housing shortage’, the nationwide effort to fix a very serious problem has over the years come to be called `the housing boom’. Without a doubt it was a boom in demand and building. There was also a notable increase in home ownership, achieved in many cases through heroic individual effort and years of sacrifice.
Changing social attitudes offered new opportunities, but also narrowed the options. Emphasis in government housing plans was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the ownership of budget housing. At a time when various influencers had reduced the availability of rental homes, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-operatives were offering more opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a rise in building costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the passing of legislation for the 40-hour week, and steep increases in the cost of building materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unskilled 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 in those times. A shortage of skilled workers also meant poor quality construction and further loss of 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 building completion.
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 Baltic flooring material.
With local cement taking forever to turn up, a delivery from interstate was sometimes contracted at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices hardwood flooring material 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 first-grade 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 economy.
The economical plan was necessary; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and generous porches disappeared, reducing the shade 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 a mandated state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.
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