The 1940’s Housing Boom
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Often 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’. Without a doubt it was a boom in demand and activity. There was also a marked increase in home 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 social engineering was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the ownership of affordable dwellings. At a time when various factors had reduced the availability of rental homes, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-ops were offering a wider range of opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a rise in construction costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the introduction in 1948 of the 40-hour week, and steep increases in the cost of construction materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building worker a higher wage than a tradie 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 occurrence in those times. A shortage 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 circumstances. 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 a reasonable output.
Unexpected costs could arise when, for example, hardwood flooring was suddenly unprocurable, and a higher price would then have to be paid for imported timber for flooring.
With local cement taking forever to turn up, a batch from interstate was sometimes purchased 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 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 12 squares (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 design modesty.
The economical plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and spacious porches disappeared, reducing the shelter at the front of the house to the absolute minimum. 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 a mandated state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.
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