The Post-War Housing Boom}
The 1940′s Housing Boom}
Sometimes described in the post-war years as `the housing shortage’, the Australian effort to fix a very serious issue 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 house ownership, achieved in many cases through heroic individual effort and years of sacrifice.
Changing social attitudes offered new opportunities, but also reduced the options. Emphasis in government housing schemes was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the sale of affordable houses. At a time when various influencers had reduced the amount of rental dwellings, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-operatives were offering greater opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a jump in constuction costs.
High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the passing of legislation for the 40-hour working week, and drastic increases in the cost of building materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building labourer a higher wage than a tradie had received in early 1946.
To keep both labourer and tradie productively employed the builder needed a continuous flow of materials which was a rare event in those times. A shortage of skilled workers also meant lower quality work 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 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 timber for flooring.
With locally made cement taking forever to turn up, a truckload from interstate was sometimes purchased 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 clay 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 dwelling 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 wide open porches were deleted, reducing the shade at the front entrance to the absolute minimum. Ceiling heights had been gradually 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 an imposed state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.
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