The 1940′s Housing Boom

The Post-War Housing Shortage}

Sometimes described in the post WWII years as `the housing shortage’, the national 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 notable 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 choices. Emphasis in state housing plans was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the ownership of low-cost dwellings. At a time when various influencers had reduced the amount of rental accommodation, 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 input costs.

Top on the list of factors linked to rising building costs were the introduction in 1948 of the 40-hour working week, and steep increases in the cost of construction materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified 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 salaries to ensure house completion.

Unexpected costs could arise 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 truckload from interstate was sometimes bought at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices hardwood 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 some 40 per cent by 1948.

When added to rising costs and shortages of materials the government restrictions, limiting the area of a new house to 12 squares (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 cost-cutting.

The economical floor plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and spacious porches were deleted, reducing the shelter at the front of the house to a minimum area. Ceiling heights had been slowly 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.

Building a pool to go with your Australian dream? For glass pool fencing Brisbane and pool fencing Brisbane, contact Oz Glass Pool fencing. Frameless glass pool fencing looks great, is safe and affordable.