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 conditions offered new opportunities, but also reduced the choices. Emphasis in government housing plans was at first on rental dwellings; later there was a swing toward the sale 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 greater opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a jump in building costs.

High on the list of factors linked to rising costs were the introduction in 1948 of the 40-hour working week, and drastic increases in the cost of construction materials. By 1948 an employer had to pay an unqualified building worker a higher wage than a tradesperson had received in early 1946.

To keep both labourer and tradesman 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 lower quality construction and a blow out in construction time.

Contract prices were loaded with an increasing profit margin as an insurance against unseen contingencies. 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 rates to ensure a reasonable output.

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.

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, 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 some 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 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 economy.

The economical plan was essential; cost-saving and limitations on area made large single-purpose rooms a luxury. Verandahs and generous porches were deleted, 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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