Ninja Pirate Books

Sometimes described in the post-war 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’. Undoubtedly it was a boom in demand and building. There was also a notable increase in house ownership, achieved in many cases through dogged individual effort and years of sacrifice.

Changing social conditions offered new opportunities, but also reduced the options. Emphasis in state housing schemes was at first on rental accommodation; later there was a swing toward the sale of affordable housing. At a time when various factors had reduced the availability of rental accommodation, governments, banks, finance companies, building societies and housing co-ops were offering more opportunities for home ownership. Ironically this was paralleled by a jump in construction costs.

Top 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 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 productively employed the builder needed a continuous flow of materials which was a rare occurrence during this period. Lack of skilled workers also meant poor quality building and further loss of 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 happen when, for example, hardwood flooring was suddenly out of stock, 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 batch from interstate was sometimes bought at nearly three times the price. When compared to 1939 prices timber flooring material 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 quality 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 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 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 an imposed state as it was a fashionable philosophy. This was the era of the great Australian Dream.

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