Self-help housing and co-operation in post-war Australia

Australia experienced a self-help housing boom after World War Two which pl ayed an important part in overcoming a serious housing shortage. This paper looks at the magnitude of the boom and at the factors which made it possib le. It argues that the basic factor motivating amateur builders was the abs olute scarcity of accommodation rather than its high cost. There were signi ficant regional variations in the extent of self-help activity. These are b est explained by the extent of public housing provision. Where state govern ments invested heavily in public housing there was less self-help activity. The paper also traces the sources of finance used by owner-builders and th e extent of co-operation amongst them.