‘The Houses Have Been Constructed Everywhere’: The Country Programme of the Housing Commission of Victoria 1945–1960

Abstract

The shortage of housing in Victoria at the end of the Second World War was acute. Families throughout country Victoria were forced to shelter in dwellings that were either ramshackle or overcrowded. From 1945, the Housing Commission of Victoria expended all available resources on the construction of housing units and by 1960 in excess of 47,000 houses and flats had been constructed. Of this total just over 18,000 were built in 120 towns and cities in country Victoria. At all times, the Commission's major criterion for the allocation and siting of these units and the selection of tenants was need. As well, houses were constructed specifically to aid decentralized industry and for numerous government authorities.