Housing New Zealand picked up the $5.5m bill for Auckland’s meth problem
Housing New Zealand picked up a $5.5 million bill to test for methamphetamine contamination, methamphetamine decontamination and property demolition, an Official Information Act (OIA) request from Fairfax Media has revealed.
Housing New Zealand tested 640 of its Auckland properties for contamination during the 2016 – 2017 government financial year, of which 323 tested above the Ministry of Health’s guidelines.
These tests cost the New Zealand taxpayer $2.4 million.
Out of the 640 Auckland properties, 278 underwent decontamination at a further cost of $2,728,576. Housing New Zealand added that 13 of these properties had to be demolished at an additional cost of $406,804, bringing the total bill taxpayers footed to $5.5 million.
Housing New Zealand CEO Paul Commons said Housing New Zealand staff were trained to identify signs of potential methamphetamine use in its properties.
“We work closely with a range of agencies including Police and Oranga Tamariki, and we rely on and are guided by information from these and other agencies when it comes to suspecting a property may be contaminated with methamphetamine,” Commons said.
Housing New Zealand uses the methamphetamine testing and decontamination standards defined by Standards New Zealand, part of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment – this national standard was launched this year on 29 June.
Housing New Zealand stated that some of their properties were decontaminated in the 2017 – 2018 financial year, and are therefore not captured in the released data.
Related stories:
Meth a concern for property owners
Property investors reveal biggest worry
Housing New Zealand tested 640 of its Auckland properties for contamination during the 2016 – 2017 government financial year, of which 323 tested above the Ministry of Health’s guidelines.
These tests cost the New Zealand taxpayer $2.4 million.
Out of the 640 Auckland properties, 278 underwent decontamination at a further cost of $2,728,576. Housing New Zealand added that 13 of these properties had to be demolished at an additional cost of $406,804, bringing the total bill taxpayers footed to $5.5 million.
Housing New Zealand CEO Paul Commons said Housing New Zealand staff were trained to identify signs of potential methamphetamine use in its properties.
“We work closely with a range of agencies including Police and Oranga Tamariki, and we rely on and are guided by information from these and other agencies when it comes to suspecting a property may be contaminated with methamphetamine,” Commons said.
Housing New Zealand uses the methamphetamine testing and decontamination standards defined by Standards New Zealand, part of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment – this national standard was launched this year on 29 June.
Housing New Zealand stated that some of their properties were decontaminated in the 2017 – 2018 financial year, and are therefore not captured in the released data.
Related stories:
Meth a concern for property owners
Property investors reveal biggest worry
