"As the country's largest landlord, Housing NZ has placed greater focus on identifying homes where P may be used or may have been used in the past (rather than just cooked)," Housing NZ says.
"Housing NZ has a zero-tolerance approach to the use or manufacture of P or any other illegal activity in our homes. Our organisation is working closely with other government agencies, our tenants and communities to beat the use of this drug in our properties."
Meanwhile thousands of people are waiting for state houses.
Ministry of Social Development figures showed that at the end of March, 4865 applicants were on the housing register, prioritised by need and assessed as being eligible for social housing. A further 1289 applicants were on the transfer register, already in social housing, but asking for and eligible for transfer to another property.
Housing NZ is the main provider of social housing.
Its chief operating officer, Paul Commons, said contaminated property numbers had been relatively stable in the past three to six months but he would rather the 393 empty houses were being used by the more than 4000 people on the social housing list.
"The number of labs is declining. There's only a handful. The contamination of our homes is caused by heavy drug use, not manufacturing," he said.
Housing NZ was more likely to suffer from meth use than other landlords simply because it was New Zealand's largest housing owner and provider, with 185,000 people living in its properties, Commons said.
"It's a problem not unique to us as a landlord. We make it clear we are intolerant to drug use in our homes. We work closely with the police. We'd prefer not to have this problem. It's a terrible social menace."
People could suffer symptoms not unlike lead poisoning from living in contaminated houses, he said. Symptoms could include rashes, headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath.
Housing NZ regularly takes tenants to the Tenancy Tribunal over meth contamination. Three cases taken from a wider number in March alone illustrate the scale and nature of the issue.
1. Housing NZ took action against a tenant in Parnell, seeking $1833.10 for initial meth testing and a report. "The police report produced as evidence by the landlord confirms that a search warrant was completed at the premises on 30 January 2015 where the police found drug paraphernalia and utensils," the tribunal said.
"A written report prepared by K2 Environmental Ltd for the landlord following testing of the subject premises concluded that methamphetamine was detected in all six swabs tested. Three areas in particular are above the Ministry of Health guidelines. The report concluded that based on the sampling result tests, reoccupation of the dwelling would potentially be a risk to health," the tribunal said.
The tenant had caused the contamination and costs were awarded to the landlord.
2. It also took a case against a tenant in Glen Eden, seeking seven-day order for possession. Tests showed meth contamination on a bedroom door frame, in the kitchen, lounge wall and lounge window frame, the tribunal said. Housing NZ got the order, which it seeks "when the premises are so seriously damaged as to be uninhabitable".
3. The tribunal described the case against a tenant in Onehunga: "Housing New Zealand Corporation produced evidence from a meeting it held with the tenant where he discussed his methamphetamine use at the premises and his partner's use." The tenant, who did not appear at the hearing, was ordered to pay Housing NZ $1762.29.
Andrew King of the NZ Property Investors Federation said: "Everyone suffers. There's no winners here. Taxpayers are paying millions for this. These places are empty yet there are people screaming out for houses. It's pretty sad."
The Ministry of Social Development said this year the Government would spend
$2.3 billion on housing support for more than 310,000 households.
Amy Adams, Social Housing Minister, could not respond to questions by the Herald's deadline.
