Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Seven Northland houses positive for P

By Lindy Laird
Northern Advocate·
29 Jul, 2016 08:19 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

CONTAMINATED GOODS: A property in Newton Rd will be sold after its current owners, Housing New Zealand, clean up several problems. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

CONTAMINATED GOODS: A property in Newton Rd will be sold after its current owners, Housing New Zealand, clean up several problems. PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

Methamphetamine contamination is only one reason Housing New Zealand is cleaning up and selling a house in Newton Rd on the outskirts of Whangarei.

The Newton Rd property was sub-let by the state housing agency to a health provider group which transferred to another Housing New Zealand (HNZ) community group house earlier this year.

It was the scene of an extensive decontamination operation last week.

HNZ confirmed seven of its Northland houses had recently tested positive for methamphetamine, above the Ministry of Health guidelines of less than 0.5 micrograms per 100cm2, and were being cleaned up.

"When we sell or acquire properties, standard procedure is to carry out methamphetamine testing as part of that process," the agency said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"In Northland at the present time we currently have seven properties that have tested positive and are in the process of being decontaminated so they can be returned to the letting pool and relet."

HNZ had 24 Northland houses infected by methamphetamine in the year to May, and expected the number, and clean-up cost, to rise as it started testing all its houses at each change of tenant. In May this year, before that regular testing regime began, HNZ spent $231,361 decontaminating 13 Northland houses over the last three years.

HNZ cited privacy reasons in declining to name the community group that was last to live in the house in Newton Rd, Maungatapere.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The state house agency is not the only rental manager or property owner being forced to deal with a drug problem, the effect of which is as hard-hitting as the leaky home disaster. Whangarei property managers say the methamphetamine contamination problem does not just belong to social housing or quick-turnover properties but is widespread.

Apart from houses being used as a lab to cook up the drug, also called meth or P, there was no "typical" P-smoking tenant, said Allan Inglis, principal of Northland First National. The company's experience indicated more people smoked P inside houses than smoked cigarettes - or, at least, tobacco smokers did it outside now.

Property managers were well schooled up on the methamphetamine scourge and were trying to manage the risks, but many believed the Ministry of Health's bottom line for contamination should be raised, he said.

Like tobacco smoke, P smoke permeates "every nook and cranny".

Landlords can install alarms that alert a monitor centre which then refers it to police when someone lights up with P, but more commonly a property is tested when a tenant moves in and when that tenant leaves, Mr Inglis said.

It was also common practice for houses being sold to be tested.

Whangarei rental manager Judy Morgan has called for a register naming tenants who "poison" homes. She also said tighter controls around testing standards need to be established and the limit raised.

Ms Morgan, the managing director of Property Management and Rentals, has asked the Government to draw up a code of regulation for those doing the testing.

The Ministry of Health offers guidelines, not standards, and the methods used by testing agencies differed.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales
Northern Advocate

Far North homes without power after severe gales

More than 170 customers south of Cape Rēinga are still without power.

17 Jul 08:26 AM
'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP