Social housing often hits the news for all the wrong reasons, believes Tauranga Community Housing Trust's Jo Gravit.

Last week New Zealand First social policy spokesperson Darroch Ball's proposed state house tenants who have contaminated properties with methamphetamine should be kicked out for life.

New Zealand First social policy spokesperson Darroch Ball has proposed that any tenant found contaminating state houses with meth should be 'kicked out for life”. Photo: File

Under current housing New Zealand policy, if tenants are found using or manufacturing meth their tenancy will be terminated immediately and they can also face a 12 month suspension from applying for another property.

According to HNZ figures, eight properties in the Bay of Plenty tested positive for meth as of December 2015, while 18 properties tested positive during the 2014/15 financial year.

Darroch says hundreds of state houses around the country are currently sitting empty due to meth contamination which he describes as 'a national disgrace”.

'At present tenants removed from a state house for P contamination can be back in a state house within as little as 12 months. We cannot allow state houses to be used for criminal activities,” he says.

'That behaviour comes at the expense of the taxpayer to the tune of tens of millions of dollars for clean ups and hundreds of honest families on state house waiting lists.”

But TCHT chair Jo Gravit sees meth as a widespread problem throughout the communities that we all need to face.

She says the number of people desperate for accommodation is increasing rapidly due to Tauranga's growing population. Every day the trust and other social services providers face the reality of people with desperate housing needs and the impact of uninhabitable houses just adds to the shortage.

'Our Tauranga community stakeholders, as well as central government are aware of the issues, and the need for a wider range of housing choices.

'But we all need to work together to decide how we can address this shortage in practical terms and how the growing risk of P contamination can best be addressed.

'We need every house possible in the rental pool and a few hundred more as well.”

HNZ chief operating officer Paul Commons says the government agency is increasing its focus on identifying homes where meth has been used or manufactured.

The organisations takes a zero tolerance approach to any illegal activity in its homes and will move swiftly to end a tenancy.

'Housing NZ will not tolerate any use or manufacture in our properties and where we find evidence we will not only end the tenancy, but we'll suspend them from living in one of our properties.

'We will pursue the tenants for costs associated with remediation where a property is contaminated.”

TCHT welcomes HNZ's zero tolerance approach, saying these clear messages are widely supported.

Housing New Zealand owns or manages 67,000 properties across New Zealand, housing around 193,000 people.