Blog & Advice

The consequences associated with buying a meth contaminated property are so dire, that we believe that just like ‘leaky building’ issues, the risk needs careful consideration when buying property.

As the highly addictive drug methamphetamine grows in popularity, so does the chance you could end up buying a "meth house" when you go shopping for real estate.

If you accidentally buy a meth house, your health isn't the only thing at stake. The financial consequences of owning or buying a former meth house may be crippling. Remember this could be any house, apartment or flat in any street. P cooks and users are looking to blending in.

Some scary stats.....

In 2006 65% of P Labs found by Police were located in rental proeprties.... 2009 this number has increased to 75%. 

In the last 10 years, the average number of meth labs found by Police was 160.  Estimates place this as being between 5 and 10% of the number in operation at any one time.  On these figures, and assuming these meth labs stay in one place, in the last 10 years, as many as 32,000 locations will have been contaminated by the toxic chemicals that are associated with meth being ‘cooked’.

Contamination - How long does it take?

One meth lab doing one cook is enough to contaminate a property!

Meth contamination is cumulative.  So, the longer criminals operate a lab or use meth in a property, the greater the contamination that results.

Use of a property as a meth lab results in immediate contamination of the areas exposed to the vapours and chemicals used and produced during the meth manufacture process.  

Using meth in a property can also lead to it being classed as contaminated.  However the nature of the contamination is different when compared to homes used as labs and contamination occurs over a longer period of time.

Whether it is a lab or where there is meth use, if contamination breaches the Ministry of Health guidelines, a property cannot be considered safe.

Ministry of Health Guidelines for Meth Contamination

For further in depth reading please visit MOH website: http://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/guidelines-remediation-clandestine-meth-lab-sites.pdf

 In addition, while the Ministry of Health Guidelines establish a ‘safe’ limit for meth lab and meth contamination, the reality is, some people, those who suffer from allergic conditions and particularly young children, are more sensitive to these contaminants than others.  So what is safe for one person, may still produce an adverse reaction in another.

The purchase of a home is likely to be the biggest investment you will make.  With indicative testing ranging from as little as $100.00, why wouldn’t you test.