Housing New Zealand is defending having a two-bedroom Whangarei house sitting empty for about nine months awaiting repairs.
Neil Adams, Housing New Zealand (HNZ) regional manager, said the situation was sometimes unavoidable when a house was seriously damaged - in this case, by methamphetamine (P) contamination.
Since January this year, out of about 2000 homes HNZ has in Northland, nine - or 0.45 per cent of the stock - need or have needed reinstatement because of methamphetamine contamination.
Mr Adams said a house in Selwyn Ave had been stripped of internal wall cladding and surfaces because of the level of the drug found inside after the last tenants left. After nine months, no other remedial work has been done.
The house would have been rented by HNZ for $265 a week, but instead the repair job will cost upward of $50,000.
''Were it not for the meth, this property would have been available to let to a family in need and the more than $50,000 spent on cleaning and rebuilding could have been better used elsewhere,'' Mr Adams said.
All property renovations, repairs and refurbishment run to planned programmes and include the possibility of accidents and other damage, he said.
''Housing New Zealand and our contractors have long and productive working relationships, are very familiar with properties and best placed to determine timeframes for our jobs.
''HNZ generally uses local people to do its maintenance and renovation work and this is the case in Whangarei.
"However, with some specialist work, such as methamphetamine decontamination or asbestos removal, we have specific providers who may come from elsewhere.''
Of the 22 HNZ houses vacant in Whangarei, 15 were between tenancies and would take eight to 15 working days to refurbish, while the other seven required major work, Mr Adams said.