Tamsin Orr-Walker took a case to the tribunal after a tenant of the dwelling, which sits on her rural property, left without paying thousands in rent.
The tenant was evicted after an initial hearing in June, had her bond forfeited and was ordered to pay rent arrears of more than $3000.
Ms Orr-Walker’s claims for compensation for the costs of meth remediation and testing were considered at a second hearing in August.
The tribunal heard during the tenant’s seven-month stay in the tiny home, a man briefly lived with her.
For reasons not stated in the decision, Ms Orr-Walker became suspicious of their activities and arranged for the dwelling to be tested for meth residue after they had left.
The results showed meth residue in three areas, ranging between 1.09mcg and 2.3mcg per 100sqcm.
She also produced evidence that the tenant’s companion had "pending drug charges" against him.
In his decision, adjudicator Scott Young said Standards NZ had recommended a safe level of contamination of 1.5mcg for "high-use" areas, and 3.8mcg for "limited-use" areas, in 2017.
However, that recommendation had never been adopted into law.
The following year, the prime minister’s chief science adviser at the time, Sir Peter Gluckman, released a report that concluded casual, third-hand exposure to meth residue at a level below 15mcg was unlikely to have an adverse health effect.
Mr Young said the tribunal had generally applied that recommendation, which had been approved by the district court in multiple rulings.
Court decisions had also found that without meth testing at the start of a tenancy, it was not possible to conclude "on the balance of probabilities" that a tenant or their guests were responsible for any contamination.
Only four people, including Ms Orr-Walker and a family member, had lived in the tiny home in an eight-year period before the tenant moved in last October, he said.
Although they had provided the tribunal with written statements saying they had not used meth during their tenancies, that did not rule out the possibility of "tradespeople or other parties" using meth in the dwelling during that time.
He had no choice but to dismiss Ms Orr-Walker’s application because the test results she had obtained showed levels of residue well below the 15mcg threshold recommended by the Gluckman report.
guy.williams@alliedmedia.co.nz
