Methamphetamine is keeping people out of state homes, says Housing New Zealand.
Several vacant HNZ properties are empty because they have been contaminated with the drug, also known as P, the corporation says.
It is hitting back at criticism from Napier City councillor Maxine Boag, who said a lack of state houses had left vulnerable families homeless with many having to resort to motel units for a place to stay.
A Tu Tangata Maraenui spokeswoman and social housing advocate, Minnie Ratima, said there were more than 20 empty houses in and around Maraenui.
She said the house her aunt had lived in before her death had been empty for months because it was contaminated by P.
Housing NZ owns a third of the houses in Maraenui but several of them were vacant because of methamphetamine, a corporation spokesman said.