Steve Hart: Revamp meth test industry

Deep down we always knew something stank when it came to the meth testing industry. Photo / Dean Purcell

Deep down we always knew something stank when it came to the meth testing industry.

People with no oversight or registration were invited into people's homes to test for meth.

And, if they found a trace, the homeowner would be advised to spend a lot of money to remedy it. But we now know, thanks to Sir Peter Gluckman, that lots of this remedial work was not necessary.

Kirk Hardy, CEO of The Drug Detection Agency, said Gluckman's report gives the industry a chance to revisit the practices, policies and people that undertake this work.

"There's simply no room for cowboy operators in this industry," he said. "The barrier to entry for drug testing is too low. Anyone can find cheap DIY kits on the internet, start a company, and charge for testing services. Without proper accreditation and standards in place, we'll continue to see issues in the testing industry."

Call to relax LVR rules
Economists at Westpac expect the Reserve Bank will ease LVR rules before the year is out
to combat a slowing of house price inflation.

In this week's economic report, the economists write that annual house price growth will slow to zero by the year end.

Their analysis is in contrast to the Reserve Bank's assumption of low but positive house price growth for the rest of the year.

The report notes: "The cooling in the housing market over the last year and a half has also seen a slowdown in the rate of growth in consumer spending, and we expect both house prices and spending to remain subdued in the coming years."

House owners share $3b profit
Growth in property values across New Zealand netted sellers $3.1b in profit during the first three months of the year, according to CoreLogic's Pain and Gain report.

Aucklanders got the lion's share of profits per resale at $352,000, followed by Tauranga ($236,500), Wellington ($227,400) and Hamilton ($195,000). One sign of market fatigue was in apartments, for which the proportion of loss-making resales increased to a median loss of $33,000 per sale.

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