Families unknowingly renting toxic Queensland meth homes as calls grow for tougher laws

Families could be unknowingly moving into Queensland rental homes contaminated with methamphetamine residue because there is no legal requirement for landlords to disclose a property’s history to prospective tenants.

That’s the warning from Queensland meth decontamination specialist Steve Annells, who says he is called to about two contaminated homes every week and believes many more are slipping through the cracks.

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Steve Annells, from Dunrite Decon, is cleaning a meth-infected rental property in Waterford. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

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Mr Annells, who has specialised in meth decontamination since 2018, said almost every contaminated property he entered had one heartbreaking thing in common.

“Ninety-eight per cent have children’s clothes or toys,” he said.

“The hardest jobs are when there are kids living there. They’re the vulnerable ones.”

One family contacted Mr Annells believing mould was making their son sick. Instead, testing revealed meth contamination throughout the home.

“Their 10-year-old had sores over his whole body. His skin looked raw,” he said.

“I asked if I could photograph it because people need to understand what this can do.”

A young boy impacted by methamphetamine residue in a Queensland rental that had not been cleaned properly. Photo supplied.

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Mr Annells said meth residue could remain inside a home for up to a decade and that an ordinary bond clean would not remove it.

“People think a coat of paint or a bond clean will fix it, but it won’t,” he said.

“It has to be chemically neutralised and tested properly.”

He said professional remediation typically took about three days and could cost between $10,000 and $30,000, depending on the level of contamination.

Inside a house Dunrite Deco was recently called to for methamphetamine residue removal. Photo supplied.

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As awareness grows, Mr Annells said demand for his services had steadily increased, with properties across southeast Queensland and regional centres including Longreach requiring treatment.

He said homes in suburbs including Yarrabilba, Hope Island, Sanctuary Cove, Marsden, Woodridge, Deception Bay and Mitchelton had required decontamination, with four Yarrabilba properties recently referred to him after tenants had already moved in.

Mr Annells believes Queensland should follow New Zealand by introducing mandatory testing and a register of contaminated properties.

This house in Morningside was operated as a meth lab by tenants before it was sold.

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“A watchlist would stop people unknowingly moving into these houses,” he said.

“At the moment, if someone chooses to ignore the problem and rent it out anyway, the next family may never know.”

Brisbane woman Connie Cicchini claims meth contamination has had a dire impact on her life since she discovered tenants had been smoking meth in her retirement nest egg investment property.

Ms Cicchini believed that all she needed to do was get her Zillmere property cleaned, but the contamination kept returning.Ms Cicchini had been letting the property while living with and caring for her ailing father.

Connie Cicchini had to demolish her Zillmere rental property due to severe meth contamination. Picture: David Clark.

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After his death in February 2023, she had intended to move into the investment property, only to find the methamphetamine contamination had recurred.

She could not in good conscience re-let the property and after the third cleaning attempt organised by her insurer NRMA found the contamination had recurred — after a three-year dispute that was eventually decided by the Australian Financial Complaints Authority — the insurer during the dispute resolution process eventually agreed to pay the property’s full insured value.

An RTA spokesperson said while Queensland’s Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act did not specifically deal with drug contamination, property owners were responsible for ensuring rental properties were fit to live in, kept in good repair and complied with health and safety standards throughout a tenancy.

Antonia Mercorella, REIQ CEO.

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“The RTA understands the serious nature of alleged drug contamination in a rental property, and the concerns it may raise for all parties about the safety of a tenant’s home and a property owner’s investment,” the spokesperson said.

The RTA also confirmed it does not maintain a register or watchlist of meth-contaminated properties and said the Queensland Government was not considering changes to rental laws at this time.

Real Estate Institute of Queensland chief executive Antonia Mercorella said there were no laws in Queensland specifically requiring the disclosure of crimes or events that had occurred at a property when it was sold or rented.

She said landlords were nevertheless required to ensure rental properties were fit to live in, in good repair and complied with Queensland’s minimum housing standards.

“Appropriate remediation works may be deemed necessary,” Ms Mercorella said.