NSW Fair Trading, which is overseeing the state government scheme to deal with the dangerous material, aimed to finish testing in Albury and Greater Hume council areas before December. But the latest figures released last week as part of the NSW government’s voluntary purchase and demolition program showed 1845 tests had been completed in Albury, out of 4953 registrations, with 574 not proceeding. About 75 per cent of Greater Hume’s testing has taken place, the 1335 assessments from 1763 registrations (140 not proceeding) producing 36 positive results.

Most of these homes are located in Holbrook, which had been identified as a loose-fill asbestos hot spot and allocated more resources to speed up testing.

More than 800 tests have been completed in Greater Hume in the past three months, compared with less than 400 in Albury.