One woman, whose name was suppressed, said the Mr Fluffy home in which she raised her children was now tenanted, leaving her in "absolute moral agony".

"I've rented it to other tenants with gorgeous young children. I feel sick that this has occurred. I feel sick that I've passed that legacy on unwittingly to others. I feel absolute disgust at the real estate agent who sold me the home. Yet as I despise them I despise myself more," she told the inquiry. "I am still renting this house out; I have no other option bar bankruptcy."

Another, Matt Rigter, said when he was buying his Queanbeyan unit in 2010 he had asked about the asbestos in the roof. The real estate agent told him most units of that age in Queanbeyan had asbestos, and NSW health advice had reassured him it was safe. Since 2012, the unit had been rented to a number of tenants. Mr Rigter said he felt trapped and unable to sell.

Another Queanbeyan owner, whose name was suppressed, said when he bought the home in 2013, the building report said it contained no insulation. But when he went into the roof cavity he discovered amosite asbestos, picked it up and looked at it. He felt conned by the previous owners and the real estate agent, and said the risk went beyond his own home, given there were two holes large enough to crawl through leading from the roof cavity directly outside, leaving asbestos to "blow around in the wind".

Kieran Ferris bought his Queanbeyan house in 2008, not discovering until June this year that it was a Mr Fluffy home. He had renovated extensively and entered the roof space many times with help from friends to install downlights, speakers, vents, skylights and a solar air-conditioner.

"In doing so, bundles of very visible fibres … floated down into the living areas. We swept up what we could see and popped it in the bin." He felt guilty that his friends, tradespeople and tenants had lived in the house, and angry towards the council, which knew it was a Fluffy house but did not tell him for six years. He did not feel able to rent the home and it now sat empty.

Mr Ferris said there was no incentive for owners to have their homes tested, since a positive result meant the house was worth nothing overnight. The voluntary testing scheme would encourage owners to sell.

Eddie Casey told the inquiry he had only bought his Bungendore Fluffy house in August, after having it checked for asbestos and being told it was clear. He had been shocked to discover in November that it was a Fluffy home and already known to the council.

Michael Bresnik said he had spent $50,000 removing the asbestos but now lived in fear that the fibres had not been eradicated. They felt obliged to tell visitors and worried whether they were doing the right thing looking after their granddaughter in the home. "If further fibres are discovered when we have the house retested, all our thoughts and dreams will be shattered and our retirement plans destroyed," he told the inquiry.

"We have endured fear of a potential health risk and financial hardship for more than 20 years and it must stop!"