Rent, Buy or Own
Eight into one caravan won't go
- Hayden, Charles, Mana, Hunter (grandson), Vicki and EJ at home. Absent for the photo are Jordan and David.
"We were desperate," says Vicki. "We had been given 42 days notice to move out of the home we had been in for years. With six teenage boys no one wanted to rent to us."
Vicki and Mana's stress levels were getting pretty high as move-out date loomed. They responded to dozens of ads but they were knocked back every time when landlords asked about the number of people to be housed.
The only ones who were unfazed were the Housing New Zealand staff who helped the family with their housing request.
"We'd booked a caravan to be parked at a cousin's place," says Mana. "We were all set to move into it when Housing New Zealand phoned Vicki and said they had a house for us to look at."
Their new house has large grounds and the family are absolutely delighted. Mana is a keen gardener and has plans to make the best of the fertile Hastings soil.
Seventeen-year-old Hayden said, "I tried to act cool when I saw our new place but inside I was thinking ?This is vicious!' I just love bringing my mates around."
