By ANNE GIBSON
Catherine and Gideon Hoekendijk are looking for a miracle.
Since they moved here from Christchurch with their four children in January, they have been looking for a large four-or five-bedroom house to rent.
"This weekend is D-day," says Mrs Hoekendijk.
"We decide tomorrow whether to move back to Christchurch or
not."
They came here for work opportunities. She is a creative director at Greenlane, he is Bible College's national marketing manager at Henderson.
But they are thinking of returning to their Halswell house on its big section with its six bedrooms.
It is close to family and in an area they know and love.
They are victims of a rampant rental market that has made it difficult for them to move out of the cramped rental accommodation that they struggled to find in the first place.
They know that Auckland offers greater work, family and recreational options and for their children's sake they want to stay.
But countless hours spent chasing letting agents have not yielded a suitable home. Mrs Hoekendijk is scathing about not even being offered the opportunity to view places before they are let.
"One agent told me all the good places had gone - I asked her did that mean she had some places, but that I was too late or what?
"She asked how long I'd been phoning so I told her it was about a year."
The family of six are squeezed into a cramped, four-bedroom Te Atatu Peninsula house with no outdoor play area for the children, costing them $300 a week.
They could pay a little more for a bigger home, but find that most large places are rented in the executive bracket, with asking prices sometimes running to four-figures.
"I believe in miracles," sighs Mrs Hoekendijk, as she returns to tend to her children, home ill from school for the day.
* If you can help the Hoekendijks then contact harmony@ihug.co.nz
