Paul and Patricia Robinson-Hill are glad they were able to make a new start away from Auckland.

A total of 303 families have been approved for the government-sponsored Relocation from Auckland Assistance grant.

And only five of those families changed their minds and returned to New Zealand's most populated and busiest city.

Of the 303 families who had moved, or were about to move, 74 were destined for the Waikato region, 55 to Northland, 31 to Taranaki, and the remainder spread out across New Zealand.

ANDY JACKSON / FAIRFAX NZ Anngret Sisask and Kiel de Buisson with Ettie, 8 months, and Zac, 6. They moved to New Plymouth from Auckland in November 2016 after finding it impossible to save enough money for a deposit on a house.

Two newly arrived New Plymouth families, each from widely different living circumstances, had no regrets leaving Auckland behind.

READ MORE:

* Explainer: $5000 relocation grants for homeless Aucklanders

* She'd take a caravan in Auckland over Hamilton

* Relocation scheme abused

* Government expands $5000 relocation payments for Aucklanders

Beneficiaries Paul and Patricia Robinson-Hill were homeless for two years living with friends and family in Mangere, and wanted a roof over their heads.

SIMON O'CONNOR / FAIRFAX NZ Patricia and Paul Robinson-Hill were homeless for two years until they used a government grant to move from Auckland to New Plymouth and rent a HNZ house.

School teacher Kiel de Buisson and his wife Anngret Sisack, a pyschologist, knew they would never be able to buy a house in Auckland, and went searching for more affordable regions.

The Robinson-Hill's, with their two school age sons, Rune, 10, and Hunter, 14, had never been to New Plymouth.

"We didn't know anyone here, it was like going to another country," Patricia said.

TOM LEE / FAIRFAX NZ Teri Standen, used the grant to relocate to Waikato but she now wants to return to Auckland.

The family applied for the grant and were offered a three bedroom state house in Marfell, a suburb overlooking Port Taranaki.

"It was the first house we were offered, we could have said 'No' but it's not much fun being homeless so we didn't think twice," she said.

The $5000 relocation assistance grant was used to pay for removal expenses, three nights temporary motel accommodation and daily expenses while the weekly rent of $116 is automatically taken out of the couple's benefit.

The family are among 31 Auckland families who have shifted, or plan to shift, to New Plymouth under the government-sponsored relocation grant available to state housing tenants, the Ministry of Social Development said.

Primary school teacher Kiel de Buisson, and his wife, psychologist Anngret Sisask, and their two young children, Zac and Ettie​, moved to New Plymouth in November after three years of enduring Auckland's 'nightmare' traffic, and sky rocketing house prices.

They had moved to Auckland from Sydney for a quieter lifestyle but found the opposite, Sisask said.

The professional ballroom dancers didn't qualify for the assistance grant and both found new jobs in New Plymouth.

They now plan to push ahead and buy a house in the city.

"We were renting on the North Shore but even with two incomes we couldn't save enough to put a deposit on a house in Auckland," Sisask said.

Beneficiary Teri Standen complained in January she would rather live in a caravan in Auckland than the Hamilton flat she was placed in by Housing New Zealand.

Gangs, bullying at school and lack of public safety convinced Standen, who received a $3000 grant to leave Auckland, it was not the area she wanted to bring up her children in.

Don't have time to read anything else right now? Get the day's top stories straight to your inbox to read later. Our Two minutes of Stuff email newsletter covers the biggest issue of the day, plus key news highlights in a quick snap at 7pm each weekday. Sign up here.