'Last man standing' on 'lonely' estate set for demolition vows to stay as council start action to evict him

The 'last man standing' on a housing estate which is all due to be knocked down is refusing to leave as the council begin action to evict him. Nick Wisniewski, 66, is the only person living on 'Britain's loneliest' estate after the last of around 200 residents moved out in December.

The eight blocks and other homes on Stanhope Place, North Lanarkshire, are all scheduled for demolition, but despite the council's attempts to buy him out, Nick vows to stay. He says North Lanarkshire Council have offered him £35,000 plus two year's rent somewhere else if he moves, but he claims the offer would not be enough to buy somewhere else.

With the estate now lying abandoned and overgrown with empty properties boarded up, the council are starting acting to evict Nick as they hope to proceed with plans to flatten Stanhope Place and redevelop the area.

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Retired TSB bank worker Nick said he is not in a position to buy anywhere else and is too old to get a mortgage. He said: “The last person left in December, it’s like a ghost town now.

"It’s so quiet and strange being the only person living here. I’m used to it now, but it can get lonely, there is no one to speak to. There are eight blocks each with 16 flats in them - there used to roughly be 200 people here and you would struggle to get a parking space. Now I am the only one left.”

Nick bought his flat in 2017 under the Right to Buy scheme which helped council tenants buy their homes at a discounted price. Council chiefs offered Nick alternative accommodation in a terraced house for two years rent free which he turned down.

He said he is worried he doesn’t know where he will end up living – but doesn’t want to leave his home. “When people left they just dumped old cookers, mattresses, washing machine outside, it was a mess," he said.

“The council just left the flats lying empty after people moved out. There is no security and people could get into the empty flats and lots of windows have been broken. Thankfully I haven’t had any trouble."

Nick then explained: “They offered me £35,000 for my flat and two years' rent free somewhere else. But I am not prepared to start paying rent again and £35,000 is not enough to buy somewhere new. You’re talking £80,000 to £100,000 to get somewhere new.

“I’m worried that I don’t know where I am going to end up living. I didn’t work all my life to have my home taken from me when I am too old to get a mortgage on something else. It would be so hard to leave my home."

A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “We fully understand this is a sensitive issue and are working closely with the resident.

"It would not be appropriate to discuss the specific financial details, but we are working in accordance with our policies to ensure the resident receives a fair deal and to support him so that he finds suitable alternative accommodation.”

Nick said he would not leave his flat until he got a better offer of around £80,000 from the council or he had to because of a compulsory purchase order. He doesn’t know when a compulsory purchase order would come into play, but he thinks he will still be living there at Christmas time.

Nick said: “I am not going to leave until I get a better offer like £80,000, or if there was a compulsory purchase order. Other people in my block were renting so they had to move, I was the only one who owned my flat.

“I spoke to my upstairs neighbour who was the second to last person to leave and he was upset he had to go. They had offered him a house he didn’t want but said he knew he wasn’t going to get anything better so just took it, even though he didn’t want to leave.

“Another neighbour who had lived there for eight years, said he had always paid his rent in advance and didn’t want to leave. But he knew he would have too eventually.

“I don’t know when a compulsory purchase order would come into play, but I think it’s a last resort. I think I will still be here at Christmas time.”