Last family standing refuse to leave derelict UK estate until demands are met
A family who stand in the way of a £250 million regeneration scheme refuse to move out of their home on a bulldozer-bound estate.
The terraced houses on Holcombe Close, Pendleton, Salford, are boarded up and have been derelict for years, apart from number 14, owned by Demonique Wilson and wife Thabo. The couple, live in the three-bedroom property they bought 14 years ago for £70,000 with their five children, and they say Salford council have offered them £95,000, then £165,000, to urge them to move out.
But Mr Wilson argues it would be "impossible" for him to buy a three-bed property in Salford for that money and has stood firm, despite a mooted compulsory purchase order (CPO). He said he rejects the council's offers and said he should receive in the region of £300,000.
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Mr Wilson, a qualified mental health nurse, told MailOnline: "The only reason we are still living here is because the council has wrongfully valued our house as a two bedroom rather than a three.
"We are not being greedy and we just want what our house is worth.
"My surveyor has found that houses of a similar size to ours in this area that have sold for between £227,000 and £300,000.
"I think I could probably find a home for £220,000 and I am ready to move but the council should do the right thing."
Mr Wilson previously said he wants to stay in Salford, where his children go to school and where the lives of his family are centred.
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Speaking about the effect of living on a barren estate, he added: "My children don't know what it is like to have people living nearby.
"I would love for them to go next door to play with friends. The stress is also getting to them. The younger ones don't understand. They think that the council is going to force us out with nowhere to go. They are worried."
If the Holcombe Close properties are finally demolished they will make way for a new leisure centre – the Pendleton Community Activity and Health Club (PCAHH) – and the new houses.
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