Retired bank worker, 66, who is ‘last man standing’ on deserted housing estate refusing to move out

A 66-year-old retired bank worker is the last person living on a housing estate which is due to be demolished – but he is refusing to move out despite multiple attempts by the council to buy him out.

Nick Wisniewski has had no neighbours living beside him in the 128 flats on Stanhope Place, which sits in Gowkthrapple’s housing estate in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, since the last of around 200 residents moved out in December.

The eight blocks of flats and other homes on Stanhope Place are all scheduled for demolition – but Nick refuses to leave despite the council’s attempts to buy him out.

North Lanarkshire Council want to demolish Stanhope Place and redevelop the area – leading officials to offer Mr Wisniewski £35,000 plus two years’ rent somewhere else if he moves, he claims.

But the retired TSB bank worker who lives there with his 35-year-old son refuses to leave as he claims the offer would not be enough to buy somewhere else, adding that he is also too old to get a mortgage.

Nick, who bought the home in 2017, told MailOnline that he won’t leave his home until he gets a better offer of around £80,000 or if there was a compulsory purchase order put in place.

Nick 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.

The Stanhope Place housing estate is believed to be made up of system-built houses and is estimated to have been built in the 1960s or 70s.

They are comprised of factory-made concrete panels and only have a design life of around 60 years, and have been noted as poorly insulated and expensive to maintain.

It is not clear if this is one of the contributing reasons for the demolition of the estate. 

The Gowkthrapple area has had its ‘fair share of troubles’, North Lanarkshire Council has said, citing poor quality environment, vacant and derelict land, anti-social spaces, social isolation and a fast road as contributions to the redevelopment plans.

‘Other people in my block were renting so they had to move. My neighbours started moving out about a year ago,’ Nick said.

‘I spoke to my upstairs neighbour who was about 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 the 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.’

Nick, who retired last year, said that people left they dumped old cookers, mattresses and washing machines outside, describing his housing area as a ‘mess’. 

‘The council just left the flats lying empty after people moved out,’ he said.

‘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. The grass is badly overgrown, it’s ridiculous.

‘I think the council are leaving it unkept to annoy me or in the hope I get fed up and leave. 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.’