'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