'We're being forced out': Family-of-seven's home to be bought and bulldozed without their say-so

A house where a family of seven live but which stands in the way of a £250 million regeneration scheme is to be forcibly bought by Salford council and bulldozed. Councillors have agreed to go ahead with a compulsory purchase order (CPO) on the home in Holcombe Close, Pendleton.

The terraced houses in the street 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 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 the only alternatives presented to the family have been rented accommodation.

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"The problem is, I still have a £23,000 mortgage on this house," he said. "We want to stay in Salford, where our children go to school and where our lives are, but the compensation we're being offered is nowhere near what we need. We are being forced out of our home."

He said he had engaged a law firm and surveyor who he believes will be able to get a "fairer price" for his house through the courts, now that Salford is to make the house the subject of a CPO.

Mr Wilson is a qualified mental health nurse and has formerly been based at Salford Royal Hospital, but he is currently not working because of a heart problem which occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillors at a Property and Regeneration meeting have agreed to push ahead with the CPO and plans for 575 family homes and apartments including 173