Dad of seven hits out at council plan to bulldoze family home
LDRSA father of seven has said a council that wants to bulldoze his home has made an "unreasonable" offer that would make it "impossible" to move elsewhere.
Demonique Wilson owns the last occupied home on a terrace in Pendleton, which Salford City Council plans to demolish as part of a £250m regeneration scheme.
A council spokesman said the family could only be offered the market value for the property, which was £165,000.
But Mr Wilson said this was not enough to afford a new home of suitable size.
"How can I accommodate a family of seven in such a place?," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
"It's virtually impossible. This situation is causing me and my family a great deal of stress."
LDRSThe family bought the three-bed former council home on Holcome Close 15 years ago for £70,000 and now have a mortgage of less than £23,000 to pay off.
It is the last in an otherwise derelict row of properties which Salford City Council has applied to demolish as part of a wider scheme to build 485 new homes.
Mr Wilson, a 55-year-old mental health nurse, said his wife and five of his children had not moved out because they cannot find a big enough home in Pendleton for the sum offered by the council.
A solicitor representing the family has argued it would cost between £227,000 and £300,000 for a home with at least three bedrooms in the area.
LDRS"I think the city council are being unreasonable," Mr Wilson said.
"They have offered me what it would cost for only a two-bed property."
A council spokesman said the family had also been offered "a relocation equity loan to help bridge any gap to help the family buy a new home".
Negotiations between both sides are continuing and the council is awaiting on the results of a wider consultation before the plans move any further forward.
