Dear readers — Ever since we published our major investigation into the actions of solicitor Andrew Milne, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind here at Tribune towers. To recap: over the last few months, dozens of homeowners in Sheffield have been sent letters by Milne demanding money for their freeholds, which he now owns. Some don't know what to do with the letters, but others have paid him, in some cases more than £25,000. We have been told that much of what Milne is doing is at best legally questionable, and potentially far worse.
In the days after our first story was published, loads of people got in touch to weigh in on what Milne was doing. These included top tax lawyer Dan Neidle, who said his behaviour went “way beyond a lawyer acting unethically”, and leasehold expert Giles Peaker, who derided Milne’s suggestions that he would pursue homeowners through the High Court as “ridiculous” and “clearly an attempt to threaten”.
And it’s carried on ever since. Earlier this week BBC Look North got in touch to say they were looking at this story as well, and on Wednesday, the story was covered by BBC Radio 4’s personal finance show You and Yours. The first item of this week’s programme (link above) was an interview with the son of a 93-year-old woman living in “northern England” whose freehold was bought by a solicitor. She then received a letter, saying the new owner — no prizes for guessing who — was investigating whether grounds existed to forfeit the lease, but meanwhile offering to sell for £8,500. “You can imagine, as a 90-something living on her own, she read that with outright panic, and thought ‘has this guy got a legal opportunity to take my house off me?’.” “Surely,” the listener asked, “he can’t get away with this?” He also added “It would seem his intention is to worry people into thinking ‘These are the rules. You don’t know the rules, but I do, and in order to get out of it you are going to have to pay X, Y and Z.’” The woman was given two weeks to pay or the price would go up — a tactic we reported on last week. There’s also a useful interview with the Leasehold Advisory Service about what leaseholders can do. You can listen to the programme here.
As you would expect, we’ve been working on follow up stories as well, and have been trying to dig deeper into Milne’s story. We’ve also been speaking to more homeowners who he has been targeting. We hope to bring you the fruits of these efforts tomorrow, but as of Friday afternoon, everything is still a bit up in the air. So, whatever happens, please bear with us over the next few days. We will bring you the next instalment as soon as we are able to.
In the meantime, below is a quick Tribune briefing, including news of the 400 people who queued for a baked potato on Fargate on Wednesday, and your weekend things to do list, featuring the start of Sheffield carols season.
Have a great weekend.
The Tribune team
Your Tribune briefing 🗞️
🌧️ Parts of Sheffield and South Yorkshire have been placed on flood alert as Storm Claudia barrels into the region. The areas most at risk in Sheffield will be near the Upper River Don in Hillsborough, Owlerton, Neepsend and Kelham Island, and areas near the River Sheaf including Heeley, Nether Edge and Norton Hammer. The risk of flooding has also led to the closure of Rotherham Central station. Network Rail said that no Northern or Supertram services will call at Rotherham Central from 4pm on Friday until noon tomorrow.
🚨 Nine council-owned residential towers blocks are currently under a “waking watch” after an external wall inspection found increased fire safety risks. The high-rise blocks affected are the six at Callow Mount, Drive and Place in the Gleadless Valley, and another three at Leverton Gardens and Drive in Highfield. A Sheffield council report says: “There is a limited area within the enclosed balcony area behind the glazed windows where the insulation configurations could increase risks in the event of a fire.” The cost for the waking watch so far has reached £150,000, which is being funded from the council’s housing revenue account.
🥔 Up to 400 people queued for hours on Fargate on Wednesday to be among the first to try SpudBros Express, Sheffield’s new baked potato takeaway. Formed in a converted tram carriage in Preston’s Flag Market in 1995, recently the company has experienced rapid growth thanks in part to going viral on TikTok. The BBC report that some of those queuing had waited in line for up to 24 hours, attracted by a special opening day offer. If you’ve tried SpudBros Express and would like to offer a one-line review, let us know in the comments.
Things to do 📆
Friday
🎄 Sheffield’s Christmas Markets are now open! Stretching from Barker’s Pool to Fargate and the Peace Gardens to the Moor, this year there will be around 60 log cabins selling everything from traditional German sausages, Yorkshire pudding wraps, raclette, mulled wine and cider, hot chocolate, mini dutch pancakes, toasted marshmallows, churros and lots more. There are also four bars, a big wheel on the Moor and a carousel and helter skelter in Barker’s Pool.
Saturday
🖼️ Taking place on Saturday and Sunday, Open Studios is when over 100 artists based at Yorkshire Artspace’s Exchange Place Studios and Persistence Works open their doors to the public for one weekend. The annual event is your chance to nosy around the studios of our most talented artists. As well as seeing behind-the-scenes, the sites will also host exhibitions, workshops and demos, as well as pop-up cafes keeping you fueled with tea, coffee and pastries. Suggested donation £3.
Sunday
🎤 Sheffield carol season has now officially begun! For the uninitiated, every Christmas, pubs all over the Sheffield and Derbyshire area hold carol singing events. But these carols aren’t the normal ones, they are special local carols for local people. On Sunday there will be two sings, one at Dungworth Village Hall and one at the Blue Ball in Worrall. For a full list, see this site, and if you want to find out more about the traditional Sheffield carols, see Dan's piece from 2023.
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