Lynda Rawsthorne FRICS remembers clearly the woman who inspired her to enrol at Reading University for a degree in land management.
As an 18-year-old with a holiday job at Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1988, she encountered a chartered surveyor called Maureen Miller. In an eighties pencil skirt and power suit jacket with padded shoulders, Miller “was really rocking it,” Rawsthorne recalls.
Miller had been an English teacher and primary carer, achieving RICS qualification at the same time through day release. She then worked in the Development Corporation and became a chartered surveyor after further experience at an estate agency. Perfect role model material.
Almost 40 years later, Rawsthorne has twisted and turned through a career kaleidoscope, using her surveyor degree as a basis. She has gone from civil servant, to teacher, building schools, prisons, and railways through HS2 – before her present roles of the UK government head of the property profession and serving as an elected member of RICS’ Governing Council.
Being married to a serviceman, her family moved multiple times, were resident in several countries, and she took a seven-year career break. All the while, constant learning has been a devotion, giving an alphabet in credentials after her name – BSc, MA, FRICS, FAPM, FCIOB, FIWFM and ChPP. Rawsthorne has championed people to embrace change, learn constantly and get those who had taken time out of their careers, for whatever reasons, back into the workforce.
As part of her RICS and government positions, she pushes for inclusive recruitment, career development, and leadership pathways, helping to broaden the profession's appeal and representation.
“I'd say to people to be kind to yourself. There are times in your career when you have other things happening and you can't always be learning,” says Rawsthorne. “If you can, however, no matter what learning it is, it all comes together.
“You do not know what you're going to need it for necessarily, but it’s worthwhile. Learning gives you agility of mind. And in difficult situations, it gives you more confidence.”
HM Prison Winchester
Nomadic beginnings
After graduating in 1991, Rawsthorne joined the civil service, working for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), where she believed her career path would lead to training and the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).
But marriage to a Royal Air Force officer meant her young family was often moving, clocking up 13 homes in the UK and abroad. The VOA was supportive, moving her every two years. “They were amazing, letting me choose another office, even though it wasn't convenient to them,” says Rawsthorne.
Taking her first steps away from the familiarity of the VOA in 2017, Rawsthorne joined the Department for Education’s (DoE) £4.4bn Priority Schools Building Programme, going on to be its programme director.
Although a project management role, Rawsthorne says the DoE “saw the core skills you have as a chartered surveyor. I was moving from valuation to construction, which showed the fresh perspective we bring”.
It harks back to her philosophy and passion about constantly learning: “I was in my 40s, but you can make the change any time. You just need to understand why you're doing it.”
In 2018, she swapped schools for prisons. “Schools were the first thing I'd done after my whole career being in one department. I understood the different skills I could use. The individual budget of a prison is much bigger and there are fewer of them. It was the next challenge.”
At the Ministry of Justice, Rawsthorne first became a director of project delivery, providing leadership to the Prison Estate Transformation Programme property team – aiming to modernise the prison system by building new facilities and closing unsuitable ones. Then, seven months later, Rawsthorne became director of prison infrastructure – leading the efforts to create 10,000 new prison places. It was a position that tested her fundamental beliefs.
“I went over there and thought about what this sum of money could do for children and schools. I did have a bit of an initial wobble about purpose, because purpose matters to me. However, by talking to those those who had spent their career in this sector I learned about the impact the right space can have on rehabilitation, and I was in.”
“Learning gives you agility of mind. And in difficult situations, it gives you more confidence” Lynda Rawsthorne FRICS, government head of the property profession
HS2 Colne Valley, the longest viaduct in the UK
From prisons to trains
Another switch came in 2020, when the Department for Transport put out a call for those to head up projects during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rawsthorne’s project was HS2: “I hadn't done massive infrastructure. I couldn't say no, could I? I couldn't resist.”
Addressing the negatives (the project has been beset by delays and there is currently no certain completion date), Rawsthorne says: “When things occur over many years, a lot of changes happen to the economy, which leads to conflicting priorities.” But personally, she took a lot from the position in terms of understanding the policy side of projects, stakeholder management and engineering.
In her current role as the head of property profession for the UK government, which she started in 2023, Rawsthorne’s responsibilities include overseeing the government’s property strategy. It aims to create a public sector estate that is efficient, sustainable and supports the government's growth agenda.
Getting the government role involved a calculated five-year plan. After seeing the position go in 2018 to Dr Janet Young, now director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Rawsthorne says she could see “what an amazing job it was because of the reach, the impact and particularly the ability to help people to fulfil their potential at any age across all of government”.
She adds: “Sometimes, you can’t just wait for one job because the person doesn't leave. But [the government job] was one of the ones I got myself ready for.”
When the position came up again, Rawsthorne went for it. “I now have the privilege of representing and leading the government property profession, which is about 7,500 people (approximately 1,500 of whom are chartered surveyors).”
This complements Rawsthorne’s position on RICS Governing Council, in which she helps shape the global strategy and standards for the surveying profession, while sponsoring the entry and assessment review.
RICS is now exploring alternative routes to RICS chartership and the property profession has recently supported 45 senior professionals across government through accreditation pathways. Many of those professionals built successful careers but never formalised their qualifications.
Calls for expressions of interest from employers and professionals were made in August 2025 for three new planned pathways to RICS membership: Residential Retrofit Surveying (AssocRICS), Sustainability Advisory (MRICS), and Data Analytics and Intelligence (MRICS).
“I now have the privilege of representing and leading the government property profession, which is about 7,500 people” Lynda Rawsthorne FRICS, government head of the property profession
The importance of place
What is crucial for RICS, says Rawsthorne, is remaining accessible, relevant and making a difference for members. “RICS is proud of interacting in the wider sphere to ensure everyone remembers the importance of place, buildings, of real estate and growth. It is remaining at the absolute forefront, representing its members.”
Undoubtedly, there has been change and evolution within the built environment over the last decade and Rawsthorne believes these new pathways reflect that.
Referring back to Maureen Miller, who moved from teacher to surveyor, Rawsthorne says: “People don't just stay in their box. They don't qualify in one small bit and stay there forever. People are much more likely now to move between jobs and positions. We need those deep experts, but we'll also have people with different types of careers and RICS needs to be relevant to all of them.
“The personal thing I care about is people who have been carers or have not been able to put themselves first. Now, at some point, at any age, they're able to – but they've lost their confidence.”
She adds that everyone is here to make a difference: “Every day, all of us are doing different things. I've led big projects. But I didn't put one brick on top of the other. They need people who do the different things. We all come together, or we can't be successful.”
