Episode Player

This episode is part of RICS Legal Landscapes, a limited podcast series developed by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors which is CPD-compliant and designed to support professional development across the surveying profession and the broader built environment.

In this CPD-focused episode of the RICS Legal Landscapes podcast, Vanessa Griffiths MRICS is joined by Tracy Hartley MRICS, Henrietta Hammonds FRICS, and Katie Cohen to unpack what the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LAFRA) and related reforms really mean in practice. 

The panel gives clear explanations of the new 990-year lease extensions, the removal of the two-year ownership rule, the proposed abolition of marriage value, and how these intersect with ground rent reforms and service charge transparency. 

This episode of The RICS Podcast covers:

• What LAFRA really does and doesn’t do, and the limits of current implementation.
• How the Ground Rent Act 2022 and ongoing political pressure are reshaping the value and viability of ground rent–backed investments
• Service charge transparency and management challenges
• Commonhold as an alternative to leasehold, and the potential market shift if a new commonhold bill lands
• How surveyors, lawyers, and property managers should advise clients amid moving goalposts, media misinformation, and pending secondary legislation

Henrietta Hammonds FRICS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrietta-hammonds-07361345/

Vanessa Griffiths MRICS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-griffiths-96415a26/

Tracey Hartley MRICS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-hartley-1752412/

Katie Cohen

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-cohen-956b2421/

Keystone Law | Lawyers for businesses & sophisticated individuals requiring legal advice

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors:

https://www.rics.org/uk/

RICS Podcast Page

https://www.rics.org/podcast/

Kieran Halliwell

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kdhalliwell/