Property Practice
Property Practice covers the practical law of buying, selling, and leasing property in England and Wales. SQE1 questions combine Land Law principles with conveyancing procedure — you need to understand not just the legal concepts but how transactions are actually conducted. Key areas: the stages of a residential conveyance, SDLT, Land Registry procedures, commercial leases, and the obligations of mortgagors and mortgagees.
Practise Property Practice questions →What FLK2 tests in Property Practice
Stages of a Residential Conveyance
Pre-contract (instruction, title investigation, searches, enquiries of seller, draft contract); exchange (when binding contracts are created, deposit, completion date agreed); pre-completion (requisitions, financial statement, Land Registry priority search); completion (balance of purchase price, title deeds/transfer); post-completion (SDLT return, Land Registry application, mortgage registration).
Searches and Enquiries
Local authority search (planning, road schemes, enforcement notices), drainage search, environmental search, water authority search. Con29 and Con29O forms. Solicitors must advise clients to carry out appropriate searches and must report on adverse entries. Results must be within 6 months of exchange.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Chargeable consideration on purchase of land and buildings in England. Residential rates (current threshold, higher rates for additional dwellings). Non-residential rates. SDLT return must be filed and tax paid within 14 days of completion. Linked transactions. First-time buyer relief.
Commercial Leases
The key terms: demise, term, rent and rent review, repairing obligations (FRI leases vs IRI), alienation (assignment, subletting, charging), user clause, forfeiture (right to re-enter for breach — waiver of forfeiture by accepting rent), dilapidations, and security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.
Leasehold Residential Property
Leasehold enfranchisement: right to extend lease (Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993) and collective enfranchisement (right to buy the freehold). Service charges: Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, reasonableness and consultation requirements. Ground rent restrictions under the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022.
Mortgages in Conveyancing
Mortgagee's power of sale (s.101 LPA 1925: legal mortgage, money due and payable; s.103 conditions: demand served 3 months ago OR interest in arrears 2 months OR breach of covenant). Mortgagee's duty to obtain true market value. Priority of mortgages (registered charges: order of registration). Conflict of interest: solicitor acting for both buyer and lender — specific restrictions.
Key cases
The cases most commonly tested in SQE1 MCQs for Property Practice.
A spouse's actual occupation of jointly owned land creates an overriding interest binding on a mortgagee.
The court can permit a mortgagor to sell under s.91 LPA 1925 where the mortgagee's proposed sale price is insufficient.
If the occupier has exclusive possession for a term at a rent, it is a lease regardless of what the parties call it.
A landlord can grant a lease even if they do not themselves hold a legal estate, by virtue of exclusive possession.
Other FLK2 topics
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