Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP) Conveyancing and Property Transactions Syllabus

Conveyancing and Property Transactions syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Conveyancing and Property Transactions in Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Residential Purchase and Sale

   5 topics

   • Taking Instructions and Anti-Money Laundering Checks
     • Client identification and verification under MLR 2017
     • Source of funds enquiries and risk assessment
     • Terms of business and engagement letters
   • Missives and the Scottish Standard Clauses
     • Offer, qualified acceptance and conclusion of missives
     • Suspensive and resolutive conditions
     • Time limits and the consequences of late settlement
   • Examination of Title
     • Land Register and Sasine Register titles
     • Burdens, servitudes and minerals reservations
     • Foundation writs and prescriptive progress
   • Settlement and the Conveyancing Searches
     • Property Enquiry Certificates and local authority searches
     • Advance Notices and the protected period
     • Exchange of cheque, disposition and keys
   • Registration and Reporting
     • Application for registration in the Land Register
     • Stamping out the Sasine search
     • Reporting to lender and client
2. 2

   Land Registration in Scotland

   4 topics

   • The Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012
     • Move from Sasine to Land Register
     • Keeper's warranty and rectification
     • Realignment of rights and good faith acquirers
   • The Title Sheet and Cadastral Map
     • Property, proprietorship, securities and burdens sections
     • Plans-based registration and boundaries
   • First Registration and Dealings
     • Triggers for first registration
     • Voluntary registration
   • Common Registration Defects and Requisitions
3. 3

   Real Burdens, Servitudes and Conditions of Title

   4 topics

   • Creation and Enforcement of Real Burdens
     • Title to enforce and interest to enforce
     • Praedial rule and the four-square test
     • Community burdens under the Title Conditions (Scotland) Act 2003
   • Servitudes
     • Positive and negative servitudes
     • Creation by express grant, implication and prescription
   • Variation and Discharge
     • Lands Tribunal applications
     • The sunset rule and minute of waiver
   • Tenement Management and the Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004
4. 4

   Commercial Conveyancing and Leasing

   4 topics

   • Commercial Sale and Purchase Structures
     • Asset versus share transactions
     • Commercial due diligence and certificates of title
   • Commercial Leases
     • FRI leases and rent review mechanisms
     • Assignation, subletting and keep-open clauses
     • Irritancy and tenant remedies
   • Standard Securities and Lending
     • Standard Conditions and ranking agreements
     • Calling-up notices and default procedures
   • Land and Buildings Transaction Tax
     • Residential and non-residential rates
     • Additional Dwelling Supplement
     • Lease LBTT and three-yearly returns

Conveyancing and Property Transactions flashcards for Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP)

23 of 62 cards from the Conveyancing and Property Transactions deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In a Scottish residential conveyancing transaction, what three core duties does a solicitor owe when first taking instructions from a client?

   To identify and verify the client (customer due diligence), to establish the client's instructions and authority to act, and to check for any conflict of interest before proceeding.

2. Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, what is 'Customer Due Diligence' (CDD) in a conveyancing matter?

   Identifying the client and verifying their identity using reliable, independent source documents (e.g. passport plus proof of address), identifying any beneficial owner, and understanding the purpose and nature of the transaction.

3. When must 'Enhanced Due Diligence' (EDD) be applied in a property transaction?

   In higher-risk situations, such as where the client is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), the transaction is unusually complex or high-value with no apparent economic purpose, the client is not physically present, or there is a connection to a high-risk third country.

4. What is the conveyancer's obligation if they form a suspicion of money laundering during a transaction?

   They must make a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the National Crime Agency, and must not 'tip off' the client; they may need a Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) before proceeding.

5. What are 'missives' in Scottish conveyancing?

   The series of formal letters exchanged between the solicitors for the seller and purchaser which, once concluded, form the binding contract for the sale and purchase of heritable property.

6. At what point is the contract for sale of Scottish heritable property legally binding?

   When missives are 'concluded' — that is, when an unqualified acceptance of an offer (or qualified acceptance) is delivered, so that consensus in idem (agreement on all essential terms) is reached in writing.

7. What formality must missives satisfy under the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995?

   A contract for the transfer of an interest in land must be in writing and subscribed by the granter; missives are therefore constituted by subscribed formal letters.

8. What are the Scottish Standard Clauses?

   A standardised set of contractual conditions, agreed by the Law Society of Scotland and local faculties, incorporated into residential missives to provide consistent, widely-accepted terms and speed up conclusion of missives.

9. In missives, what is a 'qualified acceptance'?

   An acceptance of an offer that introduces new terms or alters proposed terms; it operates as a counter-offer, so missives are not concluded until those qualifications are in turn accepted.

10. What is the purpose of a 'suspensive condition' in missives, and give an example?

    It is a condition that must be purified (satisfied) before the contract becomes fully enforceable; for example, the purchaser obtaining satisfactory planning permission or a mortgage offer by a stated date.

11. What is 'examination of title' in a conveyancing transaction?

    The purchaser's solicitor's investigation of the seller's title sheet (or prior deeds) to confirm the seller has a valid, marketable title and to identify any burdens, conditions, securities or defects affecting the property.

12. What does it mean for a title to be 'marketable'?

    That the title is good, free from undisclosed defects or unduly onerous conditions, and is such that the purchaser can in turn sell it on without difficulty; this is what the purchaser is contractually entitled to receive.

13. What is a 'Property Enquiry Certificate' (PEC) and what does it reveal?

    A certificate (often from the local authority or a private searcher) disclosing local authority matters such as roads adoption, planning, building control, statutory notices and contaminated land affecting the property.

14. In examination of title, what is checked regarding the extent of the property?

    That the cadastral/title plan boundaries match the property being sold, that there are no encroachments, and that all parts (including gardens, parking, common areas) are included in the title.

15. What is 'settlement' (also called the 'date of entry') in a Scottish conveyancing transaction?

    The date agreed in the missives when the price is paid, the disposition and keys are handed over, and the purchaser takes entry to and possession of the property.

16. What documents are typically exchanged at settlement of a residential purchase?

    The seller delivers the executed disposition, the title deeds, the discharge of any existing standard security, keys, and any necessary searches/letters of obligation; the purchaser pays the price.

17. What is the purpose of a Land Register 'advance notice'?

    It protects a deed to be registered (e.g. a disposition) by giving it priority over competing registrations for a 35-day protected period, reducing the risk in the gap between settlement and registration.

18. How long is the protected period of an advance notice under the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012?

    35 days from the day after the advance notice is entered on the application record.

19. What is a 'letter of obligation' in conveyancing, and what is the 'classic' obligation?

    A letter granted by the seller's solicitor at settlement. The classic obligation guarantees a clear search in the Land/Personal Registers for a short period and that the seller will deliver any outstanding documents; its use has reduced since advance notices were introduced.

20. What two registers were searched against the seller for inhibitions and insolvency?

    The Register of Inhibitions and Adjudications (now the Register of Inhibitions) and the Personal Register, to ensure the seller is not inhibited or insolvent and able to grant a valid title.

21. What is the function of 'registration' in completing title to Scottish heritable property?

    Registration of the disposition in the Land Register of Scotland is what actually transfers real (ownership) right to the purchaser — title passes on registration, not on delivery of the disposition.

22. What is the principle 'no infeftment without registration' in modern Scots property law?

    That a real right of ownership in land is created and completed only by registration in the Land Register; until registration, the purchaser holds only a personal right against the seller.

23. What did the Land Registration etc. (Scotland) Act 2012 do?

    It reformed and replaced the 1979 Act, governing the operation of the Land Register of Scotland, introducing advance notices, redefining the effect of registration, reforming the Keeper's warranty and the process of completing the Land Register.

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