Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) Property Practice (FLK2) Syllabus

Property Practice (FLK2) syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Property Practice (FLK2) in Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Land Law Foundations

   3 topics

   • Estates and interests in land
     • Freehold and leasehold estates
     • Legal and equitable interests
     • Easements and covenants
   • Registered and unregistered land
     • Land Registration Act 2002 framework
     • Registrable dispositions and overriding interests
     • Unregistered land and first registration
   • Co-ownership and trusts of land
     • Joint tenancy and tenancy in common
     • Severance
     • Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996
2. 2

   The Conveyancing Transaction

   4 topics

   • Pre-contract stage
     • Taking instructions and acting for parties
     • Investigation of title (registered and unregistered)
     • Pre-contract searches and enquiries
     • Drafting and approving the contract
   • Exchange and pre-completion
     • Standard Conditions of Sale
     • Methods of exchange and deposit
     • Pre-completion searches and requisitions
   • Completion and post-completion
     • Completion arrangements and the transfer deed (TR1)
     • Stamp Duty Land Tax and Land Transaction Tax
     • Registration at HM Land Registry
   • Remedies for delayed or failed completion
     • Notice to complete
     • Breach of contract remedies
3. 3

   Leasehold and Commercial Property

   3 topics

   • Leases and tenancies
     • Grant of a lease and essential characteristics
     • Common lease covenants
     • Privity of contract and estate; assignment
   • Commercial leases
     • Rent review and service charges
     • Security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
     • Licences to assign, underlet and alter
   • Termination of leases
     • Forfeiture and relief
     • Surrender and break clauses
4. 4

   Property-Related Finance and Taxation

   3 topics

   • Mortgages and secured lending
     • Acting for the lender
     • Reporting on title and the certificate of title
     • Discharge and redemption
   • Taxation in property transactions
     • VAT and the option to tax
     • Capital gains tax on disposals
   • Planning and environmental considerations
     • Planning permission and building regulations
     • Contaminated land and environmental searches

Property Practice (FLK2) flashcards for Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)

24 of 51 cards from the Property Practice (FLK2) deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What are the only two legal estates in land that can exist under s.1(1) Law of Property Act 1925?

   The fee simple absolute in possession (freehold) and the term of years absolute (leasehold).

2. Under s.1(2) LPA 1925, name the principal interests capable of existing as legal interests in land.

   An easement/profit held for an interest equivalent to a legal estate, a legal charge (mortgage), and a rentcharge. All other interests are equitable (s.1(3)).

3. Distinguish a legal interest from an equitable interest in land in terms of who they bind.

   Legal interests bind the whole world (subject to registration). Equitable interests are more fragile and only bind those who have notice or against whom they are protected by registration; a bona fide purchaser of a legal estate for value without notice takes free of unprotected equitable interests.

4. What formalities are required to create or transfer a legal estate or interest in land?

   A deed (s.52 LPA 1925), which must be signed, witnessed and delivered and make clear on its face that it is intended to be a deed (s.1 Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989). Registration completes legal title for registrable dispositions.

5. In registered land, what is the 'mirror principle'?

   The register should reflect, as accurately as possible, all the material facts about a title — the estate, the proprietor, and the interests affecting it — so a buyer can rely on it rather than investigating historic title.

6. Name the three parts (registers) of an individual registered title at HM Land Registry.

   The Property Register (describes the land and estate), the Proprietorship Register (names the registered proprietor and any restrictions/class of title), and the Charges Register (records burdens such as mortgages, easements and covenants affecting the land).

7. What is an overriding interest in registered land, and why does it matter?

   An interest that binds a registered proprietor even though it does not appear on the register (Schedules 1 and 3 Land Registration Act 2002). It is an exception to the mirror principle — examples include a legal lease of 7 years or less and the interest of a person in actual occupation.

8. List the classes of title that HM Land Registry can grant.

   For freehold: absolute, possessory, or qualified. For leasehold: absolute, good leasehold, possessory, or qualified. Absolute is the best; good leasehold guarantees the lease but not the landlord's right to grant it.

9. In unregistered land, how does a purchaser deduce and investigate title?

   By examining a good root of title at least 15 years old (s.23 LPA 1969) and tracing an unbroken chain of dealings (the epitome of title) down to the current seller, checking each conveyance, death and mortgage discharge.

10. What is a 'good root of title' in unregistered conveyancing?

    A document that deals with the whole legal and equitable interest in the land, adequately describes the property, casts no doubt on the title, and is at least 15 years old — typically a conveyance on sale or a legal mortgage.

11. What is the function of the Land Charges Register (unregistered land), and what is the effect of non-registration of a registrable land charge?

    It registers certain interests against the name of the estate owner. A land charge that is registrable but not registered is void against a purchaser (the consequences vary by class — e.g. an unregistered estate contract or restrictive covenant created post-1925 is void against a purchaser of a legal estate for money or money's worth).

12. Distinguish a joint tenancy from a tenancy in common at law and in equity.

    A joint tenancy has the four unities and a right of survivorship; co-owners hold as a single owner. A tenancy in common gives each co-owner a distinct, undivided share with no survivorship. The legal estate can ONLY be held as a joint tenancy; the equitable interest may be held as either.

13. What are the four unities required for a joint tenancy?

    Unity of possession, unity of interest, unity of title, and unity of time. A tenancy in common requires only unity of possession.

14. How is a joint tenancy of the equitable interest severed, converting it to a tenancy in common?

    By written notice under s.36(2) LPA 1925, by an act of one joint tenant operating on their own share (e.g. sale or mortgage), by mutual agreement, by a course of dealing showing intention to treat the interest as held in common, or by bankruptcy/homicide. Severance only operates in equity.

15. What is a trust of land, and which statute governs it?

    Any trust of property which consists of or includes land, governed by the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA). All co-ownership of land takes effect behind a trust of land, with the legal owners as trustees holding for the beneficiaries.

16. How does the rule on the maximum number of legal owners affect co-ownership?

    A maximum of four people can be registered as legal owners/trustees (s.34(2) Trustee Act 1925). If more are intended, the first four named adults hold the legal estate on trust for all the beneficiaries.

17. What is 'overreaching' and what condition must a purchaser satisfy to achieve it?

    The process by which a buyer takes free of the beneficiaries' equitable interests under a trust of land, which are transferred to the purchase money. The buyer must pay the capital money to at least two trustees or a trust corporation (ss.2 and 27 LPA 1925).

18. What standard searches and enquiries does a buyer's solicitor typically carry out before exchange?

    Local authority search (LLC1 and CON29), water and drainage search (CON29DW), environmental/contaminated land search, chancel repair check, and an additional enquiries of the seller (e.g. Property Information Form TA6 and Fittings and Contents Form TA10), plus location-specific searches (mining, flood, etc.).

19. What is the practical significance of the principle 'caveat emptor' in conveyancing?

    'Let the buyer beware' — the seller is generally under no duty to disclose physical defects in the property, so the buyer must investigate through surveys, searches and enquiries. The seller must, however, disclose latent defects in title (incumbrances) they know or ought to know about.

20. What are the two standard sets of conditions used in residential and commercial conveyancing contracts?

    The Standard Conditions of Sale (SCS), used for residential transactions, and the Standard Commercial Property Conditions (SCPC), used for commercial transactions.

21. What formalities must a contract for the sale of land satisfy under s.2 LP(MP)A 1989?

    It must be in writing, contain all the expressly agreed terms in one document (or by reference/exchange), and be signed by or on behalf of each party. Failure to comply renders the contract void.

22. What happens at exchange of contracts, and what is the usual deposit?

    The parties become legally bound to complete; the risk in the property typically passes to the buyer (so insurance should be in place); and the buyer pays a deposit, conventionally 10% of the purchase price, held by the seller's solicitor (usually as stakeholder under the SCS).

23. What is the difference between a deposit held as 'stakeholder' versus as 'agent'?

    A stakeholder holds the deposit on behalf of both parties and cannot release it to the seller until completion. An agent holds it for the seller, who may use it before completion (e.g. towards a related purchase). The SCS default is stakeholder.

24. What pre-completion searches does the buyer's solicitor make in registered land, and what protection do they give?

    An OS1 search at HM Land Registry, which gives a priority period of 30 working days during which the buyer can register the transfer free of any new entries. A bankruptcy search (K16) is made against an individual buyer relying on mortgage finance.

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