Key facts
- Property Law and Practice is assessed in FLK2 through single best answer questions applying rules to client situations.
- The SRA blueprint assigns 14–20% of FLK2 to Property Law and Practice, including Solicitors Accounts in conveyancing.
- Coverage includes freehold transactions, leasehold transactions, business tenancies, planning and property taxation.
- Property taxation includes SDLT in England, LTT in Wales, VAT and Capital Gains Tax.
- Ethics and Professional Conduct can be tested across all subject areas.
What does SQE1 Property Practice cover?
SQE1 Property Law and Practice is an FLK2 subject covering freehold transactions, leasehold transactions, business tenancies, planning law and property taxation. Solicitors Accounts is also assessed in the conveyancing context. The SRA blueprint allocates 14–20% of FLK2 to Property Law and Practice including those accounts questions.(SRA, FLK2 specification) (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4)
Revise it as a sequence of decisions: identify the client, locate the transaction stage, investigate the risk and decide what must happen next. Keep Land Law alongside it: the specification separately covers ownership, interests, registration, co-ownership, easements and mortgages, which support transactional work.(SRA, FLK2 specification) Our FLK1 and FLK2 subject guide shows where these subjects sit.
How is Property Practice tested?
SQE1 uses closed-book single best answer questions, with five options and one correct answer. You apply fundamental rules to realistic client situations at the level of a newly qualified solicitor. Questions can combine subjects within FLK2, and Ethics and Professional Conduct runs across the assessment.(SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) The blueprint classifies each question by its main focus, so the percentage range is not a boundary around every use of property knowledge. (SRA, SQE1 Annex 4) From the January 2027 sitting, Property Law and Practice and Solicitors Accounts in the property context appear in FLK2 session 2, mixed in random order with Criminal Liability and Criminal Law and Practice; the blueprint proportions do not change. (SRA announcement, 10 September 2026)
Practise explaining why an action fits the client’s position and the current stage. A familiar document name is not enough: connect its purpose to the problem. Our single best answer guide provides a routine for comparing plausible options.
Freehold transactions: follow the matter from title to completion
Use the transaction stages as a revision checklist. The syllabus includes registered and unregistered title, searches and enquiries, the Law Society Conveyancing Protocol, finance and acting for a lender.(SRA, FLK2 specification)
| Stage or task | What to cover |
|---|---|
| Investigate title | Analyse official register entries or an epitome of title; establish ownership, identify problems, consider further action and report to the client. |
| Search and arrange finance | Understand who makes searches and enquiries, their purpose and the issues revealed. Cover funding, mortgage types, lender requirements and the certificate of title. |
| Prepare and exchange contracts | Compare the Standard Conditions of Sale and Standard Commercial Property Conditions; revise special conditions, stakeholder and agent deposits, insurance, risk and VAT. Include certificate timing, authority to exchange, the Law Society formulae and exchange’s consequences. |
| Prepare for completion | Cover transfer deeds and execution formalities, pre-completion searches, financial arrangements and apportionments. |
| Complete and follow up | Revise completion methods, their effects and the post-completion work. Compare damages, contractual compensation, a notice to complete and rescission when completion is delayed. |
Source: (SRA, FLK2 specification) For each row, write down the responsible party, the information needed and the consequence of leaving an issue unresolved. Then practise identifying the appropriate next step.
Leasehold: distinguish the transaction, the covenant and the remedy
Lease content includes repair, insurance, alterations, permitted use and planning, rent and rent review, alienation, term options and break clauses. The Code for Leasing Business Premises is also included. Practise reading the relevant clause before selecting a rule. (SRA, FLK2 specification)
Prepare separate checklists for granting a lease or underlease and assigning an existing lease. Cover drafting, agreements for lease, title investigation, searches, pre-completion formalities and completion. Assignment adds landlord’s consent, the transfer, covenants for title and authorised guarantee agreements. Licences to assign and underlet require attention to their purpose, preparation, provisions and privity of contract. (SRA, FLK2 specification)
For covenant liability, the syllabus distinguishes leases granted before 1 January 1996 from those granted on or after that date. Remedies include debt claims, forfeiture, Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery, guarantors, rent deposits, specific performance, damages and contractual self-help under a Jervis v Harris clause. Termination includes expiry of the term, surrender and merger. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Build a comparison sheet linking each remedy to its conditions and consequences.
Business tenancies, planning and tax
Business tenancy revision should cover Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954: when protection applies, contracting out, tenant renewal, landlord termination, grounds for opposing renewal, new lease terms and compensation. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Start with whether the statutory regime applies before considering a notice or remedy.
Planning coverage includes the meaning of development, activities outside that definition, development needing no express permission, building regulations, enforcement powers and time limits in England and Wales. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Planning permission and building regulations approval are separate; a project may need both. (GOV.UK, building regulations approval) Keep separate headings for each approval when reviewing a property problem.
Property taxation covers Stamp Duty Land Tax in England and Land Transaction Tax in Wales, including residential property and non-residential freehold property. VAT includes taxable supplies, standard-rated, exempt and zero-rated treatment, and the reasons for and effect of an option to tax. Capital Gains Tax includes the basis of charge and Private Residence Relief. (SRA, FLK2 specification) For calculations, identify the location, transaction and tax before applying figures; revise relief conditions as well as the arithmetic.
Keep accounts and ethics within the transaction
Solicitors Accounts is examined within Property Law and Practice, as well as Wills and the Administration of Estates. (SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification) Its syllabus includes client money, receipts and withdrawals, separation from the firm’s money, interest, accounting entries, records, bills, reconciliations and correcting breaches. (SRA, FLK2 specification) Practise tracing the money through the matter alongside the legal steps. Include an ethics check when reviewing instructions and decisions; ethics can appear across subject areas.(SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification)
Revision pitfalls to avoid
- Losing the stage. Mark whether the matter is before exchange, approaching completion or awaiting follow-up work before comparing answers.
- Ignoring the party. Identify whose interests and instructions you are considering: buyer, seller, lender, landlord or tenant.
- Blurring similar processes. Compare grant, assignment and underletting explicitly; keep planning and building control separate in your notes.
- Jumping to a remedy. Check the applicable regime, contractual wording, breach and procedural conditions before deciding what action follows.
How to revise Property Practice
These are suggested study methods. Reconstruct the transaction checklist from memory, then compare it with the specification. Practise a focused set of questions on the weakest stage. For every error, record the decisive fact, applicable rule, correct next step and why the nearest alternative fails. Check the explanation’s authority before rewriting the rule in your own words.
Return to missed distinctions in later sessions, then mix freehold, leasehold, planning, tax and accounts. Include Land Law to practise connecting rights with transactional decisions. Our revision guide develops that routine. Check the SRA specification and the law cut-off for your sitting before updating your notes.(SRA, SQE1 Assessment Specification)
Try the free SQE1 quick test for mixed-subject practice, then use your errors to choose what to revisit. It is a starting point, not a complete Property Practice assessment. The SQE1 course page shows subject coverage. This guide summarises the syllabus; it is study material, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does SQE1 Property Practice cover?
Freehold and leasehold transactions, business tenancy protection, planning law and property taxation. Solicitors Accounts is also tested in the conveyancing context.
How is Property Practice different from Land Law?
Property Practice follows transactions and the solicitor’s decisions. Land Law separately covers ownership, interests, registration, co-ownership, easements and mortgages. Revise them together to connect rights with practical steps.
How is Property Practice assessed in SQE1?
Through closed-book single best answer questions with five options and one correct answer, applying fundamental rules to realistic client situations. Questions may combine subjects within FLK2.
Does the Property Practice weighting include Solicitors Accounts?
Yes. The SRA blueprint’s 14–20% range for Property Law and Practice includes Solicitors Accounts in conveyancing. Questions are classified by their main focus.
Do I need to revise Welsh property tax?
Yes. The specification includes Land Transaction Tax in Wales alongside Stamp Duty Land Tax in England, covering residential property and non-residential freehold property.
How should I revise Property Practice?
Build transaction checklists, practise questions by stage and record the decisive fact and rule behind each error. Revisit missed distinctions, then mix property topics with accounts and Land Law.
Sources
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Assessment Specification (applicable for assessments from 1 September 2026). Accessed 25 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Functioning Legal Knowledge – FLK2 (from 1 September 2026). Accessed 25 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: SQE1 Annex 4 – Functioning Legal Knowledge blueprint. Accessed 25 October 2026.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority: Important changes to SQE1 for January 2027 onwards (10 September 2026). Accessed 25 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: Building regulations approval: When you need approval. Accessed 25 October 2026.
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