GSL Conveyancing & Drafting study guide
GSL Conveyancing & Drafting · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The GSL Conveyancing & Drafting examination is a professional assessment of the practical skills a property lawyer or licensed conveyancer needs to take a transaction from instruction to registered title. It suits paralegals, trainee solicitors, licensed conveyancers in training, and practitioners moving into residential or commercial property work who need demonstrable competence in both advisory judgment and document production. The GSL Conveyancing & Drafting study guide has 10 sections and about 4,450 words.
01Land Law Foundations and Estates in Land, Registered and Unregistered Title
This domain tests whether you can identify precisely what a client owns - which estate, whether legal or equitable, and whether it binds a purchaser - before any drafting or search begins. Every later step, from contract to the application at HM Land Registry, follows from that analysis.
505 words, about 3 min02Investigation of Title, Contract Formation, Terms and Standard Conditions of Sale
This domain tests the move from investigation to binding obligation: how title is deduced and objections raised, and how the contract is formed and construed on the Standard Conditions of Sale (fifth edition). The seller prepares an epitome of title (unregistered) or official copies (registered) and must disclose latent defects in title; the buyer takes subject to patent defects under caveat emptor.
467 words, about 2 min03Pre-Contract Searches, Enquiries and Due Diligence
This domain tests whether the buyer's file contains the searches and enquiries needed for an informed purchase, and whether you can read results critically rather than simply filing them. Local land charges search (LLC1) and CON29 enquiries: planning history, building regulations, highways, public rights of way, contaminated land, enforcement notices and community infrastructure levy.
435 words, about 2 min04Drafting the Contract and Transfer/Conveyance
This domain tests whether you can turn instructions into a contract that is enforceable and a transfer HM Land Registry will accept. Formalities: s.2 LP(MP)A 1989 requires writing, all terms and signature by both parties.
442 words, about 2 min05Mortgages, Charges and Lender Requirements
This domain tests how a mortgage or charge is created, protected and released, and how the lender's instructions shape the conveyancing timetable. A legal mortgage of registered land takes effect as a registered charge and must be completed by registration (s.27(2)(f) LRA 2002).
434 words, about 2 min06Leases, Tenancies and Leasehold Conveyancing
This domain tests leasehold transactions: whether the lease is good security, what the tenant can and cannot do, and what must be obtained from the landlord before completion. A legal lease for more than three years must be by deed (s.52 LPA 1925); a lease for three years or less at the best rent may be created orally (s.54(2)).
427 words, about 2 min07Co-ownership, Trusts and Undivided Shares
This domain tests concurrent ownership: how the beneficial interest is held, how it can be severed, and how a purchaser takes free of it. A joint tenancy requires the four unities - possession, interest, title and time - and carries survivorship; there are no distinct shares.
456 words, about 2 min08Completion, Post-Completion Formalities and Registration
This domain tests the mechanics between exchange and registration: getting the money and documents right on the day, then lodging applications in time. Update searches, particularly the local search if exchange was long ago, and obtain a priority search (OS1) against the title.
408 words, about 2 min09Remedies, Default, Misrepresentation and Professional Conduct
This domain tests remedies when a transaction goes wrong, and the conduct rules that apply while it goes right. Damages for losses arising naturally from the breach or within the parties' contemplation (Hadley v Baxendale); the buyer may claim cost of cure or diminution in value.
424 words, about 2 min10Drafting Covenants, Easements and Special Conditions
This domain tests drafting of rights and obligations that run with land: covenants, easements, and the special conditions that tailor the contract. The burden of a positive covenant does not run at law (Austerberry) and only a restrictive covenant passes in equity, where the successor has notice, the covenant touches and concerns the land, and the benefit was intended to run (Tulk v Moxhay).
452 words, about 2 min