What this seat involves
Real estate lawyers deal with rights that attach to land; understanding freehold and leasehold title, what charges and restrictions sit on a property, whether planning permission is valid, and what obligations a buyer inherits on acquisition.
The seat tends to be more client-facing than corporate or finance seats at the junior level; transactions are smaller and faster-moving, and the documents are ones a non-lawyer recognises. Volume can be high and the work requires genuine attention to what's missing, not just what's present.
Trainee-level work this seat is built around
You may not be asked to run all of this on a vacation scheme. This section explains the kind of work trainees and junior lawyers do, so the seat and its exercises make sense in context.
Title review
Reviewing HMLR official copy entries, title plans and related documents. The focus is ownership, charges, restrictions, easements, missing rights and whether the title matches what the client expects to acquire.
Lease review and reporting
Reviewing commercial leases and reporting key terms: rent, term, break rights, repair obligations, permitted use, alienation provisions and any points that may affect value or occupation.
Searches and CPSE review
Reviewing searches and CPSE replies to understand planning, drainage, environmental, access and occupation issues, then identifying where follow-up is needed.
Enquiry drafting
Drafting additional enquiries for the seller’s solicitors where title, searches, CPSE replies or lease documents leave something unclear.
Drafting and transaction document support
Assisting with contracts, transfers, licences, deeds, leases, reports and other transaction documents by populating details, checking consistency and updating drafts under supervision.
Exchange, completion and post-completion
Helping with exchange and completion steps, completion statements, SDLT, HMLR registration and Companies House filings where relevant. Time limits and clean process matter.
What you could do on a vacation scheme
Vacation scheme exercises are usually lighter than trainee work. They are designed to test research, document sense, commercial judgement and how clearly you explain unfamiliar material.
Real estate concept research
You may be asked to research a concept such as freehold vs leasehold, title restrictions, leases, licences, CPSEs, SDLT, exchange and completion or HMLR registration, then explain it simply.
Title document retrieval and review
You may be asked to retrieve or review HMLR official copy entries, title plans and related documents, then flag restrictions, charges, easements, missing rights or anything that looks inconsistent.
Document population and drafting support
You may be asked to add matter details into draft contracts, transfers, licences, deeds, leases, CPSEs or reports, using the precedent and instructions given.
Liaising and chasing
You may be asked to help chase documents, signatures, searches, replies or confirmations from solicitors, clients, agents or other parties.
Exchange, completion and post-completion support
You may be asked to assist with exchange or completion checklists, SDLT steps, HMLR registration and Companies House filings where relevant.
Basic details and consistency checks
You may be asked to check names, addresses, title numbers, dates, parties, rent figures, execution blocks and document schedules against the source documents.
What good looks like at this stage
Clarify the task, have a proper go before escalating, explain your thinking and return clean work. The best vacation schemers are proactive and curious without creating noise.
In real estate, instinct for what's missing matters as much as technical knowledge. A vac schemer who reads official copies and notices "there's a restriction but no corresponding charge; should we be asking about this?" is demonstrating exactly the attention the practice rewards.
Research to do before you start
- Understand the difference between freehold and leasehold title. Most commercial property in cities is leasehold; know why that matters to a buyer and what obligations a lease imposes.
- Read about the Land Registration Act 2002; what registration achieves, what overriding interests are, and why priority searches matter.
- Know the key stages of a commercial property purchase: pre-contract due diligence, exchange, and completion.
- Look at the current commercial property market: office vacancy rates, logistics demand, retail challenges, and the impact of interest rates on property investment.
- Read about the Building Safety Act 2022 if the firm does any residential or mixed-use work; it has fundamentally changed leasehold reform and liability in tall buildings.
Questions worth asking
Is there a precedent or example you would like me to follow?
Shows you are trying to match the team's style instead of guessing the format.
How much detail would be helpful here: a short summary or a more detailed note?
Clarifies the output before you spend time producing the wrong level of detail.
With commercial office take-up still below pre-pandemic levels in most cities, has the nature of the real estate work shifted; more lease renegotiations, fewer acquisitions, more development mandates?
Shows market awareness and invites a practitioner to describe what's actually coming through the door.
When you're reviewing title on a commercial acquisition, what kind of issue actually holds up or changes a deal versus what gets noted and moved past?
Shows you understand not every issue carries the same weight and that judgment is required.
How much of the real estate work here involves finance; acting for lenders taking security over property; versus pure transactional work?
Real estate finance is a significant sub-specialism. Asking about the mix shows you've thought beyond the obvious.
On a lease review, what do you look at first; what provisions most often cause problems that weren't caught early enough?
Practical, unpretentious, and shows genuine curiosity about how to do the job well.