Real Estate Law Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Property Managers, Real Estate Asset Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-L-027

Before you join: Participants should have experience working with commercial property, leases, acquisitions, facilities, development projects, property finance or related contracts.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Real estate transactions and property operations expose organisations to material legal risk: defective title, unclear rights of occupation, unenforceable lease provisions, missed planning conditions, lender claims and disputes over completion or possession. Professionals involved in acquisitions, leasing, development or portfolio management need to identify issues early, ask the right questions of advisers and preserve the evidence, approvals and notices that protect the organisation's position.

This course examines the legal structure of real estate ownership, title investigation, sale and purchase contracts, commercial leases, landlord and tenant obligations, planning controls, property finance, development arrangements, environmental liabilities and dispute resolution. Participants learn to read core property documents, apply IRAC and CREAC legal analysis, build a due-diligence record, assess contractual risk allocation and prepare clear issue summaries for management and external counsel. The course addresses principles found across many common-law property systems while recognising that statutes, registration procedures and remedies differ by jurisdiction.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with document-based case work, group analysis, negotiation simulations and structured review of title, lease and transaction documents. Participants work through realistic scenarios involving office leases, industrial sites, development land, lender security and distressed tenant situations. They leave with a reusable real estate legal risk assessment pack, including checklists, issue logs and transaction-control templates. The five-day instructor-led course is available in classrooms in more than 50 cities or live online, runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, and provides approximately 32.5 contact hours plus a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to professionals who manage property decisions but are not acting as specialist property lawyers. It is particularly useful where legal, commercial, finance, facilities and development teams must reach informed decisions together.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret property interests, title records and priority rules affecting real estate rights
  • Conduct a structured legal due-diligence review using a red-flag matrix
  • Analyse sale and purchase agreements for risk allocation, conditions and remedies
  • Review commercial lease provisions governing rent, repair, transfer and termination
  • Assess planning, environmental and development obligations before property commitments
  • Evaluate lender security, finance conditions and enforcement rights in property transactions
  • Prepare IRAC-based legal issue summaries and CREAC advice notes
  • Build a property legal risk register with owners, deadlines and mitigations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Read title, lease and sale documents with greater confidence
  • Spot property-law issues before committing funds or signing documents
  • Ask external counsel more focused questions and assess proposed remedies
  • Prepare defensible legal risk summaries for investment and management decisions
  • Manage lease dates, consent requirements and notice obligations more reliably

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of title defects, encumbrances and missing approvals
  • Better control of lease liabilities, repair exposure and service-charge disputes
  • More disciplined transaction records for acquisitions, disposals and financing
  • Reduced risk of missed planning conditions, renewal deadlines and termination notices
  • Clearer coordination between property, finance, legal and development teams

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can distinguish core property interests and frame property-law issues using a structured legal analysis.

  • Estates, interests and rights distinguished through the bundle-of-rights analysis
  • Freehold, leasehold, easements and covenants classified by duration and enforceability
  • Legal and equitable interests compared using priority and notice rules
  • Registered and unregistered title systems assessed for evidential consequences
  • Co-ownership structures analysed: joint tenancy, tenancy in common and trusts
  • Possession, occupation and adverse possession tested against statutory limitation periods
  • IRAC structure used to frame property-law advice and conclusions

Participants can organise a title review and report material legal risks before a property commitment.

  • Title register entries interpreted: proprietorship, charges, restrictions and notices
  • Chain-of-title review identifies breaks, missing instruments and authority defects
  • Encumbrance searches cover mortgages, liens, easements, covenants and options
  • Survey, valuation and title evidence reconciled within a due-diligence matrix
  • Red-flag reports rank legal defects by likelihood, impact and remedy
  • Seller warranties and disclosure schedules allocate known title risks
  • Closing conditions link title clearance, consents, finance and possession

Participants can review transaction documents and identify the provisions controlling deal risk and completion.

  • Letters of intent separated from binding sale obligations
  • Sale agreement clauses allocate deposit, default, risk and completion mechanics
  • Conditions precedent drafted around finance, approvals and third-party consents
  • Representations, warranties and indemnities matched to diligence findings
  • Exchange and completion sequences mapped through a transaction closing checklist
  • Apportionments calculate rent, taxes, utilities and service-charge adjustments
  • Remedies for failed completion assessed: specific performance, damages, forfeiture

Participants can assess commercial lease terms and their operational and financial consequences.

  • Heads of terms capture premises, term, rent and permitted use
  • Lease demise and plans define boundaries, access and retained areas
  • Rent review mechanisms compared: indexation, market review and turnover rent
  • Repair covenants allocated using full repairing and insuring structures
  • Service-charge clauses test recoverable costs, caps, exclusions and audit rights
  • Assignment, subletting and change-of-control provisions control tenant transfer
  • Break clauses, renewal rights and termination notices managed against deadlines

Participants can respond to recurring landlord and tenant issues using documented legal controls.

  • Landlord consent decisions assessed against reasonableness, timing and documented grounds
  • Tenant breaches classified: rent arrears, repair, use and insolvency
  • Notice requirements checked before forfeiture, termination or possession proceedings
  • Security deposits, guarantees and letters of credit compared for recovery
  • Rent suspension, force majeure and frustration analysed after property disruption
  • Statutory renewal protections distinguished from negotiated contractual renewal rights
  • Settlement terms document surrender, dilapidations, releases and reinstatement

Participants can identify approval, land-use and development restrictions affecting property decisions.

  • Planning permission, zoning and permitted use tested before acquisition
  • Development conditions tracked through approval, discharge and enforcement stages
  • Building regulations responsibilities allocated among owner, developer and contractor
  • Heritage, conservation and access restrictions identified from public records
  • Compulsory acquisition powers and compensation principles assessed for affected land
  • Planning obligations and infrastructure contributions evaluated within development appraisals
  • Use-change risks linked to lease covenants and lender requirements

Participants can assess common property-finance documents, security rights and lender protections.

  • Mortgage security documents identify charged assets, covenants and priority
  • Lender due diligence tests title, valuation, insurance and borrower authority
  • Loan conditions precedent coordinated with acquisition completion requirements
  • Intercreditor agreements allocate enforcement rights, payment priority and standstill periods
  • Security enforcement routes compared: receivership, foreclosure, sale and administration
  • Debt service breaches assessed against cure rights and acceleration clauses
  • Mezzanine, senior and shareholder funding distinguished by rights and risk

Participants can recognise legal obligations arising during development, construction and property operation.

  • Construction procurement routes allocate design, cost and completion responsibilities
  • Development agreements coordinate land transfer, milestones, remedies and infrastructure
  • Environmental due diligence investigates contamination, waste, asbestos and remediation liability
  • Environmental permits and consents tracked through development and operational phases
  • Insurance arrangements allocate property damage, public liability and construction risks
  • Latent defects, warranties and third-party rights examined before handover
  • Climate and energy obligations incorporated into acquisition and leasing decisions

Participants can assess dispute options, preserve evidence and prepare a reasoned legal position.

  • Dispute triage separates title, contract, lease and regulatory claims
  • Limitation periods and notice provisions calendared before rights expire
  • Evidence files organise correspondence, plans, payment records and inspection reports
  • Negotiation positions prepared using BATNA, reservation point and settlement authority
  • Mediation, arbitration and litigation compared by remedy, cost and confidentiality
  • Interim remedies assessed: injunctions, possession orders and preservation measures
  • CREAC advice notes present issues, authorities, analysis and recommendations

Participants can establish practical governance controls for recurring real estate legal risks.

  • Entity authority, signatory limits and board approvals verified before commitments
  • Anti-bribery controls applied to agents, brokers and public approvals
  • Sanctions and beneficial-ownership checks screened before counterparties receive payments
  • Data protection duties addressed in tenant files and property systems
  • Portfolio risk registers connect legal obligations, owners, dates and mitigations
  • Escalation protocols distinguish operational decisions from reserved legal matters
  • Thirty-day application plan prioritises contract, lease and title-control improvements

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Real estate legal due-diligence checklist
  2. Title red-flag reporting matrix
  3. Commercial lease review template
  4. Transaction closing checklist
  5. Property legal risk register
  6. IRAC and CREAC advice-note templates

Who should attend

  • Property Managers — need to manage lease obligations, consents, notices and occupier disputes
  • Real Estate Asset Managers — need to assess legal risk affecting asset value and income
  • Acquisitions Managers — need to identify title, contract and approval risks before purchase
  • Facilities Managers — need to understand occupation rights, repair duties and property compliance
  • Development Managers — need to coordinate land rights, planning conditions and development agreements
  • In-house Legal Counsel — need a structured property-law framework for commercial stakeholders

Skills and tools covered

Title due diligenceLease reviewTransaction risk allocationPlanning complianceProperty financeLegal issue analysis

Tools and standards

IRAC legal analysis framework, CREAC legal writing framework

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short legal briefings followed by document-based case work drawn from commercial leasing, acquisitions, development and property finance. Participants review title extracts, due-diligence records, contract clauses, lease provisions and dispute correspondence in small groups. Instructor-led simulations address negotiation, issue escalation and transaction completion decisions. Structured feedback links legal principles to commercial consequences. Each participant develops an application plan for property documents, controls and recurring legal risks relevant to their role.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience working with commercial property, leases, acquisitions, facilities, development projects, property finance or related contracts. They should be comfortable reading business agreements and discussing commercial risk, although prior legal training is not required. A law degree, conveyancing qualification, prior litigation experience and detailed knowledge of local land-registration procedures are not required. Participants should bring awareness of the property types and transaction issues relevant to their employer. The course explains general legal principles; it does not replace jurisdiction-specific advice from qualified counsel.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic commercial property activities or contracts, but they do not need a law degree or legal qualification. The course introduces the legal concepts needed to review documents and identify issues for escalation.

Bring examples of property documents or issues from your work if your employer permits their use and confidentiality is protected. Participants may also bring a current lease, acquisition process or property risk question to inform their application plan.

It is designed for property, asset management, facilities, acquisition, development, finance and in-house legal professionals. It is most useful for people who make or support real estate decisions without specialising exclusively in property law.

Conveyancing courses focus mainly on legal transfer procedures, while property management courses concentrate on operating buildings and occupier service. This course connects ownership, transactions, leasing, finance, planning, development and disputes through legal risk analysis.

Participants can use the due-diligence checklist, lease review template, issue-reporting structure and legal risk register in active property matters. These materials support better internal decisions and more focused instructions to external counsel.

The programme contains ten modules taught in sequence over five days, with approximately 32.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor briefings, document review, case analysis, simulations, group discussion and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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