What is the Conveyancing Process in South Africa?

The conveyancing process in South Africa is the legal transfer of immovable property from seller to purchaser, handled by a registered conveyancing attorney who prepares the transfer documents, obtains the clearance certificates and transfer duty receipt, and lodges the transaction at the relevant Deeds Registry for registration of the new title deed. The process typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from the date of the signed, unconditional offer to purchase, and longer where the purchaser is taking a new bond. It is governed by the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, with the conveyancer’s conduct regulated under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014.

Who a Conveyancer Is and Why You Need One

A conveyancing attorney is an admitted attorney registered with the Legal Practice Council who has satisfied the additional conveyancing requirements and is authorised to prepare and lodge deeds at a Deeds Registry. Property transfers in South Africa must be lodged by a registered conveyancer — sellers and purchasers cannot lodge transfers themselves.

The conveyancer acts for the purchaser on the transfer (paid by the purchaser under the standard fee convention), prepares the transfer duty declaration for SARS, obtains the rates and body corporate clearance certificates, and registers the new title deed in the purchaser’s name. In practice, a single transaction typically involves three registered roles: the conveyancing attorney attending to the transfer, the bond registration attorney attending to the purchaser’s new bond, and the bond cancellation attorney attending to cancellation of the seller’s existing bond — these may be the same firm or different firms depending on the deal.

The Legal Framework: Acts That Govern the Process

Four statutes do most of the work in any property transfer:

• Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 — governs how ownership is registered, the form and content of deeds, and what documents must be lodged.
• Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 — governs who may practise as a conveyancer and the professional conduct and fee tariff rules that apply.
• Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 (as amended) — governs the transfer duty payable to SARS on acquisition of property, currently calculated on a sliding scale above the prescribed exemption threshold.
• Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 — govern transfers of units in sectional title schemes and body corporate clearance.

The Conveyancing Process, Step by Step

1. Offer to purchase signed and accepted — The deed of sale triggers the process. Once all suspensive conditions are fulfilled, the purchaser has a short window to appoint a conveyancing attorney and pay the deposit into the conveyancer’s trust account.
2. Conveyancer formally appointed — The purchaser signs an instruction letter and pays the conveyancing fees into trust. If a bond is required, the purchaser applies to a bank in parallel and the bond originator arranges the bond registration attorney.
3. FICA and seller documentation collected — Both parties provide FICA-compliant identification and proof of residence. The seller provides the existing title deed, municipal rates clearance, body corporate certificate (for sectional title), electrical or plumbing certificates where required, bond cancellation figures if there is an existing bond, and any required SARS tax clearance.
4. Bond cancellation and bond registration arranged — If the seller has an existing bond, a bond cancellation attorney (paid by the seller) obtains a cancellation figure and lodges a consent. If the purchaser is taking a new bond, the bond registration attorney (paid by the purchaser) prepares the bond documents in parallel.
5. Transfer duty calculated and SARS receipt obtained — The conveyancer lodges the transfer duty declaration with SARS via eFiling. SARS issues a transfer duty receipt, which is a prerequisite for lodgement at the deeds registry.
6. Municipal, body corporate, and compliance clearances obtained — Rates clearance from the local municipality, body corporate clearance certificate and participation quota certificate for sectional title, and any electrical compliance or plumbing certificates required by the municipality.
7. Deeds prepared and lodged at the Deeds Registry — The conveyancer prepares the transfer deed, the bond (if any), and any supporting documents and lodges them at the relevant Deeds Registry.
8. Deeds Registry examination and requisitions — The Registrar examines the lodged documents and may raise requisitions (queries) requiring correction or supplementation. The conveyancer responds on the parties’ behalf.
9. Registration and finalisation — Once requisitions are cleared, the Registrar registers the new title deed in the purchaser’s name, the seller’s existing bond (if any) is cancelled, the seller’s proceeds (after bond cancellation, agent’s commission, and any other agreed deductions) are paid out by the conveyancer, and the original deed is delivered to the purchaser.

Typical Timelines and What Affects Them

An unconditional transaction with no bond typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from signed offer to registration. A bond-driven transaction typically runs 10 to 14 weeks, with bond approval and bond document preparation usually the slowest stage. Sectional title transactions can run longer because of the body corporate clearance certificate and participation quota certificate.

The most common causes of delay are:

• Outstanding municipal or body corporate clearances
• SARS transfer duty queries
• Slow bond approval
• Deeds registry requisitions on lodged documents
• Delays in cancellation of the seller’s existing bond

Burger Huyser Attorneys fields conveyancing and notarial work through its Bedfordview-based Notary and Conveyancer (Amanda le Roux) and supports transfers across Gauteng from the firm’s branch network — so a transaction handled through the firm will typically be run against current deeds registry turnaround times at either the Johannesburg or Pretoria office.

Typical Cost Components

The table below sets out the standard cost components in a South African property transfer. Conveyancing and bond fees are set on the Legal Practice Council tariff under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014; deeds office fees are set under the official deeds office fee schedule published by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; transfer duty is a SARS tax calculated on a sliding scale.

Cost component	Paid by	Set by	Notes
Conveyancing attorney fees (transfer)	Purchaser	Legal Practice Council tariff	Sliding scale based on purchase price
Bond registration attorney fees	Purchaser	Legal Practice Council tariff	Separate scale for the new bond
Bond cancellation attorney fees	Seller	Legal Practice Council tariff	Separate scale for cancelling the seller’s existing bond
Deeds office registration fees	Per deed of sale	Official deeds office fee schedule	Payable on lodgement
Transfer duty	Purchaser	SARS sliding scale above the exemption threshold	A tax payable to SARS — not a conveyancer fee
Postage and petties	Per agreement	Conveyancer’s actual cost	Small administrative recovery

For reference, the current SARS transfer duty rates (effective 1 April 2025) for natural persons start at 0% on the first R1,210,000 of value and rise on a sliding scale, reaching 13% of the value above R13,310,000. Always confirm the current bracket against the SARS Transfer Duty rate page before relying on a figure for a specific transaction.

What Can Go Wrong and How It’s Handled

Even on a clean file, transactions can run into hitches. The five most common are:

• Deeds registry requisitions — The Registrar queries lodged documents; the conveyancer responds on the parties’ behalf and additional costs may fall to the side whose paperwork triggered the query.
• Bond decline after lodgement — If the purchaser’s bond is declined after lodgement, the transaction typically falls away and the deposit is dealt with under the suspensive conditions in the deed of sale.
• SARS transfer duty query — SARS may dispute the declared value or the calculation; the conveyancer resolves this with input from the parties.
• Outstanding municipal or body corporate accounts — The seller must settle these before clearance is issued; without clearance, lodgement cannot proceed.
• Suspensive conditions not fulfilled — The conveyancer cannot proceed and the deposit is dealt with under the deed of sale’s clauses.

The Conveyancing Process in Gauteng: Lodging at the Right Deeds Registry

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the conveyancing process take in South Africa?

An unconditional transaction with no bond typically takes 8 to 12 weeks from signed offer to deeds registration. Bond-driven transactions generally take 10 to 14 weeks because bond approval and bond document preparation add a parallel track. Delays most commonly trace back to outstanding municipal or body corporate clearances, SARS transfer duty queries, slow bond approval, deeds registry requisitions on lodged documents, or delays in cancellation of the seller’s existing bond.

Who pays the conveyancing fees — the buyer or the seller?

Under the standard South African convention, the purchaser pays the conveyancing attorney attending to the transfer and the bond registration attorney attending to registration of any new bond, while the seller pays the bond cancellation attorney attending to cancellation of the seller’s existing bond. The deed of sale may vary this allocation by agreement between the parties, but absent any variation, transfer and bond registration costs fall on the purchaser and bond cancellation costs on the seller.

Can I do the conveyancing myself?

No — property transfers must be lodged at a Deeds Registry by a conveyancing attorney registered with the Legal Practice Council. Sellers and purchasers cannot lodge transfers themselves, and any non-attorney offering to “do the transfer” or “handle the registration” is acting unlawfully. A purchaser can, however, choose which conveyancing firm to appoint — typically the purchaser appoints the transfer attorney, and the seller appoints the bond cancellation attorney.

What is transfer duty, and how is it calculated?

Transfer duty is a tax payable to SARS on the acquisition of immovable property, calculated on the purchase price or the property’s fair market value (whichever is higher) above the exemption threshold set by SARS. The current rate is a sliding scale published by SARS. The conveyancer prepares and submits the transfer duty declaration via SARS eFiling on the purchaser’s behalf, and the SARS transfer duty receipt is a prerequisite for lodgement at the deeds registry. Transfer duty is not a conveyancer fee — it is a tax collected by SARS and paid by the purchaser.

What is the difference between a conveyancer and a notary?

In South African practice, the two qualifications often overlap. A notary public is admitted by the High Court and may attend to notarial work (ante-nuptial contracts, notarial bonds, and certain notarial deeds), while a conveyancer is an admitted attorney who has met additional conveyancing requirements and is registered to prepare and lodge deeds at a Deeds Registry. Many practitioners hold both qualifications — Burger Huyser’s Bedfordview branch has a Notary and Conveyancer on staff (Amanda le Roux).

What happens if the Registrar raises a requisition?

The Registrar examines lodged documents and may raise requisitions — formal queries requiring corrections, additional documents, or supporting affidavits before registration can proceed. The conveyancer responds on the parties’ behalf, and additional costs may fall to the side whose paperwork triggered the query. Requisitions are routine in practice and typically do not delay registration by more than a few days once answered.

Burger Huyser Attorneys handles conveyancing and notarial work through its Bedfordview-based Notary and Conveyancer (Amanda le Roux), supporting property transfers across Gauteng. If you are buying or selling and need a conveyancing attorney to handle the transfer or the bond cancellation, contact your nearest branch — Bedfordview (011 201 7190), Linden/Randburg (011 888 0246), Roodepoort (011 668 0030), Alberton (011 439 3990), Sandton (011 253 3080), Centurion (012 644 4990), Pretoria/Menlyn (012 471 5700), or Midrand (010 022 4082). The firm holds a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and fields conveyancing alongside its general practice, family law, and litigation work.