Conveyancing Cost Calculator | Estimate Your Legal Fees

The total cost of transferring a South African property with a bond is the sum of six components: transfer duty payable to SARS, the transfer attorney’s fee, the bond registration attorney’s fee, Deeds Office registration fees, rates and levy clearance certificates, and sundry disbursements. Three of those six are fixed by the State and can be calculated to the rand before you sign anything — transfer duty under the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949, and the transfer and bond registration fees set out in the Deeds Office schedule prescribed under section 10 of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937. The attorney’s fee is not fixed by statute at all; instead, section 35 of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 gives you a right to a written cost estimate and an express right to negotiate what you pay. On an R1 800 000 property with an R1 620 000 bond, the State’s share alone comes to R25 262 before a single attorney fee is added. Most calculators return one number. This guide shows you every line behind it.

What Goes Into the Total Conveyancing Cost

A complete estimate for a standard bond-and-transfer breaks into six working lines. Each is charged by a different party, and — critically for budgeting — each has a different legal basis. Some are fixed by regulation and identical at every firm in the country; only one is genuinely negotiable.

Cost component	Set by	Variable driver	Normally paid by
Transfer duty	Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949; brackets published by SARS	Property price	Buyer
Transfer attorney’s fee	Agreement with the client, subject to Legal Practice Act s 35	Property price	Buyer
Bond registration attorney’s fee	Agreement with the client, subject to Legal Practice Act s 35	Bond amount	Buyer
Deeds Office registration fees	Schedule of Fees of Office under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937	Property price and bond amount	Buyer
Rates and levy clearance	Municipality; body corporate (sectional title)	Arrears and advance period required	Seller
Disbursements (“post and petties”)	Actual cost incurred	Per file	Buyer

The distinction matters more than it looks. Two firms quoting on the same R2 million house will show identical transfer duty and identical Deeds Office fees, because both are set by the State. Any difference between the two quotes sits almost entirely in one line: the attorney’s professional fee.

What Affects the Final Number

• Property price — drives the transfer duty bracket, the Deeds Office transfer fee band, and the attorney’s fee. It is by far the largest cost-driver.
• Whether a bond is involved — adds the entire bond registration side: a second attorney’s fee, a second Deeds Office entry, and the bank’s own charges.
• Whether the seller is a registered VAT vendor — this is the single most misunderstood variable. If the sale is a taxable supply by a VAT vendor (typically a developer or a business selling property), the price attracts VAT at 15% and no transfer duty is payable at all. A sale is subject to either VAT or transfer duty, never both.
• Property type — freehold (full title) or sectional title. The statutory cost rules are identical; sectional title adds a body corporate levy clearance requirement.
• Standard transfer versus special transaction — divorce transfers, deceased estate transfers and auction purchases each require additional documents and consultations, so the file runs longer and costs more.

Transfer Duty: The Single Biggest Line Item Above the Zero-Rated Threshold

Transfer duty is a tax on the acquisition of property, charged on the purchase price (not the bond amount) at progressive marginal rates, and it is payable by the person acquiring the property. The brackets are reset by the Minister of Finance in the annual Budget. The table below is the schedule currently published by SARS, which took effect on 1 April 2025 and carried forward unchanged into the 2027 tax year from 1 April 2026.

Value of the property	Transfer duty
R1 – R1 210 000	0%
R1 210 001 – R1 663 800	3% of the value above R1 210 000
R1 663 801 – R2 329 300	R13 614 + 6% of the value above R1 663 800
R2 329 301 – R2 994 800	R53 544 + 8% of the value above R2 329 300
R2 994 801 – R13 310 000	R106 784 + 11% of the value above R2 994 800
R13 310 001 and above	R1 241 456 + 13% of the value exceeding R13 310 000

Two timing rules catch buyers out. Duty is payable within six months of the date of acquisition, and thereafter SARS charges interest at 10% per annum for each completed month. For a conditional sale, that six-month clock runs from the last date of signature on the agreement — not from the date the suspensive conditions are fulfilled. The conveyancer ordinarily settles the duty to SARS on or before registration.

How Conveyancing Attorney Fees Are Set Under the Legal Practice Act

There is no binding statutory tariff that fixes what a conveyancer may charge a private client. Section 35(4) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 records that the desirability of establishing a mechanism to determine fees and tariffs is still the subject of an investigation by the South African Law Reform Commission, and section 35(6) empowers the Minister to set maximum tariffs only for work instructed by the State. A recommended guideline of fees for conveyancers circulates in the profession and is widely used as a benchmark, but it is a guideline, not a floor.

What the Act does give you is considerably more useful than a tariff. Under section 35(7), an attorney must, on first receiving your instructions or as soon as practically possible thereafter, give you a written cost estimate notice setting out:

1. the likely financial implications, including fees, charges, disbursements and other costs;
2. the attorney’s hourly fee rate, together with an explanation of your right to negotiate the fees payable;
3. an outline of the work to be done at each stage, where applicable;
4. the likelihood of engaging an advocate and the fees that may involve; and
5. in litigious matters, the consequences of withdrawal and the costs recovery regime.

Section 35(8) requires the attorney to explain every aspect of that notice to you verbally as well, and section 35(9) requires you to agree to the estimated costs in writing. The enforcement provisions have real teeth: non-compliance constitutes misconduct under section 35(10), and under section 35(11) a client is not required to pay any legal costs to a non-compliant attorney until the Legal Practice Council has reviewed the matter and determined what is payable.

The practical takeaway: you are not asking a favour when you ask a conveyancer to itemise a quote and explain the fee. Section 35 obliges them to do it in writing, and to tell you that you may negotiate.

Burger Huyser Attorneys fields this work through its Notarial and Conveyancing services practice area, and issues the section 35 cost estimate on the same basis for every property file.

Deeds Office Registration Fees — The Figures Nobody Publishes

Deeds Office fees are prescribed by the Deeds Registries Regulations Board under section 10 of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 and reissued annually. The schedule below is the 2026/2027 schedule, effective 1 April 2026. These amounts are identical at every deeds registry in the country and at every firm — they are a government charge, not a professional fee.

Property value (transfer)	Fee	Bond amount	Fee
Up to R100 000	R50	Up to R150 000	R561
R100 001 – R200 000	R114	R150 001 – R300 000	R727
R200 001 – R300 000	R727	R300 001 – R600 000	R956
R300 001 – R600 000	R956	R600 001 – R800 000	R1 346
R600 001 – R800 000	R1 346	R800 001 – R1 000 000	R1 546
R800 001 – R1 000 000	R1 546	R1 000 001 – R2 000 000	R1 738
R1 000 001 – R2 000 000	R1 738	R2 000 001 – R4 000 000	R2 408
R2 000 001 – R4 000 000	R2 408	R4 000 001 – R6 000 000	R2 922
R4 000 001 – R6 000 000	R2 922	R6 000 001 – R8 000 000	R3 480
R6 000 001 – R8 000 000	R3 480	R8 000 001 – R10 000 000	R4 068
R8 000 001 – R10 000 000	R4 068	R10 000 001 – R15 000 000	R4 844
R10 000 001 – R15 000 000	R4 844	R15 000 001 – R20 000 000	R5 818
R15 000 001 – R20 000 000	R5 818	R20 000 001 – R30 000 000	R6 781
Above R20 000 000	R7 751	Above R30 000 000	R9 690

A lodgement fee of R52 per deed or document applies in addition, and withdrawing a deed already lodged for registration costs R270.

Bond Registration Costs in Detail

• Bond attorney’s fee — charged by the attorney the bank instructs to register the bond, calculated on the bond amount rather than the purchase price. This is frequently the same firm attending to the transfer, but it is a separate mandate and a separate fee.
• Deeds Office bond registration fee — per the bond column in the schedule above.
• Bank-initiated charges — the bank’s own initiation fee and the valuation fee paid to its valuator. These are levied by the bank, not the attorney, and do not appear on the conveyancer’s account.
• Payout on registration — the bank releases the bond funds to the conveyancer on registration, from which transfer duty, the cancellation of any existing bond and the seller’s proceeds are settled in turn.
• Bond cancellation on refinancing — an existing bond must be formally cancelled at the Deeds Office by a cancellation attorney appointed by the outgoing bank, with its own fee. The Deeds Office charge for a cancellation or release is R178. Buyers routinely omit this line because they have no bond to cancel yet; owners refinancing should not.

Disbursements and Clearance Costs (“Post and Petties”)

Clearance certificates are not administrative courtesies — they are statutory preconditions to registration, and they are the most common cause of a delayed transfer.

• Municipal rates clearance certificate — under section 118(1) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, a registrar of deeds may not register a transfer without a prescribed certificate from the municipality confirming that all amounts due in connection with the property during the two years preceding the date of application have been fully paid. Section 118(1A) makes that certificate valid for only 60 days from issue, so a stalled file can require it to be applied for twice. Section 118(3) makes the debt a charge on the property that ranks ahead of any mortgage bond.
• Body corporate levy clearance — for sectional title, section 15B(3)(a)(i)(aa) of the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 bars the registrar from registering the transfer unless a conveyancer certifies that the body corporate has confirmed all moneys owed to it by the seller have been paid, or that provision has been made to its satisfaction.
• Electrical certificate of compliance — required where the sale agreement places the obligation on the seller, as it usually does. An electric fence certificate is separately required where a fence is installed.
• Plumbing or water certificate — depends on the by-laws of the relevant metro and on the sale agreement.
• FICA verification — attorneys are accountable institutions under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 and must verify the identity and source of funds of both parties. This is a per-file compliance cost.
• Sundries — postage, courier, telephonic clearance enquiries and electronic file setup, typically in the low hundreds of rand in total.

Freehold vs Sectional Title — Cost Differences

Factor	Freehold (full title)	Sectional title
Transfer duty	Same SARS brackets	Same SARS brackets
Attorney’s fee basis	Same	Same
Deeds Office fees	Same schedule	Same schedule
Rates clearance	Required	Required
Levy clearance	Not applicable	Required — Sectional Titles Act s 15B(3)
Body corporate rules review	Not applicable	Usually required before the bank releases the bond

Both property types follow the same statutory cost structure. The consistent difference is the levy clearance line and, on the bond-approval side, the bank’s review of the scheme’s conduct rules and the managing agent’s records.

Special Transactions That Add Cost

• Divorce transfer — requires the settlement agreement made an order of court, plus the endorsement or transfer giving effect to it. More documents, more consultations, longer file.
• Deceased estate transfer — requires Letters of Executorship issued by the Master of the High Court under the Administration of Estates Act 66 of 1965, together with the consents and Master’s clearance appropriate to the estate. Materially longer than a standard sale.
• Auction purchase — usually a compressed registration timeline, which can attract an urgency premium and leaves no slack for a late clearance certificate.
• Bond cancellation on refinancing — a separate cancellation attorney and a separate Deeds Office entry, as set out above.
• Simultaneous bond and transfer — the ordinary case, and not a surcharge scenario. Lodging both together is standard practice.
• Voetstoots sale — an “as is” clause does not change conveyancing cost at all; it affects the price negotiation and the seller’s liability for defects, nothing else.

Divorce transfers and deceased estate transfers sit at the intersection of two practice areas, which is why Burger Huyser handles them alongside its divorce law and deceased estate administration departments rather than treating them as routine transfers.

What to Look for When Choosing a Conveyancing Attorney

• A written, itemised cost estimate — section 35(7) entitles you to one. It should separate the professional fee, the disbursements, the Deeds Office fee and VAT, so you can see which lines are negotiable and which are fixed by the State.
• Willingness to explain the fee — a conveyancer should be able to say what the fee is based on and confirm your right to negotiate it, because the Act requires that explanation.
• Confirmed enrolment as a conveyancer — under section 26(2) of the Legal Practice Act an attorney qualifies for enrolment as a conveyancer only after passing the competency-based conveyancing examination determined by the Legal Practice Council. Not every attorney is a conveyancer.
• Experience at the relevant deeds registry — a firm that lodges regularly at the registry your property falls under will know its current turnaround pressures.
• Both sides of the file — where the same firm attends to the transfer and the bond registration, the two lodgements are co-ordinated internally rather than across two practices.
• Proactive chasing at clearance stage — most delays trace back to an outstanding rates or levy clearance, and a 60-day certificate that expires must be reapplied for.

Burger Huyser Attorneys meets that profile through its Notarial and Conveyancing services practice, with Notary and Conveyancer Amanda le Roux based at the Bedfordview branch — property transfers being one of the services clients name most often in the firm’s Google reviews.

How to Use a Conveyancing Cost Calculator

1. Enter the purchase price. This sets the transfer duty bracket and the Deeds Office transfer fee band, and is the basis on which most attorneys quote.
2. Enter the bond amount, if any. This drives the bond attorney’s fee and the Deeds Office bond fee — both calculated on the bond, not the price.
3. Confirm whether the seller is a registered VAT vendor. If the sale is a taxable supply, VAT applies and transfer duty falls away entirely. Ignore any “first-time buyer” field; it has no effect on transfer duty in South Africa.
4. Select the property type — freehold or sectional title — which switches the levy clearance requirement on or off.
5. Indicate whether an existing bond must be cancelled, which applies on refinancing and on most sales, and adds a cancellation attorney’s fee.
6. Note the property’s location, which determines the deeds registry where the transfer is lodged and the municipality that issues the rates clearance.
7. Read the itemised output. If the tool returns a single lump sum with no breakdown, you cannot tell which portion is a government charge and which is a professional fee — and only one of those is negotiable.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is included in conveyancing costs in South Africa?

A standard bond-and-transfer comprises six components: transfer duty payable to SARS on the purchase price, the transfer attorney’s fee, the bond registration attorney’s fee, Deeds Office registration fees for both the transfer and the bond, rates and levy clearance certificates from the municipality and (for sectional title) the body corporate, and sundry disbursements such as postage, courier and FICA verification. Transfer duty and the Deeds Office fees are fixed by the State and are identical at every firm. The attorney’s fee is the only genuinely negotiable line.

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

The buyer ordinarily pays transfer duty, the transfer attorney’s fee, the bond registration attorney’s fee and the Deeds Office fees. The seller ordinarily pays for the rates clearance certificate, the levy clearance where applicable, the cancellation of any existing bond, the compliance certificates required by the sale agreement, and the levies and rates up to the date of transfer. Estate agent’s commission is normally the seller’s account. This is convention rather than law, so the actual split must be confirmed against the signed offer to purchase for each transaction.

How accurate is a conveyancing cost calculator?

A calculator is accurate for the statutory components and only an estimate for the rest. Transfer duty and Deeds Office fees can be computed exactly from the published SARS brackets and the Deeds Office schedule. Attorney fees are not set by statute, so any figure a calculator shows for them is a firm’s own assumption. Calculators also miss complications such as VAT-vendor sellers, divorce and deceased estate transfers, expired clearance certificates and bond cancellations. The brackets and the Deeds Office schedule are also reset annually, so an outdated tool will quietly produce a wrong number. The reliable figure is the written cost estimate an attorney must give you under section 35(7) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014.

How much does it cost to transfer a property in South Africa in 2026?

There is no single transfer fee — the total depends on the price, whether a bond is involved and whether the seller is a VAT vendor. The State’s portion can be calculated exactly. On an R1 800 000 property with an R1 620 000 bond, transfer duty is R21 786, the Deeds Office transfer fee is R1 738 and the Deeds Office bond fee is R1 738, giving R25 262 in government charges before any attorney fee. Below the R1 210 000 zero-rated threshold no transfer duty is payable at all, which typically leaves only a few thousand rand in Deeds Office fees. Attorney fees are quoted per file and must be confirmed in writing.

Can I do my own property transfer without an attorney in South Africa?

No. Under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 a deed of transfer must be prepared by a conveyancer before the registrar will register it, and section 33(3) of the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014 prohibits anyone who is not an admitted conveyancer from performing, for reward, work that may only be done by a conveyancer. A conveyancer is a practising attorney who has passed the competency-based conveyancing examination and been enrolled as such under section 26(2) of the Act. A self-prepared transfer will not be accepted for registration.

How long does a property transfer take in South Africa?

In practice a straightforward bond-and-transfer takes roughly eight to twelve weeks from signature of the offer to purchase to registration, though this is a practical estimate rather than a statutory period. The timeline depends on how quickly the bond is granted, how fast the municipality issues the rates clearance certificate, and the current lodgement turnaround at the relevant deeds registry. Because a rates clearance certificate is valid for only 60 days under section 118(1A) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000, a file that stalls may need it reissued. Divorce, deceased estate and auction transfers take longer.

Transfer duty brackets and Deeds Office fees are outside any firm’s control. The structure of the quote and the pace of the file are not. Burger Huyser Attorneys handles property transfers and bond registrations through its Notarial and Conveyancing services practice, with Notary and Conveyancer Amanda le Roux based at the Bedfordview branch. For a written cost estimate on a specific transfer or bond-and-transfer, contact the head office on 011 888 0246 (after-hours 061 516 6878) at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, 2194, the Bedfordview branch on 011 201 7190 (45A Florence Avenue), or the Centurion branch on 012 644 4990 (257 Jean Avenue, Central Office Park). Office hours are Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 4:30pm. Bring the offer to purchase and the bond approval letter to the first consultation so the estimate can be worked out against the actual figures rather than a generic bracket. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified, “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”), with property transfers among the services clients name most frequently.