How Much Will Conveyancing Cost in South Africa? | Calculate Now

Conveyancing costs in South Africa are not a single fee — they are a stack of separate charges that buyers and sellers split by convention. The main components are the conveyancer’s professional fee (no longer tariff-regulated under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, and quoted per file), transfer duty collected by SARS under the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 (calculated on the property’s purchase price on a sliding scale, with a full exemption up to the current threshold), Deeds Office registration fees set by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development under the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, and — if a bond is involved — separate bond-registration and bond-cancellation fees paid to the registering and cancelling attorneys respectively. Smaller but unavoidable line items include FICA compliance work, rates clearance and figures certificate from the municipality, postage and petties, and (for sectional-title units) the body corporate clearance and levy certificate. The total bill is driven by the property’s purchase price, whether a bond is being registered or cancelled, whether the transaction is a registration of a new deed or a transfer of an existing one, and how much supplementary work the file needs.

Why Conveyancing Has a “Cost Stack” Rather Than a Single Fee

A property transfer in South Africa touches at least three independent role-players — the conveyancer, SARS, and the Deeds Office — each of whom levies their own charge. On top of that, optional but standard municipal and bond-stage costs add further lines, which is why the bill is itemised rather than rolled into a single figure.

The post-2014 Legal Practice Act dispensation changed how the conveyancer’s professional fee is set. There is no longer a single compulsory tariff binding on every attorney, and firms quote per file. That makes the conveyancer’s line the most negotiable item in the bundle — every other line is either fixed by a published schedule (Deeds Office fees) or calculated by reference to a statutory formula (transfer duty).

The Four Big Cost Lines (and What Each One Actually Is)

Cost line	Who levies it	What it covers	What drives it up or down
Conveyancer’s professional fee	The transferring attorney (a qualified conveyancer / notary)	The full professional work of transferring the property into the buyer’s name — title investigation, deed drafting, FICA, lodgement, registration, correspondence	Property price, complexity of the file (e.g. multiple bonds, interdicts, conditions), and the firm’s quoted fee per file under the post-2014 dispensation
Transfer duty	SARS (collected by the conveyancer on SARS’s behalf at lodgement)	A tax on the acquisition of property, calculated as a percentage of the purchase price above the current exempt threshold, with brackets rising to a top rate for high-value properties	Purchase price — entirely a function of price, with sliding-scale brackets set by the Minister of Finance in each budget
Deeds Office registration fees	The Department of Land Reform and Rural Development via the relevant Deeds Office	The state fee for recording the new deed in the deeds registry	Fixed schedule per transaction type — see the current deeds.gov.za fee schedule for exact figures; the user pays the published amount, not a quoted one
Bond registration / bond cancellation fees	The bond-registration attorney and bond-cancellation attorney (often the same firm, sometimes not)	The work of registering the buyer’s new bond against the title, and cancelling the seller’s existing bond on transfer	Bond amount for registration, and whether a bond is being cancelled at all — a cash buyer pays nothing on either line

Transfer Duty: How the Sliding Scale Works

Transfer duty is governed by the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 and the rates are set by the Minister of Finance in the annual budget; the conveyancer calculates and pays SARS on the buyer’s behalf at lodgement. The structure is a sliding scale: a portion of the price below the first threshold is exempt, then progressively higher rates apply to each successive bracket — so the marginal rate climbs, not the average rate.

The current SARS transfer duty rates for natural persons (effective 1 April 2025 and unchanged for the 2026/2027 year of assessment) are:

Value of property (R)	Rate
1 – 1,210,000	0%
1,210,001 – 1,663,800	3% of value above R1,210,000
1,663,801 – 2,329,300	R13,614 + 6% of value above R1,663,800
2,329,301 – 2,994,800	R53,544 + 8% of value above R2,329,300
2,994,801 – 13,310,000	R106,784 + 11% of value above R2,994,800
13,310,001 and above	R1,241,456 + 13% of value above R13,310,000

Acquisitions by juristic persons (companies, trusts) historically paid a flat percentage above a higher threshold, and recent budgets have adjusted both the threshold and the rate for those acquisitions — confirm the current juristic-person rate with SARS or the transferring attorney before signing. Special exemptions apply in defined cases (acquisitions below the exempt threshold, certain spousal and inheritance transactions, and any current SARS-published exemption categories). A buyer near a bracket boundary should ask the conveyancer to confirm the exact figure before signing, because the threshold changes in each budget update.

Deeds Office Registration Fees: The Fixed Component

These are set by the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development via the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 and published on deeds.gov.za. The fees are paid to the relevant Deeds Office at lodgement and are passed on to the client at cost — there is no markup and no negotiation.

They differ by transaction type: transfer of an existing deed, lodgement of a new deed (e.g. a sectional-title first registration), bond registration, and bond cancellation each have separate published fees. As a snapshot of the current schedule (effective 1 April 2026), the transfer fee for a property at R1,500,000 is R1,738, and the matching bond registration fee is also R1,738; a property at R5,000,000 attracts a transfer fee of R2,922 and a bond registration fee of R2,922; cancellation of a registered mortgage bond costs R178; and the per-deed lodgement fee is R52. Because the schedule changes when fees are amended by Government Notice, treat these as illustrative figures and cross-check the live schedule on deeds.gov.za before quoting or paying.

Which Deeds Office the file is lodged at is determined by where the property physically is. South Africa has 11 regional deeds registries — Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Bloemfontein, King William’s Town, Vryheid, Kimberley, Mthatha, and Polokwane handling their respective provinces — and the registration fee is the same figure regardless of which office you use. If a buyer or seller is unsure which Deeds Office covers a given property, the transferring attorney confirms this at the start of the file from the property description.

The Conveyancer’s Professional Fee: What You Are Actually Paying For

The attorney’s work runs from instruction to registration, and includes FICA verification of both parties, deeds search, draft deed preparation, bond instructions, rates and levy clearance chasing, transfer duty calculation and SARS payment, Deeds Office lodgement, query resolution, and final registration follow-up.

The work is largely the same on every file in shape, but varies in time depending on the complexity of the chain of title, the number of bonds, the presence of interdicts or endorsements, and whether queries are raised by the Deeds Office after lodgement. Under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014, conveyancing fees are no longer strictly tariff-bound; firms quote per file, and the fee should be set out clearly in the conveyancer’s letter of engagement before instruction.

This is the line where honest quoting matters most. A buyer or seller comparing quotes should make sure the per-file quote covers the full stack — conveyancer’s fee, transfer duty, Deeds Office fees, FICA, municipal and body corporate clearances, postage and petties, and bond costs where relevant — rather than just the conveyancer’s fee on its own. Burger Huyser Attorneys quotes per file after the initial review, with the fee set out in a letter of engagement before instruction — an approach consistent with the post-2014 dispensation and with the firm’s broader cost-honesty reputation in client reviews.

Smaller — But Still Real — Line Items

• FICA compliance — verification of identity and source-of-funds for both buyer and seller under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001; included in the conveyancer’s fee, sometimes itemised separately.
• Rates clearance and figures certificate — obtained from the municipality where the property is situated; a fixed municipal charge plus the conveyancer’s time to chase it.
• Levy clearance and body corporate certificate (for sectional-title units) — issued by the body corporate or HOA; confirms what is owed and that the body corporate has no objection to the transfer.
• Postage and petties — a small but standard itemised amount covering registered post, deeds searches, and sundries.
• Tax clearance — a SARS tax clearance PIN is required from the seller before the Deeds Office will accept lodgement in many cases; the conveyancer typically obtains this as part of the file.
• Bond costs — if the buyer’s bond is registered or the seller’s bond is cancelled, the relevant attorney charges a separate fee per bond; if it’s the same firm, this is usually quoted as a single combined figure.

What Pushes the Total Bill Up or Down — A Practical Comparison

Scenario	What changes in the cost stack
Cash buyer, no bond on either side	No bond registration fee, no bond cancellation fee — the lowest-cost scenario
Bond being registered by the buyer	Adds the bond-registration attorney’s professional fee plus the Deeds Office bond-registration fee
Existing bond being cancelled by the seller	Adds the bond-cancellation attorney’s professional fee plus the Deeds Office bond-cancellation fee
High-value property	Pushes the buyer into the upper transfer duty brackets; the conveyancer’s fee also climbs with the property price in most fee structures
Property below the exempt threshold	Transfer duty is zero — the conveyancer’s fee, Deeds Office fees, and bond costs still apply
Sectional-title unit vs. free-standing	Adds body corporate levy clearance to the cost stack; scheme rules can also lengthen the timeline
Clean title vs. complex title	A property with multiple bonds, interdicts, or unregistered portions of the erf will take more conveyancer time and push the fee up

What to Bring and What to Ask at the First Conveyancer Meeting

For the buyer, bring your ID, proof of residence, FICA documents (utility bill, bank confirmation), bond approval letter from the bank, and the offer-to-purchase. For the seller, bring your ID, proof of residence, FICA documents, the existing title deed if available, latest rates account, latest levy certificate (for sectional title), bond statement from the existing bondholder, and tax clearance.

Questions worth putting to the conveyancer at the first meeting:

1. What is the per-file fee quote — not just “the transfer fee”, but the full quoted professional fee for the conveyancer’s own work?
2. Who pays what by convention in this transaction, and is the allocation confirmed in the offer-to-purchase?
3. Will the same firm handle the bond registration and cancellation, or will separate attorneys be appointed by the bank?
4. What will the Deeds Office fee line be on the current schedule, and is the schedule dated and referenced?
5. What triggers supplementary work that would change the quoted fee, and how will that be communicated before it is incurred?

For a quote specific to a property transaction, the Bedfordview branch (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2008; 011 201 7190) — the office led by Notary & Conveyancer Amanda le Roux — is the practical starting point; queries can also be directed to the head office at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, 2194 (011 888 0246) or the branch closest to the property.

How Burger Huyser Approaches Conveyancing Costs

Burger Huyser Attorneys fields conveyancing work through its Notarial & Conveyancing services practice, with a qualified Notary and Conveyancer on staff. The firm quotes on a per-file basis after the initial file review, with the fee set out in a letter of engagement before instruction — consistent with the post-2014 dispensation and with the firm’s broader cost-honesty reputation reflected in client reviews.

This is the gap the firm’s conveyancing practice is set up for: a per-file quote that names every line on the stack, distinguishes between conveyancer’s fee and third-party charges, and tells the buyer or seller up front what would change the figure. The Bedfordview branch (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, 2008; 011 201 7190) is the lead conveyancing office; the Centurion branch (012 644 4990) and Pretoria branch (012 471 5700) handle files in the Pretoria Deeds Office catchment; and the head office at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg (011 888 0246) coordinates instructions outside Gauteng.

For a per-file conveyancing quote tailored to your specific transaction, contact Burger Huyser Attorneys’ conveyancing team via the Bedfordview branch on 011 201 7190 (45A Florence Avenue, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, 2008) — the office led by Notary & Conveyancer Amanda le Roux — or the head office at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg on 011 888 0246. Transfers in the Centurion or Menlyn area can also be opened through the Centurion branch on 012 644 4990 or the Pretoria branch on 012 471 5700. The firm quotes per file after the initial review and gives an honest cost conversation up front rather than a loose estimate — a reflection of the approach that has earned it a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified, “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”).

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are conveyancing fees in South Africa for a typical property transfer?

There is no single national fee because the cost stack has four main independent lines: the conveyancer’s professional fee (quoted per file under the Legal Practice Act dispensation), SARS transfer duty on a sliding scale (zero below the exempt threshold and rising through higher brackets), Deeds Office registration fees (fixed per the deeds.gov.za schedule), and bond-registration and bond-cancellation costs if a bond is involved. For a rough estimate, request a per-file quote from a conveyancer and ask them to itemise each line against the purchase price.

Do I pay transfer duty on a property below the current exempt threshold?

Transfer duty is set to zero below the threshold published by SARS in the Transfer Duty Act for natural persons — currently R1,210,000 for the 2026/2027 year of assessment — so a property under the threshold attracts no transfer duty. The conveyancer’s professional fee, Deeds Office registration fees, and any bond costs still apply; the exemption is on the SARS line only. Confirm the current threshold with SARS or with the transferring attorney before signing, because the threshold changes in budget updates.

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

By convention in South African property transfers, the buyer typically pays the conveyancer’s professional transfer fee, transfer duty, and bond registration costs, and the seller typically pays the bond cancellation costs and the rates clearance. Municipal debts and levies are settled from the proceeds of the sale before the seller receives the balance. The split can be negotiated in the offer-to-purchase, so confirm the allocation in the contract before signing.

How long does the conveyancing process take?

A typical transfer takes roughly eight to twelve weeks from instruction to registration, longer if the bond is registered later in the file, if the Deeds Office raises a query, or if municipal or body corporate clearances are delayed. The timeline is set by the lodgement-to-registration window at the Deeds Office (typically several working days once the file is in order) plus whatever time it takes to get the file to a lodgement-ready state at the start.

Do I need a separate bond attorney, or can the same conveyancer handle the bond?

It depends on the bank. Some banks appoint their own bond-registration attorneys (and sometimes their own bond-cancellation attorney for the seller’s existing bond), in which case the buyer cannot choose their own bond attorney. Where the bank allows it, the same conveyancer can handle the transfer and the bond registration, which usually reduces the cost and simplifies the file. The bond cancellation of the seller’s existing bond is often handled by a separate attorney appointed by the seller’s bank, regardless of who does the transfer.

Can the conveyancer quote a single all-in figure for the whole transfer?

Most South African conveyancers will quote a single all-in professional fee on their own line (their own attorney-and-conveyancer work) and then itemise the third-party charges (transfer duty, Deeds Office fees, clearance certificates, postage and petties). An all-in figure including those third-party charges is less useful because it can vary as each third-party line is confirmed; the cleaner practice is to ask for the conveyancer’s own quoted fee separately and confirm the third-party lines against the published schedules and SARS.