01Costs
Published, so you can check it against anyone else.
Most of what you pay on a transfer is not the conveyancer's fee. Knowing the split is the difference between feeling overcharged and understanding the bill.
Transfer duty is the SARS transfer duty table, 2027 tax year, for acquisitions on or after 1 April 2026. The conveyancing fee is the Law Society of South Africa recommended guideline, net of VAT, effective 1 July 2026, and is negotiable. Deeds office charges are Government Gazette 54225 of 27 February 2026, effective 1 April 2026. Every figure below is worked from those three, and every date is the one it took effect on.
02In practice
Three purchases, drawn to scale.
- Transfer duty to SARS
- R0
- Conveyancing fee
- R26 275
- Bond registration
- R17 800
- Deeds office and sundries
- R3 100
- Total
- R47 175
- Transfer duty to SARS
- R39 786
- Conveyancing fee
- R38 995
- Bond registration
- R24 400
- Deeds office and sundries
- R4 850
- Total
- R108 031
- Transfer duty to SARS
- R272 356
- Conveyancing fee
- R64 435
- Bond registration
- R37 200
- Deeds office and sundries
- R6 400
- Total
- R380 391
The bond figures assume a bond for the purchase price less a ten per cent deposit. A cash purchase removes that bar entirely.
03Transfer duty
Paid to SARS, not to us.
Duty is calculated on the purchase price and is the buyer's to pay. Where the seller is a VAT vendor selling in the course of their enterprise, VAT applies instead and no duty is payable — usually the case on a new development.
| Purchase price | Duty payable |
|---|---|
| Up to R1,210,000 | None |
| R1,210,001 – R1,663,800 | 3% of the value above R1,210,000 |
| R1,663,801 – R2,329,300 | R13,614 + 6% above R1,663,800 |
| R2,329,301 – R2,994,800 | R53,544 + 8% above R2,329,300 |
| R2,994,801 – R13,310,000 | R106,784 + 11% above R2,994,800 |
| Above R13,310,000 | R1,241,456 + 13% above R13,310,000 |
04Conveyancing and bond fees
Two fees, on two different amounts.
The transfer fee is calculated on the purchase price. The bond fee is calculated on the amount of the bond, and it is charged by your bank's attorney rather than by us. Both include VAT.
| Purchase price | Transfer duty | Conveyancing fee |
|---|---|---|
| R750,000 | R0 | R22,035 |
| R1,000,000 | R0 | R26,275 |
| R1,500,000 | R8,700 | R32,635 |
| R2,000,000 | R33,786 | R36,875 |
| R3,000,000 | R107,356 | R47,475 |
| R5,000,000 | R327,356 | R68,675 |
Conveyancing fees exclude VAT. On top of both columns sits the deeds office registration fee, which is a published schedule and not ours to set — R50 on a transaction under R100,000, R1,738 at R2,000,000, R7,751 above R20,000,000— and sundries such as searches, postage, FICA verification and the electronic lodgement charge, billed at cost. Bond registration is quoted separately, on the bond amount rather than on the purchase price.
05Who pays what
| Cost | Paid by |
|---|---|
| Transfer duty or VAT | Buyer |
| Conveyancing fee on the transfer | Buyer |
| Deeds office registration fee | Buyer |
| Bond registration costs | Buyer |
| Rates clearance figures, paid in advance | Seller |
| Levy clearance, on sectional title | Seller |
| Bond cancellation costs | Seller |
| Compliance certificates | Seller |
| Estate agent commission | Seller |
| Occupational rent, if you move in early | Whoever moves in |
This is the convention, not the law. An offer to purchase can move any of it and some do. Read that clause before you sign. By the time it reaches us it is already agreed.
06Not in the figures above
Four things quoted separately.
A disputed municipal account
If the council’s figures are wrong, sorting it out is work we quote separately before we start it.
Deceased estates and divorces
Where the seller is an estate, or the transfer follows a divorce order, there are extra steps and an extra fee. Quoted at instruction.
Sectional title openings and consolidations
A new scheme, a subdivision or a consolidation is a separate matter from the transfer.
Rush lodgement
We do not charge for it. If a date can be met we will meet it. If it cannot, no fee makes it possible.
06Sectional title