How Conveyancing Fees Are Calculated in South Africa

Key takeaways

• South African conveyancing fees are usually quoted by applying a current professional-fee guideline to the value of the property being transferred. A separate bond-registration fee may be calculated from the amount of the mortgage bond. The Law Society of South Africa's 2026 guideline, effective for instructions received from 1 July 2026, uses stepped value bands rather than one percentage of the purchase price.
• The guideline is not a fixed tariff. It expressly says that conveyancing fees are negotiable and that its figures are neither minimum nor maximum fees. The guideline amounts are also net of VAT. A firm's final account can therefore differ from a calculator result because it may include an agreed professional fee, VAT, Deeds Office charges, electronic or document disbursements and approved additional work. Transfer duty, municipal or levy figures and bond-related charges are separate amounts even when they appear on the same estimate.
• The safest way to compare a quote is to ask for each item under one of four headings: professional fee, VAT, third-party disbursement, or money payable to an authority or another transaction participant. Also confirm the property value or bond amount, guideline date and assumptions used.

1. Start with the transaction, not the total at the bottom

The word “conveyancing” can refer broadly to the legal and registration work needed to transfer or register rights in land. For a short definition, see the conveyancing glossary. A property transaction may involve three different legal practices, even when the firms coordinate their work:

• the transferring conveyancer prepares and registers the transfer from seller to buyer;
• a bond-registration conveyancer prepares and registers the buyer's new mortgage bond; and
• a bond-cancellation conveyancer attends to cancellation of an existing registered bond.

Those instructions do not automatically form one professional fee. A cash purchase may have no new bond-registration fee. A financed purchase can have a transfer fee and a separate bond fee, sometimes issued by different firms. A seller with an existing bond may also receive a cancellation-attorney account.

The Deeds Registries Act requires deeds of transfer, mortgage bonds and specified title documents to be prepared by a conveyancer. It also places prescribed responsibility on the conveyancer who certifies facts relevant to registration. The professional fee is therefore payment for a regulated registration mandate and the responsibility attached to it, not simply a charge for submitting a form.

2. The 2026 guideline uses stepped value bands

For an ordinary transfer of conventional immovable property, the 2026 LSSA guideline links the recommended fee to the “value of property”. Its definition is transaction-specific. Where transfer duty is payable, the starting value is generally the higher of the purchase price and the amount on which transfer duty is payable. Different rules apply to VAT transactions, exemptions, transfers without consideration, execution sales and other special cases.

The conventional-deeds schedule effective from 1 July 2026 works as follows. All figures below are net of VAT:

“Or part thereof” matters. The next full increment can apply even if the value exceeds a band boundary by less than R50,000, R100,000, R200,000 or R1 million, depending on the band. This is why dividing the professional fee by the purchase price and treating the result as a universal percentage produces unreliable estimates.

The table is a calculation aid, not a binding quote. Confirm that the firm is using the correct edition for the date on which it received the instruction and whether it has agreed a different fee.

3. Bond-registration fees are calculated separately

The same conventional schedule gives a recommended mortgage-bond registration fee based on the value of the bond concerned. The purchase price and loan amount are often different, so the transfer and bond calculations may start with different figures.

The transfer and bond calculations may therefore sit in different value bands. Apply the schedule separately to the verified property value and verified bond amount rather than carrying one result across both instructions. The bond attorney's disbursements and the Deeds Office fee for registering the bond remain separate.

A bank initiation fee, valuation charge, insurance premium or other credit cost is not converted into a conveyancing fee merely because it appears in the same purchase budget. Ask which entity charges each amount and which document governs it.

4. What the guideline professional fee generally covers

The LSSA guideline describes a broad core mandate. Depending on the transaction, the recommended fee includes general conveyancing work needed to obtain proper execution and registration, including:

• taking and giving instructions and conducting necessary correspondence;
• reviewing the completed deed of sale for the registration mandate;
• preparing powers of attorney, declarations, affidavits, resolutions and other necessary ancillary documents;
• checking party details, representative authority and relevant title conditions;
• making financial arrangements and coordinating guarantees;
• attending to transfer duty or VAT and clearance certificates as part of the registration process;
• preparing the registrable deed and required copies;
• coordinating simultaneous lodgement with other conveyancers where required; and
• attending to lodgement, examination and registration at the deeds registry.

This work explains why two quotes should be compared by scope, not only by the professional-fee number. A low figure that excludes necessary work is not equivalent to an inclusive figure. Conversely, an ordinary fee should not silently be charged again for work already described as included.

The title-deed glossary explains the registered record that results from the transfer process. The broader property-transfer service page places the fee stage in the full transaction sequence.

5. Work that can be charged separately

The guideline identifies work that the ordinary recommended fee does not include. Examples can include drafting the deed of sale, resolving a dispute between seller and buyer, negotiating an addendum, obtaining collateral-security documents, issuing additional undertakings or guarantees, dealing with a trust investment, certain Financial Intelligence Centre Act compliance work, or handling municipal refunds and reconciliations through an outside agent.

Some additional items have their own suggested amount in the guideline; others depend on time, complexity, risk or the work actually required. Multiple properties, units or rights in the same instrument can also affect the recommended calculation.

The guideline recommends that additional charges and disbursements be agreed with the client in advance. A useful written estimate should therefore say:

• what transaction and property the mandate covers;
• the applicable value and fee-guideline date;
• whether the professional fee follows the guideline, a discount or another agreement;
• whether figures are VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive;
• what ordinary work is included;
• which possible extras require prior approval; and
• which third-party amounts are estimates that can change.

Use the property-transfer checklist to keep the quote, sale agreement, bond documents and payment requests together.

6. Costs that are not the conveyancer's professional fee

A transfer estimate commonly places several categories on one page. Keeping them separate makes the calculation easier to verify.

Transfer duty

Transfer duty is a tax on qualifying property acquisitions. SARS says the acquirer pays it, subject to the applicable exemptions and transaction rules. The rate is determined from the effective table for the date of acquisition and the relevant property value. A transaction subject to VAT may be treated differently, so a zero transfer-duty line does not mean that the transaction has no tax consequence.

The attorney administers the transfer-duty process, but the tax is not converted into professional income. The current rates belong in a total buyer-cost calculation, not in the formula for the conveyancing fee itself.

Deeds Office fees

The Deeds Office charges prescribed fees for registry services. The schedule effective from 27 March 2026 includes a lodgement fee and value-banded charges for transfers and bonds. Those government charges are separate from the LSSA professional-fee guideline.

Disbursements

Searches, certificates, electronic instruction or document services, postage, copying, correspondent work and other third-party expenses may appear as disbursements. Ask for the provider or basis of any unfamiliar line and whether the amount is fixed, estimated or incurred only if needed.

Municipal, sectional-title and association figures

Rates clearance, levy clearance, advance collections, adjustments and related certificate amounts depend on the property, authority, scheme and agreement. They can be large, but they are not all attorney remuneration. A quote should distinguish money held or paid for the transaction from the firm's own fee.

7. How to compare two conveyancing estimates

Put both estimates into the same structure before comparing them:

A calculator is useful for checking the arithmetic, but it cannot read the agreement, identify the correct transaction type or know whether a special registration step is required. For transaction-specific help, use the conveyancing practice route or the lawyer directory.

8. Why an estimate can change

A revised figure is not automatically an overcharge. The purchase price or declared value may change, the final bond amount may differ from the application, a second property or right may be included, a tax treatment may be corrected, or a municipality, body corporate, bank or deeds registry may issue a different third-party amount.

The scope can also change when the parties sign an addendum, a dispute arises, authority documents are missing, an estate or trust requires additional work, extra guarantees are requested, or a transaction must be re-lodged. Each change should be linked to a document, instruction, outside invoice or agreed fee basis.

When a revised account arrives, ask for:

1. the previous and revised amounts side by side;
2. the event that caused each change;
3. the fee or authority source for the new line;
4. confirmation whether VAT is included; and
5. the amount that must be funded now versus an amount held provisionally.

Do not redirect payment merely because an email says the banking details changed. Verify every change through an independently obtained, trusted contact method before paying.

Questions to ask the conveyancer

• Is this estimate for transfer, bond registration, bond cancellation or all three?
• What property value or bond amount did you use?
• Which fee guideline and instruction date apply?
• Is the professional fee negotiable, and has any discount already been included?
• Are the guideline figures and quoted totals VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive?
• Which work is included in the ordinary fee?
• Which additional work may be charged separately, and how will I approve it?
• Which lines are taxes, registry charges or third-party disbursements?
• Which figures are provisional and when will they be reconciled?
• Which bank-account verification process must I use before payment?

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