Understanding Your
Transfer Costs

Property transfer costs aren't a single fee — they're a collection of distinct charges, most of which fall on the buyer's shoulders.

In South African conveyancing practice, the party who buys the property is customarily responsible for settling what are collectively known as "transfer costs." The seller's obligations are narrower but still meaningful. Here is a plain breakdown of every line item you can expect to see on your statement of account.

One important caveat: the Consumer Protection Act applies to certain commercial transactions. Where it does, the cost of delivery (i.e., transfer) actually shifts to the seller unless the agreement expressly states otherwise — so always read your sale agreement carefully.

In South Africa's conveyancing system, only a qualified conveyancer — an admitted attorney with a specialist Deeds certificate — may register a property transfer. That professional expertise comes at a cost, and it is almost always the buyer who picks up the tab.

The conveyancer's professional fee is calculated with reference to the value of the transaction. As the purchase price rises, so does the fee, though it scales progressively rather than linearly. The fee schedule is periodically updated — currently benchmarked against the Law Society of South Africa's Conveyancing Fee Guideline — so your conveyancer will always calculate the exact amount applicable at the time of your transfer.

When a deed of transfer is registered at the Deeds Registry, the government charges a registration fee. This is a statutory charge — not the conveyancer's fee — and it goes directly to the state. It is calculated on the purchase price of the property or its market value, whichever is the greater.

An important nuance: deeds office fees are already classified as secondary tax in South Africa. As a result, VAT is not charged on top of them. What the gazette says is what you pay — no additional percentage is added.

These fees are updated annually by publication in the Government Gazette (most recently effective 1 April 2026), so current rates should always be confirmed at the time of your transfer. Your conveyancer will include the exact amount on your pro forma account.

Transfer Duty Sliding Scale — Current Rates

Effective from 1 April 2025 and unchanged for the 2026/2027 tax year — confirm with SARS at the time of your transfer.

Rates are set by the Minister of Finance and confirmed annually in the Budget. Use the calculator above for an instant estimate, and always verify the current scale with SARS or your conveyancer at the time of your transaction.

Transfer duty is a tax imposed by the Transfer Duty Act on anyone who acquires an interest in immovable property. It is payable by the buyer to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), and no deed of transfer may be registered at the Deeds Office until SARS has issued a transfer duty receipt confirming that the tax has been paid — or an exemption certificate confirming that none is owed.

The tax is calculated on the value of the property — which means the higher of the agreed purchase price or the fair market value as determined by SARS. Movable items included in the sale (appliances, pool equipment, etc.) do not form part of the dutiable value, which is why a properly drafted sale agreement should separate out the value of any movables.

Transfer duty and VAT are mutually exclusive. If the seller is a VAT vendor making a taxable supply, VAT at 15% is added to the purchase price instead, and transfer duty falls away entirely. In that case, SARS issues a transfer duty exemption certificate (under section 9(15) of the Transfer Duty Act) which is lodged at the Deeds Office in place of the duty receipt.

South African law requires that before any property changes hands, the seller must demonstrate that all outstanding municipal rates and taxes have been settled. The mechanism for doing this is the Rates Clearance Certificate — a document issued by the municipality confirming that no arrears exist.

But here's the part many buyers miss: the municipality charges a separate administrative fee just to supply the clearance figures — the number you need to pay. This "rates clearance fee" typically falls to the buyer under the standard conveyancing arrangement. It is distinct from, and in addition to, the actual rates and taxes the seller must pay to obtain the certificate itself.

South African property law is unambiguous on this point: ownership of immovable property passes from the seller to the buyer at the precise instant the Registrar of Deeds countersigns the deed of transfer. Not when the sale agreement is signed. Not when the purchase price clears. Not when the buyer receives the keys. The registrar's pen — or rather, the registrar's digital signature — is the moment that changes everything.

This principle flows from Section 13 of the Deeds Registries Act. Where a deed of transfer is one of a batch of interdependent documents (which is typical where a bond is simultaneously registered or cancelled), the entire batch is deemed registered only when all the documents in that batch have been signed by the registrar. Everything happens simultaneously — or not at all.

Registration day is also pay day. The moment the registrar signs off on the transfer, the financial machinery of the transaction kicks into gear. Bank guarantees — the instruments that secured the purchase price during the transfer process — are called up, and funds start flowing.

But the purchase price you agreed on is not what ends up in your bank account. By the time your conveyancer has settled all the obligations flowing from the sale, what reaches you is the net proceeds. Here's how that looks in practice, using a simplified example:

Illustrative example only. Actual figures will differ based on bond balance, commission rate, municipal rates, levy obligations, and other transaction-specific factors.

It happens more often than people expect. A buyer takes occupation, only to find a leaking roof, a cracked foundation slab, or a defective electrical installation that wasn't disclosed before the sale. Whether you have any recourse — and against whom — depends on two things: the type of defect, and whether the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) applies to your transaction.

The "Voetstoots" Clause — Does It Still Protect Sellers?

Traditionally, South African sale agreements included a "voetstoots" clause — a Latin phrase meaning "as is." This clause shielded sellers from claims relating to latent defects, except where the seller knew about a defect and deliberately concealed it with fraudulent intent.

The arrival of the Consumer Protection Act changed this landscape considerably. Whether voetstoots remains valid depends entirely on whether the CPA applies to your transaction:

Where the CPA applies, the seller is liable not only for latent defects but also for patent defects unless those were expressly made known to and accepted by the buyer. If the contract was entered into despite those defects being known, the buyer may even have a right to rescind the contract within a reasonable period after discovering the defect.