Bond Registration Cost Calculator
Estimate attorney and deeds office fees to register your home loan bond.
Last reviewed: Source: LSSA — Recommended attorney fee tariffs
What bond registration actually costs
When a bank gives you a home loan, the loan must be registered against the property at the Deeds Office. That registration isn’t free: you — the buyer — pay three things on top of the deposit, transfer duty, and transfer fees.
- Bond registration attorney fees. The bank appoints its own attorney to register the bond; you pay the bill. Calculated on a recommended tariff scale (LSSA) based on the bond amount.
- Deeds Office registration fees. A flat fee per bond, stepped by bond amount. Goes to the Deeds Office.
- Post, petties, FICA, and electronic search fees. Small fixed amounts (R1,000–R2,000 total) that the bond attorney passes through.
Bond registration fees are separate from transfer fees. If you’re buying with a bond, you pay both: one attorney handles the transfer of ownership (appointed by the seller), the other handles the bond registration (appointed by the bank).
Typical 2026 bond registration fee scale
The Law Society of South Africa publishes a recommended tariff. Individual attorneys may charge slightly more or less, but most stay within 5–10% of this table. All amounts exclude VAT.
| Bond amount | Attorney fee (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|
| R100,000 – R500,000 | ≈ R6,750 – R10,200 |
| R500,001 – R1,000,000 | ≈ R10,200 – R14,080 |
| R1,000,001 – R1,500,000 | ≈ R14,080 – R17,960 |
| R1,500,001 – R2,000,000 | ≈ R17,960 – R21,840 |
| R2,000,001 – R3,000,000 | ≈ R21,840 – R29,600 |
| R3,000,001 – R5,000,000 | ≈ R29,600 – R45,120 |
| R5,000,001 – R10,000,000 | ≈ R45,120 – R84,000 |
| Bond amount | Deeds Office fee |
|---|---|
| Up to R200,000 | R300 |
| R200,001 – R600,000 | R600 |
| R600,001 – R1,000,000 | R900 |
| R1,000,001 – R2,000,000 | R1,250 |
| R2,000,001 – R4,000,000 | R1,550 |
| R4,000,001 – R6,000,000 | R2,100 |
| R6,000,001 – R8,000,000 | R2,850 |
| R8,000,001 – R10,000,000 | R3,400 |
| R10,000,001 and above | R4,950 |
Worked examples
R1,500,000 bond
Typical first-home buyer taking a 90% bond on a R1.65m property.
- Attorney fee (approx mid-scale)
- R16,000
- VAT on attorney fee
- R2,400
- Deeds Office fee
- R1,250
- Post, petties, FICA, electronic searches
- R1,500
R3,000,000 bond
Second-home buyer taking a larger bond.
- Attorney fee
- R29,600
- VAT on attorney fee
- R4,440
- Deeds Office fee
- R1,550
- Post, petties, FICA, electronic searches
- R1,800
When you don't pay bond registration
- Cash purchase. No bond, no bond registration. You still pay transfer duty and transfer fees.
- Bond take-over (cession). When you take over an existing bond from the seller instead of registering a new one — rare in SA but can save R10–40k in registration fees.
- Re-advance on an existing bond. Topping up an existing bond for renovations doesn’t require fresh registration — just an addendum.
Capitalising costs into the bond
Most banks let you add bond registration (and sometimes transfer) costs to the bond amount if you have the LTV headroom. This means you don’t need the R20–40k in cash on transfer day — but you pay interest on it for 20 or 30 years.
A R25,000 cost capitalised into a R1.5m bond at 11.75% over 20 years becomes R65,000 in total payments. Paying cash upfront is cheaper by roughly 2.6×.
How this calculator works
Enter your bond amount and the calculator estimates the attorney fee (mid-scale), applies VAT, adds the correct Deeds Office fee tier, and adds a typical post-and-petties allowance. The result is the all-in estimate you’d see on the bond attorney’s invoice.
Actual quotes can vary by 5–10% between attorneys — use the calculator as a sanity-check benchmark, then compare against the formal pro-forma invoice the bond attorney issues before transfer.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
Bond registration cost is the fee charged by attorneys and the Deeds Office to register your home loan bond. This is separate from transfer duty and is a once-off cost.
Attorney (conveyancing) fees, Deeds Office registration fee, land survey (if required), and sundries (e.g. title deed copies, cancellation of old bonds). Costs vary by province.
Typically shared between buyer and seller, but this is negotiable. Check your sale agreement to see who is responsible. Some lenders require the buyer to pay.
For a R1 million property, expect R8,000–R15,000 depending on location and complexity. Costs are roughly 0.8–1.5% of the property price.