Bond Costs Explained — Registration Fees When Getting a Home Loan

What Are Bond Costs?

When you take a home loan (bond) to purchase property in South Africa, the bank requires that a mortgage bond be registered over the property at the Deeds Office as security for the loan. This registration process carries its own set of costs — collectively known as bond costs — which are separate from the transfer costs (transfer duty and transfer attorney fees) that you pay to have the property transferred into your name.

Bond costs are payable by the borrower (the buyer) and consist primarily of the bond attorney's fees and the Deeds Office registration levy for the bond. The bond attorney is appointed by the bank — not by you — but you are responsible for paying their fees. These costs must be settled before or at the time of lodgement and cannot be deferred.

As a rule of thumb, bond registration costs are slightly lower than transfer costs on the same property value. Use our bond cost calculator to get an accurate estimate based on your specific bond amount.

Bond Attorney Fees

The bond attorney is the conveyancer appointed by your bank to prepare and register the mortgage bond at the Deeds Office. Their work involves drafting the mortgage bond documents, ensuring all conditions of the loan grant are met, obtaining FICA documentation from the borrower, and lodging the bond simultaneously with the transfer at the Deeds Office.

Bond attorney fees are calculated according to the Law Society of South Africa's tariff guidelines, based on the bond amount (not the purchase price). For a R1.5 million bond, the attorney fee component (excluding VAT) is approximately R18 000–R22 000. VAT at 15% is added to the professional fee. You will also pay a small fee for the attorney's disbursements — items like FICA verification, postage, and document preparation.

It is worth noting that the bond attorney acts for the bank, not for you. If you have any questions or concerns about the bond documents you are signing, seek independent legal advice — the bond attorney cannot advise you on the terms of the loan or your rights as a borrower.

Deeds Office Registration Fees

The Deeds Office charges a registration levy for each bond registered, in addition to the levy charged for the transfer of ownership. This levy is a government charge calculated on the bond amount and is relatively modest. For a R2 million bond, the Deeds Office levy is typically around R1 200–R2 000.

If you are both transferring and bonding simultaneously (which is the case in most purchases), you will pay two Deeds Office levies — one for the transfer and one for the bond. Your transfer attorney and bond attorney will each account for their respective Deeds Office levy in their cost estimates.

Total Cost Estimate

To illustrate the total costs for a typical Pretoria property transaction: if you purchase a home for R2 million and take a bond of R1.8 million, you would pay approximately R60 000–R80 000 in transfer duty, R25 000–R30 000 in transfer attorney fees, and R20 000–R25 000 in bond attorney fees, plus Deeds Office levies of R3 000–R4 000 combined. Total costs of around R110 000–R140 000 on a R2 million purchase — this is why the "2–5% of purchase price" rule of thumb is widely used.

These are estimates only. Actual costs depend on the specific attorneys involved, the complexity of the transaction, and any additional disbursements. Always obtain a written, itemised quote from both the transfer attorney and the bond attorney before proceeding. The bond attorney typically sends you a cost estimate at the same time as the bond documents for signature.

Use our bond cost calculator for a detailed estimate of your bond registration costs, and the transfer cost calculator for transfer costs. Having both figures allows you to budget accurately for the total cost of acquisition.

Bond Costs vs Transfer Costs

Buyers often confuse bond costs and transfer costs, or assume they are the same thing. They are not. Transfer costs are incurred to transfer ownership of the property into your name — they include transfer duty (tax to SARS) and the transfer attorney's fees. Bond costs are incurred to register the bank's security interest (the mortgage) over the property — they consist of the bond attorney's fees and the bond Deeds Office levy.

Both sets of costs are payable by the buyer at the same time (when the transfer and bond are registered simultaneously), but they are handled by different attorneys and accounted for separately. A common mistake is budgeting only for transfer costs and being surprised by the bond costs when the bond attorney sends their account.

If you purchase a property with cash (no bond), you pay only transfer costs — there are no bond registration costs because no bond is being registered. Conversely, if you already own a property and simply want to register a bond over it (for example, to access equity), you pay only bond costs, not transfer costs.