# New conveyancing fee guideline from 1 July 2026: what attorneys now charge - Canonical URL: https://bond.co.za/news/conveyancing-fee-guideline-2026 - Author: Neil B - Published: 2026-09-09 - Last updated: 2026-09-09 Market newsLegislation Conveyancing attorney fees in South Africa reset on 1 July 2026 under an updated Law Society of South Africa guideline. Here is the new scale, next to what it replaced, and what it means for the price of registering a bond or transferring a home. By [Neil B](https://bond.co.za/expert) · Checked against published primary sources · Published 2026-09-09 · Last verified 2026-09-09 conveyancing feesattorney feesbond registrationtransfer costs ![Illustration of a modern middle-class South African home with a document stack in the foreground](https://bond.co.za/images/news/conveyancing-fee-guideline-2026.svg) ## Key takeaways - 01The LSSA recommended conveyancing fee guideline effective 1 July 2026 is roughly 3.5% higher than the 2025 scale — in line with CPI. - 02On a R1.5 million property or bond, the guideline fee is R32 635 excl. VAT (R37 530.25 incl. VAT), up R1 115 excl. VAT on the 2025 fee of R31 520. - 03The guideline covers both transfer attorneys (sellers appoint, buyers pay) and bond registration attorneys (banks appoint, buyers pay). - 04The guideline is a recommendation, not a regulated tariff — actual attorney accounts vary, and fees can be negotiated before you sign. **From 1 July 2026, conveyancing attorney fees in South Africa follow an updated recommended guideline about 3.5% higher than the 2025 scale.** The guideline — issued by the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA) and corroborated rung-for-rung by industry fee summaries — covers the two attorney charges every buyer budget needs: the transfer fee and the bond registration fee. ### The 2026 scale next to 2025 Both years' figures below are quoted exclusive of VAT, as the guideline publishes them. Most firms add 15% VAT on top. All figures as at 9 September 2026. | Property value / bond amount | 2026 guideline (excl. VAT) | 2025 guideline (excl. VAT) | | --- | --- | --- | | First R100 000 | R6 875 | R6 640 | | R100 001 – R500 000 | R6 875 + R1 100 per R50 000 (or part) above R100 000 | R6 875 + R1 060 per R50 000 (or part) above R100 000 | | R500 001 – R1 000 000 | R15 675 + R2 120 per R100 000 above R500 000 | R15 120 + R2 050 per R100 000 above R500 000 | | R1 000 001 – R5 000 000 | R26 275 + R2 120 per R200 000 above R1m | R25 370 + R2 050 per R200 000 above R1m | | Above R5 000 000 | R68 675 + R5 340 per R1m above R5m | R66 370 + R5 160 per R1m above R5m | The uplift is roughly CPI-consistent: every bracket's base fee and increment rose by between about 3.4% and 3.8%. For context, the guideline fee at a R1 million property or bond is R26 275 excl. VAT in 2026, against R25 370 in 2025. ### A worked example: the R1.5 million purchase Take a home bought for R1.5 million with a bond of the same size. Under the 2026 guideline the conveyancing fee on each side — transfer and bond registration — works out to **R32 635 excl. VAT, or R37 530.25 incl. VAT**. A year ago the same calculation produced R31 520 excl. VAT: an increase of R1 115, or about 3.5%. On a typical purchase that fee appears twice (two attorneys, same scale), so the guideline uplift alone adds roughly R2 230 excl. VAT — about R2 565 incl. VAT — to the upfront bill before any other 2026 fee changes. ### Where the brackets land Because each step charges per portion (or part thereof) above a threshold, the guideline fee moves in jumps rather than smoothly. At the bracket boundaries the 2026 fee is: R100 000 → R6 875; R500 000 → R15 675; R1 million → R26 275; R5 million → R68 675; and R6 million → R74 015. Crossing a rung by even one rand adds the next increment, so a purchase price just below a threshold can carry a meaningfully lower attorney fee than one just above it — worth remembering when an asking price is negotiated to the nearest fifty thousand, and quick to sense-check on the [transfer cost calculator](https://bond.co.za/transfer-cost-calculator). ### A guideline, not a tariff The LSSA figure is a recommended guideline, not a regulated fee. Attorneys may charge less — and buyers can negotiate, or ask for a written quote before appointing. The transfer attorney is nominated in the [offer to purchase](https://bond.co.za/guides/offer-to-purchase-south-africa) (by the seller, though the buyer pays); the bond registration attorney is appointed by the bank. Both draw on this same scale. ### The bigger 2026 cost picture Attorney fees are one line in a wider reset. Deeds Office fees changed on 1 April 2026 under a new gazetted schedule — the bracket-by-bracket figures are in our [Deeds Office fees 2026 piece](https://bond.co.za/news/deeds-office-fees-2026) — transfer duty thresholds were confirmed unchanged for 2026/27, and the National Credit Act caps on bank fees still apply. Our [breakdown of the full upfront cost stack](https://bond.co.za/news/bond-initiation-and-registration-fees-explained) puts the 2026 lines together on a R1.5 million purchase, and the [attorney fees guide](https://bond.co.za/guides/attorney-fees-buying-house-south-africa) explains how to read — and query — your own conveyancer's account. On the selling side, the [bond cancellation fees calculator](https://bond.co.za/bond-cancellation-fees-calculator) applies the same guideline’s cancellation line to your own bond. Fee figures: LSSA recommended conveyancing fee guideline effective 1 July 2026 (2025 scale for comparison), verified as at 9 September 2026. Fees are quoted excl. VAT unless stated; most firms add 15% VAT. Free calculator ## See the 2026 fees on your own purchase price The bond & transfer cost calculator applies the 2026 conveyancing guideline, the April 2026 Deeds Office schedule and the 2026/27 transfer duty tables to your numbers — one total, every line shown. [Calculate your bond and transfer costs](https://bond.co.za/bond-and-transfer-cost-calculator) ## Sources - [Law Society of South Africa — recommended conveyancing fee guideline (2026)](https://www.tech4law.co.za/business/conveyancing-in-south-africa/conveyancing-fees-guideline-2026/)The 2026 guideline scale effective 1 July 2026, quoted exclusive of VAT; corroborated rung-for-rung by MJ Kotze Attorneys. - [bond.co.za — Attorney fees when buying a house (guide)](https://bond.co.za/guides/attorney-fees-buying-house-south-africa)How the conveyancing fee guideline applies to a real purchase, with the 2026 tariff worked through. ## More market news [ Bond initiation and registration fees explainedThe NCA-capped bank initiation fee plus attorney and Deeds Office charges — the full upfront stack on a R1.5m purchase. ](https://bond.co.za/news/bond-initiation-and-registration-fees-explained)[ Deeds Office fees 2026: the new scheduleThe 1 April 2026 Schedule of Fees (GG 54225) and what it adds on a typical bond registration. ](https://bond.co.za/news/deeds-office-fees-2026)[ Transfer duty thresholds unchanged for 2026/27SARS kept the brackets as they were — what that means for the price points where duty kicks in. ](https://bond.co.za/news/transfer-duty-2026-27-thresholds-unchanged)[ Prime is unchanged — but a bond costs more than a year agoRates have held, yet the 2026 fee resets lifted the upfront bill — the instalment and fee arithmetic. ](https://bond.co.za/news/prime-unchanged-bond-costs-up) ## Informational disclaimer This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. The LSSA figures are a recommended guideline, not a regulated tariff: actual attorney accounts vary, and your conveyancer's written quote is the number that governs. Figures are quoted exclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise and were verified as at 9 September 2026. bond.co.za is an independent educational resource and does not provide legal or conveyancing services. > This is the Markdown version of [https://bond.co.za/news/conveyancing-fee-guideline-2026](https://bond.co.za/news/conveyancing-fee-guideline-2026); that HTML page is the canonical version of this content.