This article is designed to inform homeowners and prospective homeowners about the process of conveyancing.

What is Conveyancing?

The term "conveyancing" describes the legal process whereby a person becomes the registered and lawful owner of fixed property and ensures that his ownership cannot be challenged. "Fixed property" includes any land, whether improved or not, such as a dwelling house, a farm or vacant plot. It also includes units in a sectional title scheme. Formal conveyancing is also required for registration of mortgage bonds and other real rights in fixed property.

This article deals with the sale of fixed property. The procedures are similar for other acquisitions of fixed property when formal conveyancing is necessary, e.g. where the fixed property is acquired as a result of donation, inheritance, exchange or from a
divorce settlement.

A conveyancing transaction involves a number of steps that usually begin with the deed of sale and continue through to the registration of transfer of ownership in the Deeds Office, the reconciliation of finances and the payment of the purchase price to the seller.

Who appoints a Conveyancer?

The seller usually appoints a Conveyancer to attend to a fixed property transfer although this, like other aspects of a sale agreement, can be varied by negotiation between the parties.

A Conveyancer is an attorney with a post‑graduate qualification and by law is the only person who can register property transfers. This is necessary to ensure the protection of the interests of the parties to the transaction and to maintain the high standard of land registration.

The purchaser may also appoint a Conveyancer to look after his interests, but his/her fees will be additional to the conveyancing costs charged by the seller's Conveyancer, who will be doing the actual transfer.