Deeds Office – Pretoria

The Pretoria Deeds Office is the largest of South Africa’s eleven deeds registries and the one most property professionals deal with most often. It registers property in the northern half of Gauteng — the City of Tshwane and the areas around it — and across most of the North West province.

It is also where the office of the Chief Registrar of Deeds sits, and where a large part of the historical Transvaal record lives. If a property in Gauteng, North West, Limpopo or Mpumalanga was registered before the newer provincial registries opened, the deed that created that title is very likely held in Pretoria, whichever office handles the property today.

What this means for a search

Two things follow from that history. The first is volume: Pretoria carries the heaviest caseload of any registry, and a manual retrieval there can sit in a queue behind a great deal of other work. The second is age. A deed old enough to predate the Limpopo or Mpumalanga registries is often on microfilm rather than in the electronic record, and a microfilmed deed has to be located and scanned before it can be sent, which is why the turnaround on a document copy is a range rather than a number.

Our Instant Property Search reads the electronic registry directly, so it returns ownership, purchase price, bond and transfer history for a Pretoria-registered property in seconds regardless of the queue. It is the fastest way to confirm who owns a property before deciding whether you need the deed itself.

What you can order for a Pretoria property

Everything below is ordered online and delivered by email. Nothing needs a visit to the office.

• Instant Property Search — the registered owner, purchase price and date, bond amount and bondholder, and full transfer history, returned in seconds for R230.00.
• Title Deed (Deed of Transfer) copy — the registered deed itself, R675.00, 1 to 10 Working Days.
• Marriage Contract (ANC) copy — an antenuptial contract registered at any registry, R685.00.
• Property Valuation Report — a market-value estimate built from registered sales and comparables, R230.00.
• Instant Person Search — every property registered to a named person, R230.00.

See every search and what it costs

Certified copies from Pretoria

Pretoria is one of the seven registries that issues certified copies. A certified Title Deed copy (Section 66) costs R995.00 and takes 2 - 3 Weeks, because the document is prepared and signed at the office rather than pulled from the electronic record. A certified Marriage Contract copy (Section 67) is R995.00 on the same turnaround.

Most people do not need one. An informational copy is accepted for almost every purpose — checking conditions, confirming ownership, due diligence before an offer — and only a formal legal process such as winding up an estate or a divorce usually calls for certification.

Order a certified Title Deed copy

Frequently asked questions

Which areas does the Pretoria Deeds Office cover?

Pretoria registers property in the northern part of Gauteng, including the City of Tshwane, and in most of the North West province. It also holds much of the older Transvaal record for properties now administered by the Limpopo and Mpumalanga registries.

Why do Pretoria document copies sometimes take longer?

Pretoria has the largest caseload of the eleven registries, and its archive holds a high proportion of older deeds that are stored on microfilm. A microfilmed deed has to be found and scanned before it can be emailed, which is why the turnaround is quoted as 1 to 10 Working Days.

Can I get a certified Title Deed copy from Pretoria?

Yes. Pretoria is one of the registries that issues certified copies. A certified Title Deed copy costs R995 and takes 2 - 3 Weeks, because the document has to be prepared and signed at the office itself rather than pulled from the electronic record.