How a Notarial Long Lease Is Registered [2026]

Notarial execution (s 77)

The first statutory requirement is the manner of execution. A long lease cannot simply be signed by the parties before a commissioner of oaths or a witness — it must be executed before a notary public. Section 77(1) of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 states the rule:

Several points follow directly from this wording:

• Both parties must sign. The deed is executed by the lessor and the lessee (or, in a sublease, by the lessee and the sublessee; in a cession, by the cedent and the cessionary). A deed signed only by the lessor is not properly executed and will be rejected by the Registrar of Deeds.
• A notary public must attest. Attestation by a notary (not merely witnessing by a lay witness or commissioning by a commissioner of oaths) is mandatory. The notary identifies the parties, confirms their capacity, and attests the deed in the prescribed notarial form.
• Registration must cover the full term. The proviso in s 77(1) requires the lease to be registered for the full term, including periods of renewal. A lease with a ten-year base term and two five-year renewal options must be registered for the potential aggregate term — partial registration would leave the renewal periods without real-right protection.
• Cessions and subleases follow the same rule. If a registered long lease is subsequently ceded or subleased and that cession or sublease is to be registered, the cession or sublease deed itself must also be notarially executed.

In practice, the notary (who is frequently also a conveyancer) drafts the notarial deed of lease to comply with the formal requirements, including the prescribed introductory formula, the full description of the land and the leased area, the term and rental, and any collateral rights (such as a right of first refusal or an option to purchase). This is distinct from — and must not be confused with — a commercial lease agreement signed by the parties earlier in the transaction. The notarial deed is the instrument of registration, and it must be complete and accurate before execution.

Where it is registered (s 79)

Section 79 of the Deeds Registries Act determines which Deeds Registry receives the lease:

The practical consequence is straightforward: the Deeds Registry where the lessor's title deed is held is the registry where the long lease must be lodged. For commercial property in Pretoria the lease will be lodged at the Pretoria Deeds Registry; for Cape Town land, at the Cape Town Deeds Registry; and so on. The registration is effected by an endorsement against the title deed of the leased land — the lease is noted on the face of the title deed, creating a public record of the encumbrance that any searcher of the title will encounter.

For a sublease, section 79 requires that the head lease itself must already be registered in the same registry before the sublease can be registered there — this flows from s 79’s own words, “any sublease of any lease so registered” (s 80 governs cessions of leases). This is the logical corollary: the lessee can only sublease a real right that has already been perfected by registration.

Why registration matters so decisively is covered fully in the guide on personal right vs real right. In brief: because the long lease subtracts from the lessor's dominium, registration gives it the force of a limited real right (leasehold) that runs with the land and binds all successors in title and creditors of the lessor for the full registered term. A long lease that is not registered can lose its force against third parties after ten years from the date it was entered into.

The registration process & what we need

The registration of a notarial long lease follows a structured sequence. In practice the notary and conveyancer (often the same person) manage the process end-to-end. Here is what the process involves and what the parties need to provide:

Step 1 — Drafting the notarial deed of lease

The notary draws the notarial deed of lease in the prescribed form. The deed must accurately describe the land (by reference to the title deed or a registered diagram), identify the parties, state the full term (including renewal options, which must be registered as part of the term under the proviso to s 77(1)), fix the rental structure, and record any collateral rights the parties intend to register as part of the transaction.

Where only a portion of the land described in the title deed is being leased — for example, a commercial tenant taking one floor of a building on a subdivided erf, or a lessee taking a defined strip for access purposes — regulation 73(2) of the Registration of Deeds Regulations (GN R474 of 1963) requires that a diagram of the portion leased be annexed to each copy of the deed lodged for registration:

The diagram for a partial lease must be prepared by a land surveyor and approved by the Surveyor-General before it can accompany the deed at the Deeds Registry. This step typically adds lead time to the transaction; the parties should allow for it when planning the registration timeline.

Step 2 — Execution before the notary

Once the draft deed is settled and approved by both parties, the lessor and lessee attend before the notary for execution. The notary confirms each party's identity and capacity (including, where a party is a company, that the signatory is duly authorised under a board resolution or power of attorney), reads or summarises the deed to the parties, and attests their signatures. The notary then completes the attestation clause and signs and seals the deed. Two or more original counterparts are prepared for lodgement (the Deeds Registry retains one; the other is returned to the parties as their deed of lease — the title to the leasehold).

Step 3 — Lodgement at the Deeds Registry (reg 45)

The executed notarial deed of lease is lodged for examination at the relevant Deeds Registry under regulation 45 of the Deeds Regulations, which requires all deeds to be lodged in covers by a conveyancer or notary practising at the seat of that registry. The deed is accompanied by:

• The title deed of the leased land (the Registrar endorses the registration of the lease on it).
• A diagram (where only a portion of the land is leased — reg 73(2)).
• Proof of any required consents (for example, ministerial consent under s 3(d) of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act 70 of 1970 where agricultural land is involved — see the dedicated guide on that consent trap).
• Payment of the Deeds Registry fees and any applicable transfer duty or VAT.

The Registrar examines the deed and, if satisfied that it complies with the Act and regulations, proceeds to registration. If the examination reveals defects, the deed is “stopped” and returned to the conveyancer for correction and re-lodgement.

Step 4 — Registration by endorsement on the title deed

Registration occurs when the Registrar of Deeds endorses the title deed of the leased land with a note of the registered lease — recording the lessee's name, the term, and the deed reference number. From the moment of registration, the lessee holds a limited real right in the land: an in rem right, enforceable against the world at large (erga omnes), for the full registered term.

The Registrar simultaneously notes the registration on the deed of lease itself and creates a corresponding entry in the deeds office register. Any searcher of the title thereafter will find the endorsement on the title deed and will be fixed with notice of the lessee's right, regardless of whether they had actual knowledge of the lease before searching.

What the parties need to provide

To enable the notary and conveyancer to prepare and lodge the deed, the parties should gather the following:

• Identity documents (and, for companies, the CIPC registration certificate, memorandum of incorporation, and a resolution or power of attorney authorising the signatory).
• A copy of the title deed of the leased land (or at least the title deed reference number so the conveyancer can obtain a copy from the deeds office).
• The commercial lease agreement (if one exists) — the notarial deed of lease will be drafted to accord with its material terms, but the notary needs to ensure nothing in that agreement conflicts with what will be registered.
• A surveyor-general-approved diagram (only where a portion of the land is leased — see Step 1 above).
• FICA documents for both lessor and lessee, as the notary is an accountable institution under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 and must verify and retain client identification.

The notary's (and conveyancer's) role

A notary public is an attorney who has passed a further notarial examination and is admitted as a notary by the High Court. Only a notary may attest a notarial deed of lease. In practice, many notaries are also admitted as conveyancers and can therefore both execute the deed and lodge it at the Deeds Registry themselves — a significant practical advantage, since it concentrates the transaction in one office and reduces the risk of the two professionals working at cross-purposes.

Martin Kotze is an attorney, conveyancer and notary public. He drafts and executes notarial long leases, advises lessors and lessees on their rights and obligations, and handles the full Deeds Registry process — from the first draft through to delivery of the registered deed of lease. If you are contemplating a long lease or have been asked to register one, the foundations of what a long lease is and why registration matters are useful starting points before you engage.