We check your South African residential lease against the Rental Housing Act, CPA and PPA — flagging void clauses, illegal fees, and missing mandatory terms in under two minutes.
Results in less than 2 minutes
Three ways to vet a South African residential lease — pick the one that fits your risk and budget.
Statute-cited. Two minutes. Free.
Attorney range based on typical SA hourly rates · R1,200/hr junior up to R4,000+/hr mid-level · SD Law lists drafting from R2,508 ex VAT
Three real clauses we see all the time. ChatGPT shrugs. RentRight cites the statute.
“Fairly standard for SA leases — most landlords don't pay interest on small deposits.”
RHA s.5(3)(c) requires the landlord to invest the deposit in an interest-bearing account and pay accrued interest to the tenant on lease end. This cannot be waived by the lease.
“Admin fees are common when you rent through a property agent.”
CPA s.50(1) requires a documented service rendered in exchange for any fee. Without an itemised breakdown of what the R 850 covers, this charge is challengeable.
“Most leases include a cancellation penalty clause.”
CPA s.14(3)(b) entitles consumers to cancel with 20 business days' notice; the penalty must be 'reasonable' — flat 3-month penalties have been struck down by the National Consumer Tribunal.
Examples paraphrased from real SA leases · A typical report flags 30+ items · these are three
Every lease is reviewed across the twelve statutory areas of South African residential tenancy law.
Rental Housing Act s.5(6) disclosures — RSA addresses, deposit terms, interest obligations — all present?
Unenforceable waivers and indemnities — especially blanket exclusions of landlord liability under CPA s.51.
Legal but tilted — show-house access, renewal traps, cancellation penalties and other tenant-unfriendly wording.
Every admin fee, deposit top-up and utility mark-up classified: legal, conditionally legal, controversial, challengeable.
Each reviewer reads the full lease verbatim and quotes the problematic text so you can see exactly what you'd be signing.
A ranked list of what to push back on before signing — plain-language, with the statute behind each one.
Tell us what to review next
RentRight reviews residential tenancy agreements today. If there's a different document you'd like us to review next — a property-management mandate, a sale agreement, anything else — drop us a note and we'll line it up.