Search title deeds or check a property

What you'll usually need

Tick things off as you gather them. Your ticks are saved on this phone only.

• The owner's full name or the deed number
• Your national ID or passport. The registry records everyone who looks at a deed
• Money for fees: US$1 per search and US$1 per page for copies

Send this list to yourself

Steps

1. Go to the Deeds Registry in Harare or Bulawayo on a weekday that isn't a public holiday. You can look at records from 8:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00. Go early.
2. Ask for a deeds search by the owner's name or the deed number. The search fee is US$1 per search under the 2025 regulations. Pay it and keep your receipt.
3. Staff bring you the deed and watch while you read it at the registry. They record your details and which deed you looked at. Check that the owner's name and the property description match what you were told.
4. If you need a copy, apply to the Registrar in writing and say why you need it. Copies cost US$1 a page and are stamped "issued for information purposes only". Certifying a document costs US$20.
5. If your own title deed is lost or damaged, you need a replacement. Your conveyancer publishes a notice in the Government Gazette and a local newspaper. Anyone can object within 14 days. The Registrar can't issue the replacement until at least 30 days after the notice.
6. Or ask a registered conveyancer to search for you. A conveyancer is a lawyer who handles property transfers. Only registered conveyancers can act for you before the Registrar, so check yours in the Law Society of Zimbabwe's directory first.

Good to know

• Search in person at the Deeds Registry in Harare or Bulawayo, or through a conveyancer. It costs US$1 per search under the 2025 regulations.
• If you own property with an existing paper title deed, you must have the deed validated and replaced with a new securitised (digital) deed. The Deeds Registries Regulations, 2025 (SI 76 of 2025) require this. Do it through a registered conveyancer of your choice. The Registry says the fee is US$200 per property. The regulations give you 24 months from 18 July 2025, so until about July 2027, unless the Minister extends it. If you miss the deadline you won't lose your property, but you can no longer use an unvalidated paper deed to sell, mortgage or transfer it. Ask your conveyancer for your exact deadline, pay only through them, and get a receipt.
• Some stands may not have a title deed yet, such as those held under a cession agreement. A deeds search won't show them.