According to the land affairs annual report, tabled in parliament, the department also spent R327m on land reform programmes around South Africa.
This compared with a slightly higher figure of R347m spent in the year 2003/04.
Land department programmes in total - including administration, surveys and mapping, spatial planning and cadastral surveys as well as land reform and restitution - cost just short of R2bn in 2004/05, up from R1.6bn in the previous year.
In dealing with restitution the national office cost about R14m to run in 2004/05 compared with R12.3m the previous year. The regional offices cost the department R150m compared with about R100m in 2003/04.
In dealing with land reform, the national office cost about R31m in 2004/05 - a similar figure to the previous year. The provincial offices cost about R100m in 2004/05 compared with about R86m the previous year.