The home affairs department will close its regional office in Pretorius Street, Pretoria, from March 23.

"The closure of the offices was occasioned by the lapse of a lease agreement between the home affairs department and the owners of the building in Pretorius Street," department spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement on Sunday.

The department had entered into a new agreement that would see the regional office moved to new premises, at 320 Byron Place, Pretoria, from March 25. The building is located at the corner of Nana Sita (formerly Skinner) and Sophie de Bruyn (formerly Schubart) streets.

The services to be rendered at the new building include issuing identity documents and passports, registration of births, marriages and deaths, solemnisation of marriages, and applications for citizenship.

However, applications for temporary and permanent residence permits, which were rendered at the Pretorius Street offices, would now be delivered from the department's offices in Akasia.