The rental deposit in Belgium: amount, blocked account, release

The rental deposit is the first financial hurdle of a move, and the leading source of disputes on the way out. It is also one of the points where Belgian law is most regionalised: since residential leases became a regional matter, Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders each have their own rules, and two of them have changed theirs recently. A single "Belgian" answer would be wrong for two readers out of three.

Compatri does not let housing and plays no part in your lease: this guide helps you understand your rights and find the right people to talk to.

What the deposit is actually for

It covers what you might owe the landlord at the end of the lease: unpaid rent or charges, and damage established by comparing the entry inventory with the exit inventory. It does not cover fair wear and tear, and it is not a disguised final month's rent: you may not unilaterally decide to "live off your deposit" by skipping the last payment, and the landlord cannot impose that either.

Crucially, the deposit remains your money. The landlord does not own it. They are entitled to it only up to what is actually owed, and only if an agreement or a judgment says so.

The amount: it depends on the Region and on the date of the lease

This is where you must be precise. The cap depends on your Region and on the date the lease was signed.

Brussels-Capital Region. For leases entered into or renewed since 1 November 2024, the deposit may not exceed two months' rent, whatever form it takes. Older leases stay under the previous regime: two months in a blocked account, up to three months for a bank guarantee built up in monthly instalments.

Walloon Region. Since the decree of 19 May 2023, in force on 1 June 2023, the deposit there is also capped at two months' rent, whatever the form. A lease signed before that date could provide for up to three months with a bank guarantee.

Flemish Region. The Flemish residential-lease decree (Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet), applying to leases entered into since 1 January 2019, allows a deposit of up to three months' rent, whatever the form. For older leases: two months in a blocked account, three months with a bank guarantee.

Special rules exist (student leases, social housing). Always check the applicable cap with your Region's official source before signing: the links are at the end of this article. A clause demanding more than the legal cap is not valid on that point, and you can ask for it to be reduced.

In what form to lodge it

The individualised blocked account. The standard route in all three Regions. The sum sits in an account in your name and is blocked: neither you nor the landlord can touch it alone. The interest accrues to you and is capitalised. The account is in your name, but not at your disposal. Instead of a bank, you can also use the Deposit and Consignment Office of the FPS Finance, online, through the e-DEPO application: the principle is the same.

The bank guarantee (Brussels and Wallonia). The bank guarantees the amount to the landlord from signature, and you build it up in fixed monthly instalments over three years at most. You apply to the bank into which your earnings or replacement income are paid, and it may not refuse you on the ground of your creditworthiness. In Flanders this option has gone for leases since 2019: the decree there provides for the blocked account, a security lodged with a financial institution (a bond or capitalisation certificate), the guarantee through the welfare centre (OCMW) and, if the landlord agrees, a personal guarantor, with no combining. On that last point, see our guide to the guarantor and joint surety.

A guarantee through the welfare centre or regional support. The public welfare centre (CPAS/OCMW) can obtain a bank guarantee for you, under a standard contract it has with a bank. The Regions also fund interest-free loans: the Brussels Housing Fund (a 0 % loan, or the BRU-GAL fund, which stays invisible to the landlord), the Walloon social credit company SWCS (a zero-rate loan repayable over 36 months at most) and, in Flanders, the Vlaams Woningfonds (an interest-free huurwaarborglening over 36 months). Income conditions apply. These schemes are provided for by law: rejecting a candidate because their deposit runs through the welfare centre is housing discrimination on the ground of wealth.

What to refuse: a cash deposit handed over directly, or paid into the landlord's current account. In Brussels the forms of deposit are now strictly listed by law and cash is no longer one of them. In all three Regions, a landlord who keeps the money instead of placing it in an account in your name owes you interest; in Flanders, for leases since 2019, a deposit wrongly kept by the landlord can even be treated as rent already paid. And once mixed into the landlord's own assets, your money may disappear with them on bankruptcy.

Release: the moment of truth

A blocked account does not unblock itself. The bank releases the funds only on production of one of two things:

So nobody can help themselves. A landlord claiming to "keep the deposit" without your signature cannot do so; conversely, you will get nothing back until they sign or a judge rules. With e-DEPO, the landlord gives their consent to the refund online; if you disagree, the deposit stays blocked. In Brussels, for leases entered into or renewed since 1 November 2024, the deposit must be released within two months of the keys being handed back, unless there is a dispute.

The crux is the inventory. A deduction from the deposit can only be justified by comparing the entry inventory with the exit inventory. Where no detailed, jointly agreed entry inventory exists, the landlord is in a very weak position to attribute damage: the presumption favours the tenant, who is deemed to have received the property in the state in which they return it. That is why you must never accept a rushed inventory, or sign one unread on the day you get the keys.

If you are still looking for a home, check how this step is handled. On Domilinko, a Belgian peer-to-peer rental site with no intermediary, the entry inventory is carried out jointly, with photos and meter readings, and listings show a verified energy performance certificate (EPC) and a verified owner identity. If you go through a large portal such as Immoweb, insist on the same level of detail: an inventory is compulsory in all three Regions, and it is what protects your deposit.

Dispute: the steps

What to remember

At most two months' rent in Brussels (leases since November 2024) and Wallonia (since June 2023), three in Flanders: check your Region's cap, as at the date of your lease. Insist on a blocked account in your name, never cash. Not one euro leaves it without your signature or a judgment. And treat the entry inventory as though it, rather than the lease, protected your money, because it does.

Official sources

• Security deposit (be.brussels): the five forms and the two-month cap in Brussels.
• Walloon decree on residential leases (Wallex, in French): consolidated text, Article 62 on the deposit.
• Huurwaarborg (Vlaanderen.be, in Dutch): the Flemish rules and frequently asked questions.
• La garantie locative (FPS Finance, in French): blocking your deposit online through e-DEPO.
• Rental guarantee support (Brussels Housing Fund): the interest-free loan and the BRU-GAL fund.
• Huurwaarborglening (Vlaams Woningfonds, in Dutch): Flanders' interest-free deposit loan.