The Rental Guarantee (Garantie Locative) in Brussels

You have found a flat, the landlord wants a garantie locative (rental guarantee, sometimes called the deposit), and suddenly you're being asked for a large sum of money before you've even moved in. The good news: Brussels rewrote these rules on 1 November 2024, and almost every change is in the tenant's favour. This guide explains exactly what you can be asked for, the only legal ways to hand the money over, and how to get it back.

What changed on 1 November 2024

The Brussels-Capital Region amended the Brussels Housing Code (Code bruxellois du Logement), and three changes matter most to a new arrival:

• The cap dropped from three months to two months' rent. For any lease signed or renewed on or after 1 November 2024, the guarantee cannot exceed two months' rent, excluding charges.
• Cash is banned. The guarantee can no longer be paid to the landlord in cash. It must move by bank transfer into one of the approved structures below.
• It can't go into the landlord's own account. The money must sit in an account or instrument in your name (or a bank guarantee), never in the landlord's personal account.

One caveat worth knowing: if you're taking over an older ongoing lease signed before 1 November 2024, it may still legally carry a three-month guarantee. The two-month cap applies to leases signed or renewed from that date. If you're signing fresh in 2026, two months is your limit — full stop.

The three legal ways to provide the guarantee

The Housing Code recognises several forms of guarantee, but for most expats it comes down to three practical routes. Here is how they compare.

Route 1: A blocked (individual) account in your name

This is the most common and the simplest. You open an individual guarantee account (compte de garantie locative individualisé) at your bank in your own name and transfer up to two months' rent into it. The account is blocked: neither you nor the landlord can withdraw the money during the lease. It earns interest, which is credited to you.

The landlord can only get at this money in one of two ways: with your written agreement at the end of the lease, or with an enforceable court judgment. That's the whole point — the cash is protected from a landlord who might otherwise "forget" to return it.

To set it up:

1. Open the account at your Belgian bank (you'll need your ID and your national register number — see the related guide on opening a bank account).
2. Transfer the agreed amount (max two months' rent, excluding charges).
3. Ask the bank for the attestation (certificate) proving the account is blocked, and give a copy to your landlord.

Route 2: A bank guarantee built up over time

If you can't put down two months at once, a bank can issue a guarantee to the landlord and let you build up the amount through fixed monthly payments over a maximum of three years. The landlord is covered from day one; you pay it off gradually. Ask your bank whether it offers this and what it charges — terms vary, and some banks are reluctant, which is exactly why the next route exists.

Route 3: The regional Housing Fund (BRUGAL)

The Brussels Housing Fund (Fonds du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, fonds.brussels) runs a regional scheme so that people who can't raise a deposit aren't shut out of housing. It offers two mechanisms:

• A 0% interest loan repaid over a period matching your lease, up to a maximum of 24 months.
• The BRUGAL fund, where you pay a monthly contribution of roughly €13 to €39 depending on your income; when you leave and return the advance, you recover your contributions.

Either way, the Fund deposits the guarantee in your name, so the arrangement is invisible to the landlord — a deliberate feature to prevent discrimination against tenants who use it.

To qualify (verify the current figures on the Fund's site before applying), you generally must:

• Be 18 or older and not already a property owner/landlord.
• Rent a home in one of the 19 Brussels communes, on a lease of at least 12 months, and move in within three months.
• Have household taxable income below the Fund's ceilings — roughly €73,884 for a single person with no dependents and €94,034 for other households, plus about €5,000 per additional dependent. (These thresholds are indexed; confirm the 2026 figures on the official page.)

Apply via the online form or by emailing garantielocative@fonds.brussels. Processing takes up to about 15 days once your file is complete.

How the guarantee comes back to you

At the end of the lease, the guarantee and any interest are returned to you, provided you've met all your obligations (rent paid, no unrepaired damage beyond normal wear).

• The landlord must repay the guarantee within two months of you leaving the property.
• If they miss that deadline and no legal proceedings are running, they owe a penalty of 10% of the monthly rent for each month of delay.
• For a blocked account, the bank releases the funds when it has either your and the landlord's joint written agreement, or a court order. So push for a clean, signed release document at your exit inventory (état des lieux de sortie).

The exit inventory is the moment that decides everything. If your entry and exit inventories match, there's no basis to withhold your money.

Common problems and fixes

• "The landlord asked for three months in 2026." Not legal for a new lease. The cap is two months' rent excluding charges. Refer them to the November 2024 rules and refuse the extra month in writing.
• "They want cash / a transfer to their personal account." Both are banned. Insist on a blocked account in your name, a bank guarantee, or the Housing Fund. A landlord holding your deposit personally is a red flag.
• "The bank is dragging its feet on a guarantee account." Banks must offer the individual blocked account. If one branch stalls, ask another bank, or use the Housing Fund route.
• "My deposit hasn't come back after two months." Send a registered letter (lettre recommandée) demanding repayment plus the 10%-per-month penalty. If that fails, the free Justice de Paix (Justice of the Peace) for your commune handles rental disputes cheaply.
• "There's a dispute over damage." Your money stays in the blocked account until you agree in writing or a judge decides. The landlord cannot unilaterally take it.

Your next step

Before you transfer a single euro, get the landlord to confirm in writing which of the three legal routes you'll use and the exact amount (never more than two months' rent excluding charges). If cash flow is tight, check your eligibility for the Housing Fund at fonds.brussels before signing — approval takes about two weeks, so start early rather than scrambling on moving day.