The ceiling on the deposit changed with a reform that took effect on 1 June 2023. Before that date, a bank guarantee built up in instalments could reach three months rent, while a blocked account was already limited to two. Since the reform, both the individualised account and the progressive bank guarantee are capped at two months rent (uvcw.be, 2018 to 2023). The reform aligned the two main forms on the same lower ceiling.
This two-month cap is a maximum, not a default. Nothing forces a landlord to demand the full amount, and a smaller deposit is perfectly valid. What a landlord cannot do is contract around the cap: a clause requiring more than two months for a new residential lease is unenforceable to the extent it exceeds the limit.
The date of the lease matters for older contracts. A bank guarantee lawfully set at three months under a lease signed before 1 June 2023 is not retroactively cut; the two-month cap governs leases entered from that date onward (uvcw.be, 2023). This is why the signing date, not the renewal date, is the reference point when checking whether a deposit is lawful.
The surprising practical effect is regional divergence. A landlord operating in both Wallonia and Flanders faces different ceilings for identical properties: two months in Wallonia and Brussels, but three months on a blocked account in Flanders under the Flemish rules. The same tenant, moving across a regional border, can face a materially different up-front cost.
At a glance
| Deposit form | Wallonia cap | Reference date |
|---|---|---|
| Individualised blocked account | 2 months rent | Since the 2018 decree |
| Progressive bank guarantee | 2 months rent | Leases from 1 June 2023 |
| Bank guarantee (older leases) | 3 months rent | Leases before 1 June 2023 |
| CPAS bank guarantee | Aligned with legal cap | Standard CPAS contract |
| Brussels (comparison) | 2 months rent | Brussels code |
| Flanders (comparison) | 3 months on blocked account | Flemish rules |