Arrange a residential security review for your Antwerp property
Antwerp is a working port city with a diamond trade woven into its wealthier districts, and residential security planning there tends to follow that duality: quiet, settled streets a short walk from areas that see genuinely elevated footfall-driven crime. Zurenborg, with its Belle Epoque terraces and long-established expatriate community, and neighbouring Berchem are where most executive and HNWI households land, and both carry a materially lower baseline than the area around Antwerpen-Centraal.
Perimeter work in Zurenborg has to respect protected facades, which pushes installers toward less visible solutions than they might use elsewhere. Diamond District households are the exception to an otherwise routine brief: the sector’s history, most visibly the 2003 heist, means some families ask for tighter vetting and monitoring than a standard residential assessment would recommend. For context on the wider city, see the Antwerp city page, and for a comparable Flemish market, review residential security in Ghent.
Borgerhout and the immediate Centraal surrounds are worth flagging to any household staff who commute through them, even though neither is a district families are advised to live in. A security plan built around Zurenborg or Berchem, paired with a clear emergency route to UZA, covers most of what an Antwerp-based residential brief needs.
What does this cover in Antwerp?
Property Security Survey
A survey in Antwerp usually starts with the property's district rather than its floor plan. Zurenborg's Belle Epoque townhouses, many held by long-standing expatriate families, present different sightline and entrance problems than a Berchem apartment block set back from the street. Surveyors note whether a facade is protected heritage, since that constrains what can be fitted externally, and check rear access from shared courtyards, which is common in both districts.
Neighbourhood/District Threat Assessment
Zurenborg and Berchem read as settled, lower-crime residential quarters with a strong expatriate presence, and that is reflected in how routine the assessments there tend to be. The picture changes near Antwerpen-Centraal, where De Keyserlei and Pelikaanstraat see documented pickpocketing tied to footfall, and in parts of Borgerhout after dark. None of these areas are recommended for accommodation; they matter mainly for how principals move through the city, not where they sleep.
Access Control and Perimeter
Belle Epoque houses in Zurenborg were not built with modern access control in mind, so retrofits tend to favour discreet electronic locks and camera placement that respects the original joinery. Berchem's mix of terraced houses and low-rise blocks allows more conventional gating and intercom systems. Diamond District properties connected to families in the trade sometimes warrant a stricter perimeter standard, reflecting the sector's well-documented history since the 2003 heist.
Domestic Staff Vetting
Household staff checks in Belgium sit alongside the Loi du 2 octobre 2017 framework that governs the security firms themselves. Identity and employment-history verification is standard; for families connected to the diamond trade, vetting is often extended to cover any prior access to secure storage or courier arrangements, given the sector's particular exposure.
Emergency Response Protocols
European emergency number: 112. Police: 101. Ambulance and fire: 100. Nearest major hospital: UZA, +32 3 821 30 00. British Embassy Brussels: +32 2 287 62 11. US Embassy Brussels: +32 2 811 4000. Antwerp has no separate British or US diplomatic post, so response plans route through Brussels and are built around a pre-agreed hospital transfer route.
Technology and Monitoring
CCTV and alarm installations follow Belgian private security rules on signage and footage retention. In Zurenborg, camera placement is typically worked around heritage facade constraints; in the Diamond District, some households add perimeter sensors and secure-room monitoring reflecting the area's long association with high-value goods in transit.
Sources for this page
Licensing, firearms and foreign-operator rules for Antwerp, checked : FPS Interior (BeSafe), Autorisations et activités; FPS Interior (BeSafe), Législation sécurité privée; FPS Interior (BeSafe), Agent de gardiennage brochure; Belgian Chamber of Representatives, bill 52K0474 amending the Law of 8 June 2006 on weapons. The full rules are on our Antwerp security overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Antwerp a high-risk city for residential security?
Who licenses security firms operating in Antwerp?
What extra considerations apply to homes connected to the diamond trade?
Which hospital would a household security plan route to in an emergency?
This page is published by CloseProtectionHire.com and written to editorial standards overseen by James Calloway, Senior Security Consultant (regulation, licensing, vetting and risk frameworks) and Marcus Webb, Security Operations Adviser (operational close protection, secure transport and city-specific safety).
Threat, regulatory and emergency information is sourced to named, dated authorities such as the FCDO, the US State Department and national licensing bodies. Last updated . See how we verify.