Producers coming from Los Angeles or New York ask "where do I get the permit," and in London the answer is "from whoever controls the ground you're standing on." Film London, the capital's screen agency, doesn't issue permits. It publishes the rules, runs a free locations advice service, and points you to the office that does say yes: usually one of the Borough Film Services.
I checked everything here against Film London's pages and its fee spreadsheets on September 14, 2026. The admin and parking fee sheets are labeled September 2026. Film London's own note on those sheets says some rows shaded grey may be out of date, so confirm any figure with the borough before it goes in the budget.
Who you ask
Film London's permission page counts 33 boroughs, each with its own Borough Film Service (BFS). The BFS handles filming on local authority managed locations: streets, estates, commons, town halls, schools, shopping centres, and leisure centres. It will tell you where you need permission, warn you about filming hotspots or works in the area, liaise with the council's parking and refuse teams, and tell you whether to contact the local police.
Other ground belongs to other people:
| Where you're filming | Who gives permission |
|---|---|
| Borough streets and council property | That borough's Borough Film Service |
| Red routes (double or single red lines) | Transport for London |
| Private homes, offices, shops, private streets, parks, and markets | The owner or their location representative |
| Flats and housing estates | The housing association or council, and every other party involved |
| Landmarks and privately managed public spaces | Whoever manages that space; Film London publishes camera position maps |
That last row trips people up. Film London warns that some areas that look like public streets or have public access are privately owned or managed. Film London's locations team (locations@filmlondon.org.uk) will help you work out who owns a spot.
Small crews: five or fewer
Film London defines a small crew as five or fewer people, counting participants and actors. Two actors, a camera operator, a sound recordist, and a director is five. Add a producer and you no longer count as a small crew.
The legal footing is common law. Users of the public highway can "pass and re-pass ... and make reasonable use of it," and Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 limits that when you cause an obstruction to other people's free passage. So a small crew with a handheld camera that isn't obstructing anyone needs no licence or official permission. In some boroughs that extends to a small crew with a tripod.
Plan around these:
- Film London's small crew page says crews using a tripod in Westminster and the City of London must obtain a Notice of No Objection, applied for at least three days ahead. Handheld crews there don't need one.
- On red routes, TfL handles filming. Small crews of five or fewer with a handheld camera apply at least three days before filming and are unlikely to be charged, according to Film London. TfL's line in the September 2026 admin fee sheet lists £112.50 and says all applications must be submitted at least 14 days before, so ask TfL which applies to your shoot.
- If a member of the public complains and you don't have permission, police may ask you to move on.
Film London's advice is to tell the Borough Film Service anyway, even when you don't legally need to. If the council doesn't know you're there, you can be asked to stop.
Notices of No Objection
A Notice of No Objection (NNO) is an informal letter saying the local authority has no objection to your filming, based on the information you gave. Some boroughs will also check for works that could affect your shoot and tell the local police for you. Not all boroughs issue them. Film London's pages put the cost at free to between £25 and £100.
An NNO isn't a licence. Film London says if your filming creates an unforeseen obstruction, police can still move you on.
Bigger shoots: applying through the borough
Once you're likely to cause an obstruction (a medium crew, lights on stands, a dolly on the pavement, suspended parking bays, a unit base), you submit a filming application to the borough through its BFS. Film London suggests an initial phone call, then the formal application.
Lead times depend on crew size, the complexity of the shoot, and the location. Film London's borough page gives a minimum of 10 days for large crews and complex shoots. It also links a borough-by-borough lead time spreadsheet, but that file is dated October 2021, so use it for a rough sense of scale and confirm current times with the borough. In that sheet, road closures by order commonly run from six weeks to three months.
Insurance
Every production needs public liability insurance to get permission to film, and Film London says to buy it in the earliest stages of pre-production. As a general rule, it says you'll need a minimum of £2 million of cover for street filming and photography, and at least £5 million in some areas. The amount depends on what the shoot involves, so ask the BFS or the location owner.
Other points from the same page: college and university projects should be covered by the institution, with written confirmation. To buy from a UK insurer, the production company has to be UK based. Overseas productions may use a policy from their home country translated into English, but not every location accepts non-UK policies. The Code of Practice adds that productions provide a copy of the policy to the BFS or location and agree to indemnify the owner against claims arising from the production's activities.
What it costs in 2026
Charges vary by borough and come in layers: an admin or application fee for the BFS's work, parking suspensions and dispensations, highway licences for kit on the pavement, road closures, and location fees for council-owned sites. Film London publishes each layer as a spreadsheet. A sample of the September 2026 figures:
| Borough | Street filming admin | Parking |
|---|---|---|
| Camden | Small crew (1 to 5) £100, medium (5 to 15) £220, large (15 to 50) £290, very large (50+) £425, student or charity £42 | Bay suspension £104.63 per bay on day 1, rising with length; bagging or signage £66.66 per machine or sign |
| Hackney | Extra small £100, small £150, medium £250, large £350, all +VAT; student or charity £35 +VAT | £44 +VAT per bay; £100 +VAT sign fee |
| Southwark | Medium £230, large £300, very large £435, student and charity £40 | £60 pay and display, £70 shared use per bay |
| Westminster | Application processing £462, £228, or £44.40; admin £234 per hour; NNO usually £100 | Zones A, C, and D: £51 on day 1, £55 per day for days 2 to 5 |
Late fees can be steep. Westminster's sheet lists a late notice application fee of £1,080. Hackney charges at least double the admin fee for fast-track submissions with under 48 hours' notice, and acceptance isn't guaranteed.
A worked example: a medium crew of 12 films a doorstep scene on a residential street in Camden for one day and suspends four bays for the camera truck and a van, with two signs.
| Line | Math | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Street filming admin, medium crew | 1 day | £220.00 |
| Bay suspensions | 4 bays x £104.63 | £418.52 |
| Bagging or signage | 2 signs x £66.66 | £133.32 |
| Estimated borough charges | £771.84 |
Unit base space, highway licences for a cherry picker, or a traffic hold would add to that. Camden's parking sheet says it has no off-street unit bases on council property, so the trucks may need a private yard, which is a separate location fee negotiation.
Residents and businesses
The Code of Practice says productions should consult local residents and businesses who may be affected before, during, and after the shoot, and that the BFS should be approached before residents are contacted, since it knows the local issues. Film London's application flowchart describes a resident's letter sent with sufficient notice, covering dates, times, the steps you're taking to minimise disturbance, production contact details, and the BFS's details, with a copy to the BFS. If details change during filming (location, times, crew size, vehicles, props, or the nature of the shoot), tell the BFS in advance.
Police, children, and drones
Film London says to contact the Metropolitan Police Service Film Unit when you film with fake weapons, emergency vehicles or uniforms, crime recreations, or vehicles. Child performers under school leaving age usually need a child performance licence. The Code of Practice says 21 days is required to issue one, and the licence comes from the Education Welfare Service of the local authority where the child lives. Drones have their own permissions, covered on Film London's aerial filming page.
Paperwork to keep together
The location manager should keep the BFS approval or NNO, the insurance certificate, the resident letter, and any owner's location release in one place, and put the unit base, crew parking, and any police contact on the call sheet. Storiara's Locations module holds each location's address with a map, photos, an uploaded parking map, and comments. Its call sheet scheduling offers US time zones and UTC, so a London production scheduling emails would set times in UTC (which matches London time only outside British Summer Time). For the UK's production tax relief, see the United Kingdom incentive page.