Council-by-council permit fees: a reference chart
What each council and land manager charges for filming — the reference chart no one publishes officially.
Permit fees in the UK are not published in a single official source. Each authority sets its own rates, updates them at different intervals, and in many cases requires you to call and ask rather than presenting a rate card. This guide consolidates the figures that circulate in location management circles, with the caveat that all rates should be verified directly before budgeting.
All figures below are approximate day rates for a single-location standard commercial production. Additional charges (traffic management, security personnel, extended hours) are on top. VAT typically applies.
London boroughs
| Borough | Approximate day rate |
|---|---|
| Westminster | £200–450 |
| City of London | £200–400 |
| Camden | £150–350 |
| Southwark | £100–250 |
| Tower Hamlets | £100–250 |
| Hackney | £100–200 |
| Lambeth | £120–280 |
| Islington | £120–300 |
| Lewisham | £80–180 |
| Wandsworth | £100–250 |
Aldwych tube station falls under Transport for London rather than any borough — add TfL rates on top of any street use in the immediate area.
Westminster Bridge is a TfL carriageway: full closure costs approximately £12,000 per day with six weeks’ minimum notice. The Westminster Borough permit for the approach road is separate.
TfL and Network Rail
Transport for London (TfL) assets include all Underground stations, all TfL-managed roads and bridges, Overground stations, DLR and Tram networks. Minimum half-day rate starts at approximately £750 for a small crew in a TfL-managed space. Full station hire runs significantly higher.
Network Rail manages all mainline stations and railway infrastructure. Rates start at £500–800 per day for station concourse access in smaller stations, rising to £2,000–5,000+ for major London terminals. Apply through Network Rail’s Property division.
Royal Parks
Greenwich Park and other Royal Parks: £250–1,500 per day depending on area used and crew size. Application through The Royal Parks charity. All commercial filming requires a permit regardless of crew size.
English and Scottish cities
| City | Film office | Approximate day rate |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester | Screen Manchester | £75–300 |
| Leeds | Screen Yorkshire | £75–200 |
| Bristol | Bristol Film Office | £100–300 |
| Glasgow | Glasgow City Council | £150–400 |
| Edinburgh | City of Edinburgh Council | £150–400 |
| Cardiff | Cardiff Film Office | £100–300 |
| Belfast | Belfast City Council | £100–300 |
| Birmingham | Birmingham Film Office | £80–250 |
| Newcastle | Newcastle City Council | £80–200 |
National managing bodies
| Body | Range |
|---|---|
| National Trust | £600–4,500+/day (property dependent) |
| English Heritage (EH) | £500–3,500/day |
| Historic Royal Palaces | £4,000–25,000+/day |
| Royal Parks | £250–1,500/day |
| Canal & River Trust (commercial) | £50–200/day |
| Network Rail (stations) | £500–5,000/day |
| TfL (assets) | £750+/half-day |
| Forestry England | £150–500/day |
Fountains Abbey as a National Trust / UNESCO site sits at the upper end of NT pricing — expect £2,000–4,000 per day for main access.
Why applications get delayed or rejected
Knowing the fee is only part of the permit picture. Applications that stall or get refused typically fall into a few categories.
Incomplete insurance documentation. Most councils will not process an application until they have a valid public liability certificate showing minimum £5 million coverage, endorsed with the council’s name as an additional interested party. Sending the certificate alone — without the endorsement — is the most common administrative delay. It adds 3–5 working days while the council chases your broker.
Missing risk assessment. For any production involving road closures, elevated equipment, crowd management or pyrotechnics, the council will require a written risk assessment. Some film offices provide a template; others expect a document prepared by a competent person. A generic one-page form will be sent back. It needs to be location-specific, with specific hazard mitigations, signed by whoever is acting as safety supervisor.
Neighbouring consent issues. For shoots that will visibly affect adjacent properties — a camera pointing at a residential street, a lighting rig that illuminates a neighbouring building — some councils ask for written consent from the affected neighbours, or at minimum require the production to notify them. Westminster is the borough most likely to enforce this; they have a template notification letter they expect productions to send to businesses affected by a permit area.
Timing conflicts. Councils cross-reference permit applications against their own events calendar. A permit for a specific square or street on a day when the council itself has a market, sports event or ceremony will be refused outright — not because of anything wrong with the application, but because the space is already committed. Check the local events calendar before selecting shoot dates.
Student and non-commercial rates
Many authorities waive or reduce fees for student and non-commercial productions. Westminster offers reduced rates for student films on submission of an educational letter. The Canal & River Trust does not charge for non-commercial filming. National Parks are often similarly flexible.
The most important thing is to ask. A well-managed production enquiry that presents itself honestly as non-commercial or educational will get a more helpful response than a request that makes itself sound larger than it is.