Commercial Filming and Advertising Shoots

Commercial filming covers far more than feature films and television drama. Adverts, branded video, online content and other moving-image productions can all raise the same planning questions when a location is used temporarily for production.

Not every commercial shoot is development. A small crew can sometimes film without materially changing the use of the land or building. Where a shoot does amount to development, the General Permitted Development Order can provide useful routes, particularly Class B and the specific Class E filmmaking right.

Still photography needs separate treatment. A commercial photoshoot may create a material change of use on its facts, but Class E is a filmmaking right and is not a general permitted development right for still photography.

What counts as commercial filming?

For Class E, commercial filmmaking means filming for broadcast or transmission. The statutory definition includes broadcast by a television programme provider or another person for commercial gain, internet transmission for commercial gain and theatrical cinema release.

That can include a television commercial, online video advert, branded moving-image content or a conventional film or television production. The exact distribution model matters more than the label used by the production.

The definition also includes activities preparatory to, or otherwise related to, the filmmaking when calculating the filming period. Set-up, strike and other related production activity should not simply be ignored when working out the Class E allowance.

Advertising does not always mean Class E

A stills campaign, catalogue shoot or product photography session is not automatically commercial filmmaking merely because the images will be used in advertising. If it is still photography only, Class E does not provide the filmmaking permitted development right.

The planning question then returns to ordinary principles. Is the activity so limited that it does not materially change the character of the property or land, or has the site become a commercial photography location as a matter of fact and degree?

The distinction can be particularly important with houses. Our house filming and photoshoots guide covers a recent appeal involving product branding and photography at a dwelling.

Class E commercial filmmaking

Class E of Part 4 grants planning permission for the temporary use of land or buildings for commercial filmmaking for up to 12 months in any 27-month period. It can also cover temporary structures, works, plant and machinery required in connection with that use.

Following the 2023 amendment, the maximum site area is 3 hectares and the general height limit for temporary structures, works, plant or machinery is 20 metres. The lower 5 metre limit remains relevant where development is within 10 metres of the curtilage of land attached to a dwellinghouse.

Class E is not available for overnight accommodation and is excluded on article 2(3) land, sites of special scientific interest, listed buildings and their curtilages, scheduled monuments and certain safety or explosives areas.

Prior approval is mandatory under Class E

Class E is permitted development, but it is not an automatic right to start filming. Before each new filming period, the developer must apply to the local planning authority for a decision on prior approval.

The authority can consider the proposed filming dates and hours, transport and highways effects, noise, artificial lighting and flooding. The statutory procedure includes a 56-day determination period. If you are relying on Class E, build that process into the production timetable rather than treating it as paperwork which can be sorted out after the crew arrives.

Can Class B be used instead?

Potentially. Class B is the general temporary use of land right for up to 28 days in a calendar year and can be relevant to shorter outdoor shoots.

But it has important traps. It does not apply where the land in question is a building or is within the curtilage of a building, and it cannot be used for the siting of any caravan apart from the narrow festival exception. That can matter enormously for a film unit base.

Class B also does not create a general exemption from other controls. A shoot in protected woodland, on a highway or involving a drone can require separate permissions even if the land-use planning position is straightforward.

When is a planning application needed?

If the filming is development and neither Class B nor Class E can be used, a planning application may be required. That may be because the site is excluded, the duration or physical works fall outside the permitted development limits, or the proposed use has become more substantial than a temporary production activity.

A planning application allows the local planning authority to consider the proposal on its planning merits and can sometimes provide a route where Class E is unavailable. It is not a way around separate listed building, ecology, highway or aviation controls.

Commercial filming checklist

• decide whether the activity is moving-image filming or still photography
• assess whether the proposed use or physical works are development at all
• check whether Class B or Class E is available and whether prior approval is required
• include set-up, strike and related production activity when assessing the filming period
• check site designations, listed status, protected trees and ecological constraints
• separate the planning route from landowner, highway, parking, police and drone permissions

For complex or expensive locations it is worth settling the route before contracts, set construction or transport arrangements become difficult to unwind. Our Planning Review service can provide a site-specific planning appraisal.

Filming and photography planning resources

Location filming can involve planning permission, permitted development, private or public land permissions, roads, protected sites, production bases and drone restrictions. Use the guide which best matches the issue you are dealing with.

Commercial Filming Page Created: 11th October 2026