Locations
Private land
You do not need our permission to film within private property. Unless you require parking, your production is likely to draw public interest or there is an impact to public land. Please contact Environmental Health if you have any special effects or activity that may require a licence.
Location guide
- Big Ben - streets to include in your application: Bridge Street, Great George Street, Parliament Square (south and east pavements) and Parliament Street
- Chinatown - streets to include in your application: Dansey Place (LCCA must be consulted), Gerrard Place, Gerrard Street (Chinese Gate), Lisle Street, Macclesfield Street (Chinese Gate), Newport Place, Wardour Street (Chinese Gate)
- Houses of Parliament - streets to include in your application: Abingdon Street, Old Palace Yard
- River Thames - streets to include in your application: Waterloo Bridge, Golden Jubilee Bridge. Please see the non-council locations section below for information about Victoria Embankment and Westminster Bridge.
- Soho - streets to include in your application: Greek Street, Frith Street, Dean Street, Wardour Street, Berwick Street, Broadwick Street, Beak Street, Great Marlborough Street, Ramillies Street, Brewer Street
- Trafalgar Square - streets to include in your application: King Charles Island, Morley’s Hill, Trafalgar Square North Terrace
Non-council locations
Some public locations are privately owned or managed such as the Royal Parks, Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square. A list of some popular locations that are not owned or managed by the council are below. Please contact them directly for permission to film.
If you are filming a building or artwork in the public domain incidentally, please visit Film London for further information.
Buildings:
- Royal Albert Hall: see Royal Albert Hall
- Westminster Abbey Sanctuary and Dean’s Yard: Westminster Abbey
Land:
- Abingdon Green/College Green (Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament): see Black Rod’s Office, Palace of Westminster
- Buckingham Palace: see Royal Parks
- Buildings (general): see Film London guidance
- Covent Garden, Market Halls and piazza (surrounding streets are managed by the council): see Shaftesbury Capital
- Birdcage Walk, Horseguards Road, Green Park, Hyde Park, St. James’s Park, The Mall and Victoria Tower Gardens: see Royal Parks
- London Underground: see Transport for London
- National rail stations: see Network Rail
- Parliament Square Garden: see GLA
- Red Routes,roads defined by a double or single red line, for example Victoria Embankment, Edgware Road, Westminster Bridge: see Transport for London
- Regent’s Canal: see Canal & River Trust
- Tower Bridge: see City of London
- Trafalgar Square, main square (the North Terrace is owned by Westminster City Council): see GLA
Unit bases
Our unit bases are for large production vehicles that cannot park elsewhere including Winnebagos, toilets, catering vehicles and trailers. We provide separate guidance on unit base operations.
There are three locations in Westminster that can be used as unit bases:
- Lincoln’s Inn Fields
- St. James’s Square (weekends only)
- Waterloo Place
You can book a unit base for a maximum of five days, including turnaround days. Spaces get booked up as much as three months in advance, so we advise booking early.
Please contact us to check availability, conditions and book.
Filming in the carriageway/filming with a vehicle
Filming within or from vehicles falls under the management of the Metropolitan Police Film Unit. You will not need our approval if all filming activity and equipment are contained within the vehicle(s) and the MPFU is content.
Other filming activities that will need review and input from the MPFU are listed in their guidelines: