Renting your house out as a filming location is a great way for you to earn an additional income, but it’s not always clear how to rent your house for filming if you’re new to it. Here at Locations Direct, we aim to make the process as easy and smooth as possible, and that’s why we’ve put together this handy guide on how to use your house for filming.

Suitable Filming Houses 

Many people assume their house is not suitable for filming, but chances are, no matter what type of house you own, it will be suitable for a media project of some description. Whether you have a Downtown Abbey-esque country manor in the Cotswolds, or if you have a humble mid-terraced house on a sleepy Slough road, there’s space for every type of property on Locations Direct. 

Properties within cities like London do statistically get more bookings, but not every project is set within a city, so if you’re based further afield, do not worry! As long as your property has adequate parking for film crews and the rooms are big enough for their equipment, your house is suitable for media projects.

If you do have a smaller house, be prepared for the filming crew to utilise more of your property over the course of the production.

Register Your Property

The first step to getting your property ready for filming is to register it. To do this, fill out our online property registration form so that we know a bit more about your house and your availability. It’s always helpful to provide photos at this stage so we can get a better idea of what your house looks like and speed up your registration process. Our team will then review your application and determine if your house fits into one of our portfolio categories. 

We welcome almost every type of house, with categories including:

• Houseboats
• Farmhouses
• Modern homes
• Period interiors
• Townhouses
• Basement apartments
• Family houses

These are just a few examples of the types of houses that can be registered on our website. If our team deem your house to be suitable and in keeping with our variety of categories, we will list it on our website for free. Your address will be kept private.

How to Use Your House for Filming

Once your property is up and running on our website, location scouts at media companies can have a look at it online and add it to their list or request more information. We will perform background checks to make sure it is a legitimate company and project. We will also seek to obtain details of the project so you can decide whether you want your house to be associated with such a film or show. At this stage, we will contact you directly and determine if you can, and indeed want to, take the booking. If you can, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind. 

First, the production company will undertake a recce before the booking is confirmed. Sometimes, two recces are undertaken. Tech recce’s are also undertaken on occasion so that crews can determine what exactly will be needed on the shoot day. Generally, recces are short, but tech recces can take up to two hours.

There is very little you need to actually do in order to use your house for a TV or film project, with the main thing being that you will need to make sure it is tidy and clean, as depicted on our website. This is what the location scout and filming crew will be expecting when they turn up, so no dirty bowls or piles of laundry, please! 

You’ll also need to keep in mind that filming might cause some disruption to your routine. The length of the project will determine the level of disruption you should expect. A key part of using your house for filming is being flexible and accommodating, so it’s important that you keep this in mind. Larger projects may require you to vacate the premises for the duration of the working day so that film information isn’t leaked, with you leaving after the crew turn up and returning once filming has wrapped up. This isn’t always the case, though, and it will be discussed in length before you sign a contract. 

Generally speaking, shoots are booked for 12 hours per day, but anything over this will be charged as overtime.

You may be asked by the director or set stylist if they can redecorate parts of the house to suit their needs. This is entirely at your discretion. 

In terms of payment, we handle the payment prior to the shoot day and we hold a £1,000 damage deposit in case of accidents..

Need some professional photos? 

If you want to increase your chance of receiving  enquiries and securing those bookings. The best way to go about it is by having the best photos possible. Find out more here. 

Have you recently registered? 

Click here to find out more info on what to expect now you have registered as a filming location.

Find Out More 

If you want to find out more about how to rent your house for filming, please contact our team.