Get A Licence
Small crews filming on the street or pavement in Southwark do not need a licence. You will need a licence, and you may need to pay a licence fee if you want to film on the Southbank, or on any private land, parks or housing estates. To make things simpler, we ask everyone to make an application, and if there is no fee, we issue a licence free of charge.
To get a licence to film in Southwark, please complete the online application form.
We aim to turn around each application within 24 hrs, if you are applying to film
in Southwark later the same day, please call the film officer on 0845 833 1523 and
we will try to respond immediately.
Go to the application page by clicking on the FilmApp logo below.
Payment
Though filming in the street with a hand held or tripod mounted camera with a small crew is free in Southwark, filming on the Southbank or in parks or on council owned property is not. In line with other boroughs, Southwark charges location fees. The fee depends on many things including the location and the size of the crew. If you need some guidance about how much a proposed shoot will cost, call the film office. Once you have submitted an online application, we will let you know how much the fee is by e mail. Please make your payment using our online payment system or set up a credit arrangement.
Click here to apply for a licence
Paying Location Fees
Once you have submitted your application, we will e mail to let you know if there are any fees payable. In the e mail will be a link to Paypal, please make your payment by credit card using this link. If you have any questions about the fees, or if you want to talk to the film officer to find out how the fees are calculated, call us on 0845 833 1523 or e mail info@southwarkfilmoffice.co.uk. A receipt will be e mailed to you once payment has been made.
Currently location fees are set by the council at the following rates for filming on council property:
- Large Crews £2000-£1200 per day depending on the scale of the production
- Small Crews £500 per day, or £300 per half day or £150 per hour (crew of less than 10, camera on tripod or hand held)
- Stills £50 per hour
- Road Control, or temporary structure licence (for example, a camera crane licence) price on application.
Filming with a small crew on streets or pavements using a hand held or tripod mounted camera is FREE
Credit Agreement
If your production company has a credit agreement with Southwark Film Office, you do not have to make a payment in advance. You will simply get an invoice, to be paid according to the terms of the credit agreement. If you wish to set up a credit agreement please contact Southwark film office on 0845 833 1523
Parking permits
You can request parking permits by completing the parking permit application form (available here) or calling the film office
Parking bay suspension
You can request suspension of parking bays by completing the application form (or click here). Please have a chat with the film officer before you fill in the form because any suspension must be approved.
The Southwark Film Office is very reluctant to suspend residents parking bays, especially in popular film locations because of the considerable inconvenience to residents. Please try to stick to suspending pay and display bays and use our film parking permits whenever you can.
Please be as accurate as possible when describing the bays to be suspended, using the P&D machine numbers and accurate descriptions including street numbers and any other clues to identify the bays required. We do not suspend part of a row of bays, only the whole row.

