Part 4 Class E: temporary use of land for film-making

Part 4 Class E of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 lets you use land for film-making for up to nine months in any 27-month period without a planning application, together with the temporary structures, works, plant and machinery that the filming needs. It is a much longer run than the general 28-day temporary use right in Class B, and it was written for exactly this purpose. The conditions attached to it are where schemes come unstuck.

Class E permits a use, not a building. Nothing it allows is permanent.

What the film-making right permits

The right covers the use of land for film-making purposes and the provision on that land of temporary structures, works, plant or machinery reasonably required in connection with the use. In practice that means sets, unit bases, marquees, portable cabins, generators, lighting rigs and catering, placed for the duration of the shoot and taken away afterwards.

The nine-month allowance is counted across a rolling 27-month period, so a production that occupies a field for three months in spring and returns for four months the following year is drawing on the same allowance. Keep a dated record of occupation from the first day plant arrives, because the clock does not start when the cameras do.

There is one more point on counting. The allowance attaches to the land, not to the production company, so a field used by one production for five months is only good for another four under the right, whoever turns up next. Landowners who licence the same location repeatedly should keep their own record, because the enforcement question is asked of them as much as of the production.

Class B remains available alongside it for other temporary uses. Where a production needs a single weekend on a car park, Class B is simpler. Where a production needs a standing exterior set for a series, Class E is the only permitted development route that gets near the duration required.

The notification and the conditions

The class is conditional, and the conditions are not optional extras. The Order requires written notice to the local planning authority before the use begins, sets a height limit for the temporary structures, and requires removal and reinstatement when the use ends. Read the current text of Class E in the Order itself rather than relying on a summary, because Part 4 has been amended more than once and the drafting is specific about what the notice must contain.

A notice that arrives late is a real problem. The permission is granted subject to the condition, so filming that starts before the notice is served is not permitted development, and the authority can treat the use as a breach of planning control.

Two practical points on the notice. State the end date, not an open-ended period, because an authority asked to accept an undefined duration will usually treat the notice as defective. And describe the structures with heights, so the authority can see for itself that the height limit is met rather than asking you a fortnight into the shoot.

Serve the notice by a method you can evidence, and keep the acknowledgement. Councils with busy film offices will often confirm receipt and give you a reference, which is the document you want if a neighbour complains six weeks in.

Excluded land and sensitive locations

Class E does not apply everywhere. Land that forms part of a listed building or its curtilage, a scheduled monument, a site of special scientific interest, a safety hazard area or a military explosives storage area is outside the right, and the exclusions are listed in the class. Check the designations before the location manager signs anything, using the national mapping services rather than a vendor's assurance.

Species protection sits outside the planning system entirely. The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 apply whether or not you need planning permission, so a barn with a bat roost, a hedge in the breeding bird season between March and August, or a pond with great crested newts constrains the shoot regardless of Class E. A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal before the unit base is sited costs less than a stopped shoot.

Trees are the other common trap. A Tree Preservation Order or a conservation area location means that pruning for sightlines, or even ground compaction inside a root protection area, needs separate consent or at least a written assessment. The same structural logic that governs what works are reasonably necessary under Class Q applies here in spirit: the right is narrow, and anything beyond it needs its own permission.

Consents the planning right does not give you

Class E deals with planning only. Running a location still means assembling a set of unrelated permissions, and the production schedule usually turns on the slowest of them.

• Road closures and parking suspensions, granted by the highway authority under traffic regulation powers, often with several weeks' notice required.
• A licence for the sale of alcohol, regulated entertainment or late-night refreshment on site.
• Prior consent for noisy works from the environmental health team, plus compliance with statutory nuisance duties for generators and night lighting.
• Civil Aviation Authority requirements for any drone flying, and airport safeguarding where the location is near an aerodrome.
• Landowner consent, insurance and, on common land or a village green, the restrictions that attach to the registered status.
• Pyrotechnics, water abstraction and temporary discharges, each with its own regulator.

The biodiversity gain condition attaches to planning permissions granted on application, so a Class E use does not trigger it. That is a point in the right's favour on a large location, and it is also a reason some authorities watch Class E uses closely.

Reinstatement, and where a planning application is unavoidable

When the use ends, the land has to go back to its previous condition. Photograph the site thoroughly before anything arrives, including field gates, verges, ditches and surfacing, because reinstatement disputes turn on the baseline. Track matting, hardcore and temporary accesses all have to come out unless they are separately consented.

An illustrative example. A production takes a 4 ha arable field for a standing exterior set from March to September, six months, under Class E. It serves notice in February, installs a temporary access off a classified road with the highway authority's agreement, and removes everything by October. The following year it wants a further five months in the same field. Nine months in 27 is the ceiling, so the second block has to be trimmed to three months or the production needs planning permission for the rest.

A planning application becomes unavoidable in four situations: the duration exceeds the allowance, the land is excluded from the class, the structures are permanent or exceed the height limit, or the use has shifted from film-making to something else such as events or storage. In those cases the application is for a temporary use, supported by a Planning Statement that sets out the duration, the reinstatement commitment and the controls the authority can impose by condition. Temporary permissions are routinely granted for filming where the reinstatement case is clear.

If you are scoping a location that falls outside Class E, enter the postcode on PlanScope to see which of the 66 report types the site is likely to need before you commit to it.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. A Lawful Development Certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works or a use are lawful, so check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on a permitted development right. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.