How to do it

• Contact the BBC locations department (0208 225 9133) or your local film commission and ask if they’d be interested in your home.
• Get in touch with one of the national location libraries in London (see Useful contacts below) - they’ll send you a form to fill in about your home.
• Ordinary homes are also sought after, as long as they are not too far from the main film-making cities.
• Some programmes, like police series, often need grotty bedsits to film in. No offence if you live in one. And homes that have original period interiors might be very useful for nostalgic series or films.
• You can also hire out your home for stills shots.

How much can you make?

• If you live in a fabulous stately home you can certainly make a lot of money per day (around £1,000-2,000 for a film crew)

• For an average home, the fee paid is usually around £1,000 a day, although it would be less for a small place and more for a large home.
• In London, documentary makers would pay around £300-500 per day.

Costs

• Film crews will usually replace broken or damaged items although you’re often left with damage that you only find later on.
• You’d better have a laid-back attitude, as you may end up with a crew of 30 or 40 people in your home along with all their equipment.
• If they take over your home for more than a day you’ll have to find other accommodation for you and your family which could cost.

Pros & cons

Pros

• You can make a substantial amount of money without taking much time or effort.
• If you hang around during filming, you could meet interesting people – maybe snare Hugh Grant as a husband! (OK, maybe not…)

Cons

• Film crews can be very intrusive and can break things you would never have imagined could be broken!
• You’ll have to move out if the crew is there for any length of time which can be quite a nuisance, particularly if you have family.

For more ways to make money from your home, check out our pages on renting out a room or renting your garage.

Useful contacts

• Sarah Eastel Locations
• Lavish Locations
• The Location Partnership
• Location Works
• BBC locations department – 0208 225 9133
• Amazing Space
• Film Locations UK