Renting your apartment to film productions —
what it really takes,
and what we do for you

What makes a home a location productions want

A good location is not necessarily a beautiful home. It is a home that is easy to shoot in. A production picks a property on light, character, equipment access and parking — and only then on interior design. A stunning fourth-floor apartment with no elevator is ruled out before anyone looks at the photos.

What does work: rooms with natural light from a consistent direction, walls that are visually clean, a distinct architectural character (period or contemporary — not in between), open space where equipment can be laid out, nearby parking, an elevator, and neighbours who do not turn every shoot day into an incident.

And the point worth stating honestly: renting to productions is occasional income, not the basis of a business plan. It does not arrive every month, and not every home gets enquiries. It works best as an addition to a property that already earns from hosting — not instead of it.

Checklist — is your property suitable

• Natural light: is there a room that gets direct light during the day? From which direction?
• Distinct character: period building with texture, or clean contemporary design. An "ordinary" apartment with no character is the hardest to place.
• Access: elevator, door widths, and how many steps are on the route in.
• Parking: adjoining parking or a nearby car park — a production arrives with more than one vehicle.
• Neighbours and the building committee: whether there is a problem here that will recur on every shoot.
• Free space: whether a room can be cleared for equipment and makeup without dismantling the home.
• Ability to black out: curtains or blinds that give control over the light.

What must be in the agreement — before you agree to anything

The above is general information drawn from operational experience and is not legal advice. Before signing an agreement with a production it is worth consulting a lawyer, particularly on liability for damage and on insurance.

What we do for you

• Screening: the enquiry comes to us, we establish the type of production, crew size and length of shoot — and filter out what does not suit the property.
• Coordination: dates, hours, parking and neighbours. You are not managing this with the producer.
• On-site supervision: someone opens up, stays across it and checks at the end of the day.
• Restoring the property: cleaning and a check that everything is back in place before the next guest arrives.
• Fitting it around hosting: a shoot day goes into the calendar alongside normal bookings, without hurting occupancy.

This is part of the full management we provide anyway — operations, cleaning, maintenance, pricing and hosting. See vacation rental management, short-term rental management, remote management and investors.

And if the property is not right for productions?

Most homes are not, and that is a legitimate answer. If yours will not work as a location we will tell you — and focus on what does generate steady income for it: short and mid-term hosting. See should I list on Airbnb and what property management costs.