Foundations
Part of An evidence-led property creator business for 2027, from scope to regulatory gates
Property creators checklist: filming people, enquiries and accessibility
A property creators checklist for England: record who may be filmed, document enquiry data under UK GDPR and PECR, and settle accessibility duties.
A property shoot exposes people before it sells anything: the occupant in the frame, the neighbour beside the gate, the visitor who fills in an enquiry form. Each needs a recorded decision for one England offer, not for an undefined creator business.
What to take away
- Record permission to enter and film before any footage is shot.
- Avoid filming occupants, neighbours, number plates, security arrangements, documents and personal possessions unless necessity, permission and data handling are recorded.
- Separate an editorial question from a sales lead, and tell the person who will receive their details before transfer.
- Provide captions, meaningful link text, keyboard operation and alternatives appropriate to the channel.
- Every tick needs a named owner and dated evidence.
Start with permission, not the camera
Record permission to enter and film before anything is shot, and keep it with the property record. Without that record, nobody can show who agreed to what, and a good interior becomes an asset the team is nervous to publish.
Rights come next, as a separate question. Photographs, floor plans, music, artwork, maps and previous listing assets each need their own licence record, because permission to enter a home says nothing about who owns the material taken from it or used alongside it.
- Record who gave permission to enter and film, and on what date.
- Record what the permission covers, including the channels the footage may appear on.
- Keep a licence record for every third-party asset used alongside the footage.
Decide who stays in the frame
Avoid filming occupants, neighbours, number plates, security arrangements, documents or personal possessions unless the necessity, permission and data handling are recorded. A decision to include any of them belongs in the file before the shoot, not in an apology afterwards.
Treat footage of identifiable people as personal data under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Record why they appear, who agreed, where the file is stored, who can access it and when it will be deleted. The same record answers a later request from someone who asks for their image to come down, and mapping the data flows shows where that footage travels.
- List who is likely to be presentoccupants, neighbours and visitors.
- Keep number plates, documents and security arrangements out of the frame.
- Record necessity and permission for anyone who stays in.
- Record storage, access and retention for the raw files.
- Agree how a removal request will reach whoever holds the master files.
Handle enquiries and mailing lists
Separate an editorial question from a sales lead before any form is built. A reader asking how a process works is not a lead, and the person who will receive their details must be told before transfer. Every field you add needs a stated purpose.
For forms, mailing lists, pixels and referrals, document purpose, fields, lawful basis, retention, access, processors and objections. The ICO's direct marketing guidance works through identify, plan, collect and respect, and tells you to collect information for direct marketing fairly and clearly explain to people how you plan to use their information.
Pixels and tags on an enquiry page need their own check. The ICO's storage and access technologies guidance reflects changes to PECR following the Data (Use and Access) Act, so work from the latest guidance.
UK GDPR and PECR both apply to forms, mailing lists and pixels, and people have an absolute right to object to direct marketing, so every list needs a working way out. Keep the objection route as visible as the sign-up, and test it before the first message goes out.
- Decide whether each form collects an editorial question or a sales lead.
- List every field and the purpose it serves.
- Record the lawful basis and who owns retention.
- Name the processors that touch the data, including form and email tools.
- Tell the person who will receive their details before transfer.
- Provide an objection route and test it.
Make each asset accessible
Provide captions, meaningful link text, keyboard operation and alternatives appropriate to the channel. Treat these as release conditions for each asset, not as a later fix, because a video that cannot be followed without sound or a mouse has not reached part of its audience.
Use WCAG 2.2 as a global technical reference for what good looks like, and obtain a UK accessibility-law decision separately. The standard does not tell you whether a particular service has a legal duty. The decision should say whether the Equality Act 2010 applies and, for a public sector body, the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, so name who will give it and record the date.
- Add captions to every video before release.
- Use link text that says where the link goes.
- Check that forms and players work by keyboard alone.
- Provide an alternative, such as a transcript or a text description, where the channel needs one.
- Record the UK accessibility-law decision and who gave it.
Give every tick an owner and a stop condition
Every tick needs a named owner and dated evidence. A disclaimer is not evidence that a shoot, a form or a video is safe or lawful, and a check without an owner has no one to chase it.
Owners should be the people holding authority over facts, rights and release. The table lists five stop conditions, and each one has a place to look for evidence.
| Stop condition | Owner | Dated evidence |
|---|---|---|
| An identifiable person without recorded permission | Shoot lead | Permission record |
| A number plate, document or security arrangement left in frame | Editor | Reviewed master file |
| A form field with no stated purpose | Site owner | Field and purpose list |
| An objection that cannot be actioned | List owner | Test of the objection route |
| A video without captions | Producer | Caption file with release date |
Keep an approved master, a rights register, and a disclosure record for each asset. Advertising decisions, which start from the ASA's ad-recognition guidance, financial-promotion decisions and property decisions sit in separate checks, such as the advertising rules, and a launch review pulls them together before anything goes live.
Common questions
Can I film a home if the owner agrees but a neighbour is visible?
Avoid it unless necessity, permission and data handling for the neighbour are recorded. Neighbours, number plates and security arrangements are listed as people and details to keep out of the frame by default.
Is an enquiry form the same as a mailing list?
No. Separate an editorial question from a sales lead, and tell the person who will receive their details before transfer. A mailing list needs its own documented purpose, lawful basis, retention, processors and objection route.
Does WCAG 2.2 settle my legal duties?
No. Use it as a global technical reference, and obtain a UK accessibility-law decision separately. Record who gave the decision and when, so the evidence stays dated and owned like every other tick.
