Perhaps someone should create a Netflix of Takeoff and Landing areas. Pilots pay a subscription to take off and land from any of the ‘catalogued land’ and the landowners get paid a % of the subscriptions?! Maybe not the craziest of ideas? Hmm 
I’m sure they’ll be along soon
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Lol. Don’t give him ideas.
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I think I’ve got the solution to taking off on private land. Cut a square metre of your lawn and put it in the boot of your car. When you get to a location, take out the grass square and take off from that. It’s your land !!! Simples.
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Easier - take off from the roof of your car. Don’t get dirty hands (or car boot) that way. 
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Personally paying the landowner to take off and land inside the property with permission is much better than looking for a public footpath, flying over the said property and starting the whole “they don’t own the airspace above them” discussion. I wouldn’t pay for permission for a place I feel isn’t worth taking videos and photos of. Plus I think I’d be feel more safe knowing I can fly at my own leisure and taking off and landing without any potential hassle from uninformed people.
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I think a fiver is a bargain - IMHO
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It does depend what’s available to be photographed/videoed … but chances are if there was nothing very interesting they wouldn’t be bothering to charge a fee when there was nobody to pay.
But, if I head up to Scotland next summer (my postponed trip planned for this year) knowing that I can spend time zooming about that viaduct without looking over my shoulder (or worse) will be a bonus (weather permitting - it is Scotland after all - need all my shoulder-looking-over skills for that) and a very small price to add on to a 1,000+ mile round trip.
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I’d pay to fly there as well. It’s iconic, people travel the world to see it and £10 is nothing compared to what a lot of people spend just getting there. It’s on private land, be thankful it’s not owned by the National trust.
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If you did pay a charge then the national trust would be on it , they are all about getting cash here , everything is a problem until they find out they will be paid .
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@Brian @freetail Surely this is simple supply and demand? You’re citing the tax avoidance and the possibility it’s going in someone’s back pocket; that’s not your call unless you’re HMRC. They’re the land owner; you’re the customer. You don’t get terms & conditions or a tax certificate when you park in an open-field car park for some event and hand over £10. This is no different and is actually similar to cathedrals that charge an additional photography fee to let you take pictures within their walls. You are a visitor who wants to do something and the land owner is free to charge whatever they want to give you permission. If you don’t want to pay, don’t; they own the land, not the airspace, so take off on adjacent common land if that’s close enough. Given the blanket ban on all National Trust properties and many other places, I actually think this is a great way to gain certain, guarenteed, permission that you’ll be good to fly rather than waiting for some jobsworth to come marching over in mid-flight. I wish more places would offer this and it’s something I genuinely wish other landowners would hear about and embrace as it would open up loads of opportunities for us.
Just my view…
Cheers,
Ian
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I agree entirely with you regarding paying an amount to be allowed to fly and photograph.
What I’m against is landowners just thinking they are on a money winner without taking any responsibility other than putting the money in their back pocket. If money changes hands then it forms the basis of a contract between two parties, it always has, I’d like to see a receipt for my money with the terms and conditions for my flight either printed on or at a sign near the entrance, not just some person asking a few questions about air law and drone flying in particular in the guise of doing a safety check. Having paid a fee to the landowner, who has the rights to the photographs if I decide to sell them at some time in the future? If I’m challenged by someone other than the person Ive bunged a tenner to, where’s my receipt? How would I prove I’ve got permission other than from some geezer at a gate who says he owns the land and gives me permission to fly?
My local club wanted to charge me a small amount to use their bit of grass ‘runway‘ on days they weren’t using it, when I asked for an official permission from the club or local authority who actually own the land, they contacted the authority land agents solicitor who advised me that in effect they were attempting to sublet the land and would have been in breech of THEIR lease terms if they charged me, so weren’t allowed to (officially) charge me a penny to fly, this came as a surprise to everyone, so a ‘donation‘ to club funds was happily given instead.
A similar thing happened when I approached a local farmer for permission to take off, he wanted to charge a small fee, which I’d happily have paid to get the photo, but before the flight. I checked and found the land was owned by a trust, rented to the farmer, and they said, when I contacted them, they couldn’t under the circumstances give me permission to take off from the land at the place I wished, but they did send me a lovely map with some areas Highlighted on the land nearby which weren’t rented off and gave written permission to use these at no charge whatsoever.
That’s the reason why I’d like to see it done properly with a proper receipt, terms and conditions, contact details and, where appropriate, a VAT number.
You seem to have gotten the wrong end of the stick, I don’t want to see any tax returns, they are nothing to do with me, but if I suspect that fraud is taking place, I’d report and let others with the powers investigate.
The NT and other quangos in charge of historic places will never allow private individuals, or the great unwashed to fly and take photographs of places under their charge without a great deal of money changing hands, they guard the rights to any images almost jealously, I think Im correct in saying that it’s part of their remit.
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You sound a little angry and have perhaps missed some of the detail of what was being said. I’m not in disagreement about levying charges per se, but it opens up other questions that I’m interested in hearing more about, in a calm and considered manner. It’s not quite the same as your cathedral example as we’re talking about aerial cameras and not just walking on the ground (unless you meant drone footage inside cathedrals too?). But anyway, I’m not trying to convince anyone of one thing or another. Just thought it was an interesting question that posed further discussion
I’m not angry at all and read the posts thoroughly. 
You mentioned you thought @PingSpikewas a little dismissive but I thought he was spot on… I genuinely don’t see the issue with being charged extra to do something extra. And I still don’t get Brian’s view that he needs to see terms & conditions. It’s someone’s land. They charge entry; they charge more for drones. They may also charge more for overnight camping or accessing a different part of the grounds. Or a campfire permit. Whatever. And to me this is precisely the same as the cathedral analogy; as the point I’m making is charging extra for something extra is normal and widespread.
What is not normal and widespread yet is an acceptance of drones and a reasonable way to gain clear unequivocal permission to fly at a specific venue and that’s why I think charging an extra £5 or £10 is great, because it will encourage other landowners to embrace drones; they make a bit of extra money and you get to fly… Everyone happy. Including me
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I wouldn’t want to know they paid their HMRC bill, I doubt I’d be able to spend much money if all shops had to prove that
However, I would want to know what the money gets me. Does it include public liability? Does it give me the right to fly anywhere on their property? What are the boundaries of their property? Any rules beyond those of the drone code?
Easily covered by notices or page on their website.
This thread is madness 
What it gets you the land owners full permission to take off and land for the duration of your visit.
What it doesn’t get you is a chauffeur driven limousine and an overnight stay in a luxury hotel.
I mean… why would it 
No, of course not.
As above, take off and land from anywhere you like, or, from the designated TOAL location which they’ll no doubt tell you about if they have one.
It doesn’t matter, you’re flying a drone in the sky not riding a push bike around extent of their grounds.
You’re over analysing this.
(the royal “you” - not you personally @Crackerjack )
And as for the HMRC comments…
If Amazon, Facebook, Google et all paid their dues, if the Jimmy Carr’s and thousands of celebs/footballers/etc of the world stopped cheating the system and MPs stopped bleeding our country dry with their houses and expenses claims then the £500 quid a year that some random land owners might be putting in their back pocket is neither here nor there.
But anyway 
As above, either pay them the £5 to fly your drone there. Or don’t
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It is worth it for me,as you can then guarantee that you will not get hassle by some idiot jobsworth,and can concentrate solely on your flying…peace of mind.
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I find this amusing that we don’t begrudge paying thousands on drones and gear etc yet this topic on giving someone something as a thank you to use our gear without hassle causes such strong debate.
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I’m surprised you have time to answer with the millions of acres of private land you clearly control.
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You didn’t know my real name was James Dyson?!
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