CCTV in blocks of flats: who decides, who pays, what to film

Start with the lease. Most flats are leasehold, as GOV.UK notes, and none of the UK sources we read sets a residents’ vote for CCTV in a block in law. What decides the project in practice is the lease, the service charge rules that sit around it, and whoever runs the building: a freeholder, a managing agent acting for one, a residents’ management company or an RTM company.

Who decides, and the £250 line

The lease sets out how the service charge works and what can go on it. If the landlord wants the leaseholders to pay for a new CCTV system, the consultation rules come into play as soon as any one of them would pay more than £250 for planned work. For agreements on work or services lasting more than 12 months the threshold is £100 per leaseholder per year. The procedure is known as a Section 20 consultation.

Here is the sum.

A system quoted at £7,800 in a block of 30 flats with equal shares costs each leaseholder £260. Over the line. The landlord has to consult before the work starts. Add a two year maintenance and remote monitoring contract at £120 per flat per year and it crosses the £100 line too.

Skip the consultation and there is a cap on what leaseholders can be made to pay. For an installer that means an invoice the client may struggle to recover. Ask the managing agent whether Section 20 has been done before you book the job.

The controller is whoever calls the shots

The installer is rarely the controller. UK GDPR defines the controller as the person or body that decides the purposes and means of processing, alone or with others. In a block that is normally the landlord or the company that manages the building and commissions the cameras. This is our reading of the definition, and it matches how the role works on site: the installer fits the kit; the client decides what it is for, who watches and how long footage stays.

GOV.UK sets out what an organisation using CCTV must do. Register with the ICO and pay the data protection fee unless exempt. Put up signs that are clearly visible and readable. Control who can see the recordings, and use the system only for the purpose it was set up for.

People filmed can ask for their footage, and it should usually be supplied free within one calendar month. Signage details are in our piece on CCTV signage requirements.

When a resident fits their own camera

A camera that only covers the resident’s own property can fall under the household exemption in Article 2 of UK GDPR. Point it beyond the boundary, at shared spaces or the street, and that ends.

GOV.UK guidance on domestic CCTV is direct about this: if a system records people beyond the boundary of the private property, including shared spaces and public areas, data protection law applies to the resident. They become responsible for the footage, need to tell people with a notice, and must deal with subject access requests from those they film.

A job that often goes wrong is the video doorbell or small camera above a flat door with a wide lens. It sees the whole landing. Narrow the field of view or apply privacy masking before you hand it over, and say so in writing.

The Surveillance Camera Code does not change this. It applies to relevant authorities such as police forces and local authorities in public places in England and Wales. The Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner encourages other organisations and people running domestic systems to adopt it on a voluntary basis.

Three countries side by side

	United Kingdom	Spain	Italy
Who decides	Lease and whoever manages the building	Owners’ meeting (junta de propietarios), minuted	Owners’ assembly of the condominio
Majority	None in the sources we read; Section 20 consultation above £250 per leaseholder	Not written for cameras; 3/5 of owners and shares for security services	Majority of those present plus half the building’s value, at every sitting
Controller	Whoever decides purposes and means	The community of owners	The condominio; without a vote, the administrator
Resident’s own camera	Outside the household exemption if it films shared spaces	Own space only; parking space with the meeting’s approval	Exclusive spaces only
Retention	No longer than necessary	One month at most	Up to 7 days considered reasonable

Both need a formal vote. Spanish owners’ communities need an agreement of the junta recorded in the minutes, and Spain’s property law asks for three fifths of owners and shares for security services. In Italy the civil code requires a majority of those attending plus half the value of the building, even at a reconvened meeting. In 2023 the Italian regulator fined an administrator €1,000 for fitting two cameras after an email to residents and no vote.

Retention rules are compared in our article on CCTV footage retention. If a concierge or cleaner is on camera, in our view the rules on CCTV at work may apply as well.

Before you quote a block

• Ask the managing agent who the client is, and get it in writing: freeholder, management company or RTM company.
• Work out the cost per leaseholder. Above £250 for the install, or £100 a year for a contract over 12 months, check that Section 20 consultation has been done.
• Agree a camera schedule and fields of view limited to communal areas and entrances, with masking where the view reaches flats or the street.
• Set automatic deletion to a period the client has written down and can justify.
• Hand over signs naming the controller, and a short note on who can view and export footage.
• Turn down resident installs that cover landings or stairs unless the field of view is cut back.