Drones the latest tool to market homes

Special training needed from the Civil Avaiation Authority

Rob Stoyle flies the new 'property drone'

A Devon estate agency has become the first to use a Multi-Rotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to market their clients’ properties with aerial footage.

Rob Stoyle, co-owner of Helmores based at Crediton near Exeter, said he had permission to fly the agency's state-of-the-art multi-rotor camera drone from the Civil Aviation Authority to a height of 400ft.

"Attached with a high definition video camera, our Multi-Rotor drone is a cutting-edge marketing tool that I have undergone rigorous training to fly," he said. "We can now capture aspects of a property that cannot be seen from the ground."

An example is the £999,950 Heron’s Bank estate in Cullompton below which includes gardens and grounds of around 22 acres.

"Effectively we are using the same airspace as civil and military aircraft," said Rob, "which meant we had to produce our own Operations Manual and learn a great deal of general aviation knowledge as well as health and safety. An aircraft like this can see a lot more and so it is important that we are sensitive to the flying path and how close I get to livestock, homeowners and other unrelated properties."