Cracking shots
cybershot are you wholly welcomed flying that close to a built up area?
Not sure welcomed is the right word, but if you reword the question as can I legally fly that close in a built up area, the answer is yes, as long as the area isn't considered a crowd and people can easily get out of the way should it drop from the sky. Unlikely unless I don't get it home before the battery dies, but it will do that automatically when it think it needs to come back.
As long as I've registered the drone, got a flyer & operator ID and either the drone weighs less than 250g (in this case it did as was using a DJI Mini 2) or for anything heavier the pilot has a A2ofC qualification.
You also need to stay within visual line of sight so you can be aware of any aerial obstructions (in this case more likely seagulls, but they had gone to bed by dark) which was aided by adding additional strobe lights to the legs. I took off from a multi storey so had excellent visuals of it at all times, although theoretically I didn't have land owners permission to take off and land as I wasn't on public land (would have pleaded ignorance and apologised had car park security arrived)
The whole you can't fly over my property is a whole other debate, but in short. I can fly over whatever I want within the rules of the CAA and the drone code, no one owns the airspace except the CAA and I'm obeying their rules. I don't need landowners permission to fly over someones land, I only need land owners permission to take off and land. E.g. If I wanted to photo a National Trust site, I'd have to take off from outside their land as they have a byelaw saying I can't take off from their land, but as long as I take off somewhere off their land, thats public, and can keep visual line of sight, them I'm good to take aerial pictures. For peace of mind I have public liability and accidental damage insurance.
Sorry, essay, but when people ask, I always feel it's good to try and educate, as now the low weight ones are affordable, there's only going to end up being more of them flying around, and people will obviously be concenred about privacy and what not. As you can see from these pictures, you're not going to be identifed from 200-400ft in the air, but for some reason people think drones are a bigger invasion of their privacy than a camera phone!! go figure.
The biggest problem within the drone community is people just picking them up from Argos etc who will just willy nilly sell them (much like electric scooters) without informing people they need to register them and obey this/that and the other rules & laws, and think they can happily fly them hovering around people's gardens and houses.
Full info is here:
The Drone and Model Aircraft Code | UK Civil Aviation Authority