We live in a suburb, so parking round our way is a dream. We have space outside the front of the house, where we usually put the car, plus a driveway and a garage, neither of which we use.
With parking spaces in short supply in the town centre, parking meters everywhere, traffic wardens on the prowl and parking charges on the increase, it turns out our spare parking spaces could generate a useful extra income. What about you?
Search Google for ‘use my drive’ and you’ll find a plethora of websites offering convenient ways to let your spare parking spaces to people in need. Parkatmyhouse.com, usemyspace.co.uk and mydrive.net are just three of them.
Using an online service like parkatmyhouse makes the process simpler, with much of the hard work done for you and a community of potential customers on tap. Alternatively, you can arrange everything yourself, by advertising your parking space locally via classified adverts in your local papers, on Friday ad’s website or a community portal like gumtree.com.
What do you need to say? Include the distance to local transport links – buses and trains, whether you’re offering 24 hour access, whether it’s well lit or has CCTV in the vicinity.
What can you charge? Depending on your location, the demand in your area, convenience and security, you can ask for as much as £50 a week.
The downside? It’s classed as income, so make a note of your rental incomings and outgoings on a simple spreadsheet and submit it to the tax man at the end of the tax year.
More about making extra cash next week…
