Many of us take different steps to supplement our salaries, to bring in a little extra pocket money and top up the bank balance. It might be through using cashback websites when shopping online, doing some mystery shopping or even dabbling in driving for Uber in your spare time.
Our homes can be a great moneymaking asset too, particularly since the growth of Airbnb and the significant increase in the amount that you can earn tax-free by taking in a lodger. But did you realise that even your driveway can be turned into an income generator?
That’s what Anna Hammill has done with her home in Twickenham, west London. She signed up with JustPark in 2015, shortly before the Rugby World Cup of that year, which was held in England.
[ADVERT]Twickenham of course is the home of English rugby, while Harlequins have their own stadium just across the road called The Stoop, so it was an excellent time to turn interest in the sport into some easy money.
Hammill charges £15 per day, which is half the price of official parking at England’s rugby stadium in the town. She said: “It’s mainly rugby fans who rent our driveway; we have some regulars who use our driveway for some of the busier games at The Stoop.
“But we had three cars parking with us recently for the Elton John concert and we’ve had one or two other people parking for other events at Twickenham Stadium. I'm impressed with how easy it is – payments are made directly into my account, so it's a stress-free way of making a bit of extra money."
Hammill says she would recommend giving it a go, and having pocketed more than £2,200 through JustPark since signing up that’s understandable.
But how does the process actually work? And what areas are most likely to deliver a significant income?
Renting out your driveway
According to JustPark, there are currently more than 30,000 property owners listing their parking spaces for rent on the site. It’s not the only option either; rival sites like ParkLet, Park On My Drive and Your Parking Space offer a similar service, though there are differences in the fees involved.
JustPark says that average earnings across its platform work out at more than £1,000 per space, though the most in-demand areas earn an average of almost £3,000 per space per year. That’s serious money!
The most highly sought-after areas are as you would expect – those with easy access to train stations, sports stadiums and city centres. These are the ten most searched-for locations on JustPark:
- London;
- Wembley Stadium;
- Brighton;
- Twickenham;
- Anfield;
- O2 Arena;
- ExCeL London;
- Manchester;
- Edinburgh;
- Southampton.
How easy is it?
This is where the service really varies depending on which site you go for.
With JustPark, setting up a listing for your driveway is absolutely free. You can add pictures to the profile, which may help attract interest. You set the fee you want to receive from drivers, but JustPark then tops that up with its own service fee. Spaces can be rented out on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis.
Payments can be made directly into your bank account or PayPal, while JustPark ensures you still get paid even if the driver doesn’t turn up.
Your Parking Space is similar in that there are no fees for listing your driveway. As with JustPark, the fee you set is topped up by the firm with its own fee, while payments are made automatically into your account of the 1st of every month.
ParkLet is designed for people interested in letting out their driveway over longer periods, quoting typical monthly prices for spaces. It is set to launch a short-term parking service though, which will even cover parking by the hour.
It’s free to advertise your space, but ParkLet charges a fee of 20% plus VAT of the monthly rental fee it collects on your behalf, while an administration fee is deducted from the first payment of a new contract as well.
Finally, there’s Park On My Drive. It works a little differently, in that there is an annual membership fee of £15 to pay, but there are no further charges after that. That fee isn’t deducted until your first booking though.
Will I have to pay tax?
In last year’s Budget, the Government announced that people would be able to earn £1,000 a year from their property without having to pay any tax, a recognition of the growing ‘sharing economy’ and the growth of sites like Airbnb. Renting out your driveway would have fallen under this definition too.
This tax break was due to be included in this year’s Finance Bill, however it was dropped late on as the Government rushed to pass legislation before the election.
As a result you will need to pay Income Tax on the income you make, usually through self-assessment. However, the Government has said it is still committed to introducing that tax break, so hopefully it will be in place soon.
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