Make a Sideline Income Renting Out Your Driveway

Nick Making Money, Saving Money reviews, travel, motoring 1 Comment

Today I’m sharing a sideline money-making opportunity that – if you’re in a position to do it – can bring in a steady income for very little effort.

The shortage of parking spaces in many towns and cities has created an opportunity for anyone who has a driveway (or garage) they aren’t using all the time.

One of the best-known operators in this field is JustPark. Through their website and mobile app, they put drivers in touch with home-owners and businesses who have parking spaces (and/or EV charging spaces) available near their destination. They say they help over 10 million drivers a year find parking spaces at over 45,000 UK locations.

Listing your space is free and you can set your own price based on how long the driver wishes to stay. JustPark will suggest an appropriate price based on your location and the facilities you are offering, but you aren’t obliged to accept this.

JustPark charges space-owners a 3% fee on one-off bookings (so if you charge £10 they will take 30p, meaning you receive £9.70). For longer term or rolling bookings over two months, they charge space-owners a higher fee of 20% for the first month, with the fee reverting to the standard 3% after that.

JustPark also make money from drivers, adding up to 25% of the space-owner’s asking price to the fee charged. They say, however, that charges to drivers are still typically 30% lower than ad hoc street parking (if you can find it), which makes the service attractive to motorists as well.

One big attraction of JustPark is that they handle all the admin on your behalf. All payments are made via the website, and space-owners can withdraw earnings via PayPal or direct to their bank account. JustPark also ensure you still get paid even if the booker doesn’t turn up.

JustPark say that the money you earn from renting out your parking space is included in the property trading income allowance introduced by the government in April 2017 –  so you can make up to £1,000 per year completely tax-free (and no need to declare it to the taxman).

All drivers using the service have to register on the site, so you know exactly who will be using your space on any given day. There is also a rating system so you can see any comments other users of the service have made about them. Space-owners are also rated by drivers, incidentally.

You can offer spaces by the day, week or month, and set any restrictions you wish on when your space is available. Anyone is welcome to advertise spaces on JustPark, but the locations in most demand are those near airports, stations and stadiums, and in major cities. According to one recent article in the Daily Mail, people in such areas are making more than £4,000 a year doing this. Even if that doesn’t apply to you, though, you can still earn from a few hundred pounds a year to £1000 or more by this means.

• Obviously the pandemic and working from home reduced demand for parking spaces. But with life returning to normal now, demand for parking spaces is steadily increasing again.

Of course, if you don’t have a suitable space to offer, you won’t be able to benefit from this opportunity. You could still use JustPark to save money on your own parking costs, though. Either way, the service is well worth checking out 🙂

• Another option for cheaper parking is Your Parking Space. Over 60s can get an exclusive 10% discount on this service through my friends at Over 60s Discounts.

Disclosure: As well as being a registered user of JustPark I am an affiliate for them and will therefore receive a small commission if you click through any of my links and sign up. This will not affect the money you earn through the site and/or any savings you make if you use them to find parking spaces.

Cover image by courtesy of BingAI.

This is a fully revised and updated version of my original article on this subject.