Most people who find a stranger’s car parked in their drive get the police, a tow truck or a divorce. John Beedle, however, is more likely to wave happily and ask how his driveway is measuring up.
He and his wife, Christine, who live in a four-bed house in Colchester, Essex, are among the growing number of people letting their driveways, unused car-parking spaces and garages to commuters and other residents desperate to escape Britain’s mire of congestion charging, on-street restrictions and high parking charges.
“We think it’s a very good idea. The cost of parking in town is horrendous,” says Beedle, 71. “We’ve had no problems with it. And whenever we’re away on holiday we still have cars parked outside, which we like to think deters burglars.”
Amanda Pratt, 20, a trainee accountant who commutes daily between Clacton-on-Sea and Colchester, has been renting a space on the Beedles’ driveway for two years. She pays £54 a month to use it five days a week, and it is five minutes’ walk from her office. “I used to use the car park,” she says. “My car was always getting scratched, and if I got there late I couldn’t always find a space. This has saved me so much money — and I know my car is safe.”
“We thought our customers would all be people who needed the extra money, but we get quite a lot of people with expensive homes, who like the additional security,” says Luke Kelly, co-founder of Park Let, a specialist letting agency that manages more than 5,000 spaces nationwide, including the Beedle driveway. Groups of cash-hungry students are particularly entrepreneurial: they rent big houses, then let out the driveways to help subsidise rent and tuition fees.
Demand for driveways in commuter towns is growing, but the largest market is in big cities, and, unsurprisingly, London, where motorists are facing increasingly restricted on-street parking, high car crime and an £8 daily congestion charge for driving in the city centre. They will pay well in order to avoid paying the latter — a typical space just outside the zone can be rented for 25%-30% more a month than one just inside.
A secure underground double parking space attached to a Pimlico flat just outside the congestion zone rents for £550 a month; some similar West End spaces cost more than £400 a month. Prices could rise if other councils copy Richmond’s plan to charge owners of high-emission vehicles triple what they pay now for parking permits.
In the north, demand is smaller but growing rapidly. “There is a ratio councils use to determine how many parking spaces are built with a new development. I used to live in a block with 40 flats and only eight parking spaces. That’s an awfully large number of people to expect not to have cars,” says Stephen Hall, director of City Centre Parking, a specialist letting agency covering Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Birmingham and Sheffield.
Daily commuters are not the only people looking for off-street parking. “Some people are looking for a 15-minute slot while they drop off the kids, others want somewhere to park while they do their weekly shop,” says Anthony Eskinazi, who in September launched Parkatmyhouse.com, which advertises parking spaces for rent. Commercial car-share clubs — rental firms that offer a local pay-as-you-go car-hire service — need pick-up and drop-off points, and they are eager to recruit more private-drive owners. “The more we can involve people, the better the club works, and the more approval the concept gets,” says Dirk van Dijl, chief executive of CityCarClub, which operates in 10 towns and cities around the UK.
Annemarie Greenwood, 30, leases her drive in Wapping, east London, to Streetcar; in return, she gets £100 worth of car hire a month. “We didn’t have a car, but we owned a parking space so we were looking to rent it out anyway,” she says. “This way we can make use of a car-share scheme right on our doorstep.” Her experience highlights a potential irritation: she once wound up being the go-between when the parked car had a flat battery.
Parking is at such a premium that people are converting front gardens to parking spaces; in London boroughs, flower beds and grass have vanished under paving. So could you convert your garden to a parking area and start renting it out? Potentially yes, but be careful: councils don’t always approve, so check first.
The borough of Westminster is a good example. There, most homeowners do not require permission to turn a small garden into a parking space, but the architectural character of some roads is protected, so all changes, including paving over gardens, need approval. Usually, such applications will be refused.
Even if approval is not required, applications to lower the kerb to provide access are rejected if it means the loss of an on-street parking space. Some councils may consider letting a drive a commercial venture, for which permission is required. Paving over a front garden may also mean that it doesn’t drain properly, creating the risk of flooding.
There are also legal issues to consider. Agents have tenants waive any liability for damage — a stray roof tile landing on a Ferrari could prove costly. You must declare rental income to the tax man if your total income exceeds the personal allowance for the year. Some agents will also expect landlords to give up the use of their drives 24 hours a day for either five or seven days a week.
With flats, the situation is even more complicated. Some leases stipulate that only residents can use the parking, and residential tenants should check with landlords before renting out any parking space that comes with their flat.
Still, renting out a drive rather than a flat or house means a landlord’s life should be easier: no emergency calls for a plumber, no drawn-out disputes over deposits, and minimal redecorating required. And you might just get a grateful tenant, too.
- CityCarClub, 0845 330 1234, www.citycarclub.co.uk; City Centre Parking, 08456 444 060, www.centralparkingonline.com; Park Let, 0870 162 4977, www.parklet.co.uk; Streetcar, www.streetcar.co.uk
