1. Take in a subtenant
Soaring household bills are making it harder than ever to make ends meet.
However, your home could provide additional income, and you may not even have to pay taxes on that money.
The UK Government’s Rent-a-Room scheme allows you to earn up to £7,500 a year completely tax-free by renting out a furnished room in your home.
You can advertise your room online on sites such as SpareRoom (where you can also download a rental agreement for £4.99). Another website that some people used before, RoomBuddies, has now merged with SpareRoom.
Simply tell your household contents insurance that you have taken in a subtenant.
You must live in the property with the subtenant at least part of the time to be eligible for the benefit and it must be your main residence. If you earn more by renting out a room, you will need to file a tax return to tax the remaining income.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at investment website Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “You don’t have to own the property to take advantage of the allowance, but if you’re renting you do need to check your lease carefully and if you have any doubts speak to yours Landlord. In many cases, subletting is expressly prohibited.”
2. Rent out your parking space or driveway
You can rent out your garage, parking space or driveway by the hour, week or month.
There are several websites that connect people with free parking spaces to drivers who need to park in a specific location.
You can advertise on sites like YourParkingSpace, JustPark and Park On My Drive. ParkLet is an option for longer term rentals.
You may pay a listing fee, and you typically pay around 5% to 20% commission on bookings.
If you live near a busy train station or a major attraction where parking is expensive, you can make a lot of money.
If you live near an airport, you may want to offer a space for vacationers.
The most popular football ground for residents to rent out their parking space is Manchester United’s Old Trafford, with average booking fees of £13 when an event takes place, according to YourParkingSpace.
3. Turn your home into a movie set
Every film and television drama needs suitable backdrops, and you don’t have to live in a fancy property to make money as a film location. Many ordinary houses are used.
However, if you live near or in London and have ample parking for film crews, your home will be more likely to be chosen.
If you have a series that you know is filmed on location, you might be in luck. For example, BBC drama Casualty has been running for decades, with Bristol residents making money by offering their homes as film locations when production was based there before moving to Cardiff.
You can advertise your home on agency websites such as Scouty, Location Works, Amazing Space and Shootfactory.
According to Scouty, hosts make between £500 and £2,000 a month on average from one to three bookings by renting out their home as a location. The average shooting length is one day.
Ryan Gannon, Scouty co-founder, says: “Short-term rentals for photo and film shoots are skyrocketing because it pays better than Airbnb and is less disruptive. The shoots that take place range from small individual content creators like YouTubers to large scale film productions.”
Location Collective is looking for architecturally inspiring properties within the M25 or home precincts. Its properties have been featured on popular BBC shows such as Killing Eve and Silent Witness.
If you have a spacious family home, try Lavish Locations.
4. Rent out your storage space
For example, if you have a semi-empty attic or garage, consider renting it out to someone who needs it to store their belongings. You can list your space on sites like Storemates by location, size, and monthly cost.
According to storage rental company Stashbee, renting an unused garage or attic can earn you around £1,000 a year on average.
You can even turn an unused area of your home into a rentable storage space, e.g. B. a bedroom or a large closet.
5. Rent your home as an office space
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the way we work, with more of us than ever working from home at least part of the time. But not everyone has the space to set up a home office.
If you have a vacant room you could make between £50 and £250 a day renting it out to a home worker.
Sites like OfficeRiders allow professionals and businesses to work in someone’s home or rent a space for events and meetings. To register, detail your place and attach some photos and the price for one day. Hosts can earn anywhere from £85 to £450 per day by renting out their space to individual photographers, whether they are startups or larger corporations.
6. Home exchange
Deciding to swap homes isn’t so much about making money, but it could save you a fortune on vacation expenses. After all, with the cost of living rising, it can be hard to justify spending a lot on going abroad.
If you want a break from home you can simply swap your home for someone else’s instead of paying hundreds or thousands of pounds for holiday accommodation. Home swapping can also be a great way to discover something new when working from home and give you a break from the home office. If you have children and want to travel at peak times, the savings can be particularly significant.
You could arrange an informal exchange with family or a friend, or ask around to see if anyone would like to do the same. Alternatively, there are several home exchange websites where you can list your home and search for accommodation. For example, you can register with Guardian Home Exchange and choose from three different plans to become a member. You can try the service for two weeks free of charge.
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