themoneyshed
Today we have a guest post from Tracy Walter – the ‘mum next door’ who is passionate about personal finance. Although she blogs about personal finance for work, she recently branched out to writing just for mums and you can follow her on her Medium account.
Going away over the summer? Enjoy your holiday more knowing that your home is earning you money while you relax!
You could be earning up to £1000 per year tax-free by renting out parts of your property. Some people are hesitant to have people using their property while they’re around – so your summer holiday might be the perfect opportunity to earn some extra quid.
Furthermore, it’s a known fact that as much as you try to save on holiday, you will probably spend more than you usually do. Finding ways to EARN on holiday, however, will make a huge difference.
Provide short term holiday rental
While you vacay, let others stay (as long as they pay). Look on Wimdu to see how much you can expect to get for listing your size home in your area. Before you let out know what the relevant laws and tax rates are (you can get up to £1000 tax-free!). There are also a few checks you will need to do before you let out your place. If you want to know the complete ins-and-outs of renting out accommodation to tourists – you can look at Visit Britain’s pink book. There is also a fire risk assessment tool you might find helpful. You also might want to look around for which site to list on – each website takes a different cut. Before you let out your home, you might want to think of small ways you can improve it without breaking the bank.
List your UK holiday letting on one of these sites
- VRBO
- HomeAway
- Airbnb
- FlipKey
OneFineStay - Tripping.com
- Booking.com
- HolidayLettings
HolidayCottages - HolidayHomes
HomeToGo
List, Camera. Action: Rent out your home as a movie set
‘The set looks so – it is almost like someone lives there’. Well, sometimes, they do! Take your ‘lived-in’ look to the big screen when you rent out your home as a movie location! If your house has large rooms, you might want to look into renting it out for a few days as a movie location. Listings near the M25 are most popular due to parking, but it’s worth a shot. Also – it will make you feel better about how you budgeted for the latest redecoration. If your dates don’t work for people this summer, you might want to keep your house listed – maybe the next client will send you away on holiday.
Let people camp in your garden
Your garden is in its summer splendour waiting for someone to enjoy it. Don’t be selfish and let others enjoy the time in your sun when you rent out your garden to campers. Not everyone can go on a forest holiday. Camping in a forest or on the coast might be fun, but for some people, it’s either too expensive or just too far from amenities. It takes minimal effort to turn your ‘little patch of land’ into the campsite. You don’t need a license if it is for less than 60 days a year (if consecutive max. 42). Campspace recommended renting out your garden for up to 2 weeks at a time, yet if you have paddock, you won’t need to provide any facilities when the let is less than 28 days a year.
Make sure your council doesn’t forbid it, and you will probably have to fill in a P810 form for the HMRC if like most people you will be earning less than £2500 a year. You might find this article helpful in terms of other things short term renters need to keep in mind.
Places you can list your garden:
- Campinmygarden.com
- CampSpace
- GoCampr
- Gamping
Rent out storage space .e.g your garage, your garden shed
People are tripping over their things and willing to pay you to host their stuff so they can have some breathing space too! If you are going away for at least a month – look into renting out areas of your house. You can store things for people of all sizes from documents to furniture. Places like Stashbee and Storemates allow you to list and take payments for letting people store items in your garage or garden shed. As these places are detached from your house – you can give people the key and they will be able to access it when you are away. Renting out other areas in your house such as your basement or loft would be more tricky as you probably don’t want to give strangers your house key and you will probably need a friend or neighbour willing to pop by to give access to renters.
Remember – inanimate objects won’t need running appliances so make sure to turn them off before you go!
This is a great way to earn extra quid.
Rent out your drive as parking space
As you pull out of your drive – you smile in the way that only people about to go on holiday smile. Straight out of a movie. Your smile can widen though if you will be earning money from the parking space you just vacated!
- YourParkingSpace – you can customise your listing to only be available while you are away
- JustPark
- Park On My Drive – You can choose which dates you want your drive to be available as well as block out certain dates. It might be worth it to opt for the commission based system as opposed to annual membership system if you are only letting out while you are away.
- Parklet – if going away for at least a month
Rent out your car
Are you flying? Why don’t you rent out your car while you are away! It might even free up a parking space in your drive too.
3 Ways to rent out your car when you are away
-
Leave Car at Airport
- Car Away app – if you are flying out of Gatwick, you can earn money when you choose the ‘Rent and Earn’ Option at booking airport parking. Not only that – you save about £40 a week on airport parking and get a free car wash!
-
Use Car Sharing with Keyless Entry
- Drivy Open – if your vehicle meets certain conditions (e.g. parked in London, is available for at least seven days in the month, you might be able to use Drivy Open. Once you install their system (for free at an approved installer of course), Drivy will take care of all the driver verifications for you. For the rest of year, you can use your car for personal use if you make sure to unlock your car after each rental to return to normal key mode or if you are nervous, you can have it removed.
- Hiya Car- If you live in London, Greater London and Brighton, you partner with them even while you are away with their keyless Quick Start program. They can install QuickStart within two weeks and people can rent your car with keyless entry while you are away.
-
Appoint someone you trust to take care of the check-ins, check-outs and handing over the keys
- Drivy – Have someone you trust to hand over the keys and do the inspections
- Turo – TuroGo Keyless car share isn’t available in the UK, yet you can designate a custodian to take care of check-in and check-out for you. If your guest is travelling near London, make sure you read up London Congestion Charge and the ULEZ charge so you can make appropriate arrangements.
Rent out things you aren’t using
With airline baggage policy you can’t just bring the kitchen sink on holiday with you anymore! There are websites where you can list things and earn money from them while you are away! This option can also be used during the year to rent out items you hardly use.
- Fat llama
- Rent Not Buy
- Zilok
- Borro Club
- Echo Rent
Rent out your pool
OK-this is for the rare few who have a pool in the UK. Share the joy and ensure its maintained! Let others know you are willing to rent out your pool. Sites like Swimply haven’t come to the UK yet, but some people are willing to manage your swimming pool bookings for you. You can also rent out your pool to a local swimming teacher or a swimming instructor who wants to run a holiday swimming clinic.
Conclusion:
Are you feeling excited? Even if you rent your home you can make money from renting out your items or car without needing permission from your landlord. Of course, seeing your home in the movie would be amazing, but even the more probable scenarios of making money by renting out some storage, your garden or house would be just as fine.
Please comment below if you have done any of these things before or you have any tips or warnings to share with people.
Collaborative Post
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings
One Comment