Regular readers will know that over the years I've told you ways of making money out of your home. Well here are 8 of the best.
1 - Rent out your spare room - If you have a spare room in your house why not let it out and earn yourself thousands of pounds a year tax free? Under the Government's 'rent a room' scheme letting income up to £4,250 per year is totally tax free, providing the room offered is furnished. To help locate a tenant websites such as Airbnb.com and Windu.com will carry out this task for a reasonable fee. If you are contemplating letting out a room you will need to check with your insurers that your property and contents cover is adequate. Also, if you currently have a mortgage then you will need to advise your lender to ensure that they are comfortable with the arrangement.
2 - Rent out your garden for the night - Every so often you stumble upon an idea that you would love to see take off in a big way, and campinmygarden.com is one such idea. The site lets you rent out your garden for people to camp in overnight. You set your rate and the facilities (or lack of) you offer and voila you can start earning money.
3 - Rent out your sofa - even if you don't have a garden or a spare room you can still earn money from penny pinching tourists by renting out your sofa! www.rentasofa.com let's you earn money from couch surfers. In London a number of sofas are available 'for rent' and fetch around £20 a night. If you really want to embrace making money from your sofa then you could even list it here on the gumtree website with other sofa letters.
4 - Rent out your driveway - If you've got room on your drive or in your garage for another car there's easy money to be made.Websites such as ParkatmyHouse.com or YourParkingSpace make it easy to make money out of your spare parking spaces. Simply register and enter the details of the space, including full address, availability and facilities (such as lighting at night) and then set your price. The websites will do the rest for percentage fee. Apparently people letting out their space can expect to earn around £30 a week (some prime spots are earning over £3,000 a year).
5 - Turn your home into a film set - Your home could make you from £750 to several thousand pounds a day by hiring it out as a film location. You will need to contact a location agent and get your property on their books. They'll source and book potential assignments and take a fee of around 15% of any commission. Two of the largest agencies are Sarah Eastel Film Locations and Location Works. In addition, you could try contacting the BBC locations department on 0208 225 9133.
6 - Rent out your garage, loft or shed as storage space - A new website called sharemystorage.com allows householders to rent out garages, sheds, basements and attics to people seeking storage space. The aim is to allow communities to meet each others' storage needs whilst earning extra income and reducing the costs associated with self-storage.
7 - Rent out your house during the Olympics - although the Olympics are almost upon us www.rentduringthegames.com is a website that helps you rent out your property during this summer's Games. The website works like a dating agency – it just puts the tenant and landlord in touch with each other. Obviously there are no guarantees you’re going to get on but put in a little leg work and you could earn some extra cash, and perhaps leave the Olympic bedlam behind and go on holiday.
8 - Rent out your car to a neighbour - WhipCar.com is a website which allows you to make money from your car by renting it out to people in your area. If you commute to work using public transport there's a good chance that your car spends most of the week sat outside your home. But why not make your car earn money at the same time as you are. Whip.Car.com enables you to rent out your car for around £30 a day to someone in your local area.
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