Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
How to make and save money through renting your stuff
Danielle Richardson
21st Aug 2019
If you’re already working on the difficult balancing act of having a job/family life, it might seem there is no time left for you to make some extra money.
Actually, there is one thing you can do which has the potential to earn you a passive income: renting.
Yes, you can make and save money through renting your stuff.
All the space and things you own is worth something, and somebody might be interested in living there or using your stuff.
Whether you have a stylish outbuilding, or just a garden shed, there are people who would want that space for living or storage purposes. Equally, people might be interested in renting your car or bike from you.
Read on to find out how to join the sharing economy, and make and save money through renting your stuff.
Rent your property
Most people’s biggest asset is their house.
We’re not suggesting you give up all of your personal space, but what about the parts that you don’t really use? Everywhere from your garage and your garden, to your utility and your loft can be rented out – you can even rent freezer space!
By clearing out spare rooms or garages, you can sell your unwanted items before preparing the space to be rented out. Two ways to make some cash!
The price of living is increasing exponentially, with a 1 bedroom flat costing approximately £600p/m to rent. This figure often doesn’t include utility bills or council tax. With that in mind, it’s a great idea to offset some of that cost!
Here are a few popular ideas for renting out your space
Rent your parking space
As the number of cars on the road grows (38.4 million in March 2019), so does the demand for places to park them. If you don’t use your garage or driveway then there’s a good chance that someone out there will – and they’ll pay to avoid nasty parking fines!
While many people sell off their unwanted garages, this will devalue your house In the current housing market, you want to do all you can to avoid this! Rent your garage instead, using Parklet or JustPark.
Both are free to advertise on and, depending on where you live, could make you up to £115 a month for letting your parking space or garage.
Bear in mind that Parklet charges a one-off admin fee of £25 for the first month.
If you live near a sports stadium, airport or congestion charge zone, your parking space could be worth even more! See our article on renting out your driveway or garage for more information.
Rent out storage space
Of course, cars aren’t the only thing you can keep in a garage. People will pay to use not just your garage, but also your utility or loft space for storage – especially if you’re nearer or cheaper than the closest storage warehouse
Storemates, Spareground and Stashbee are just a few of the websites that enable you to list your space for free, after which you can expect to earn as much as £300 a month through your rental. It’s wise to charge about 50% of what a storage company might charge.
If you are willing to spend a little in order to make more money, see how to make money investing in garages.
Rent a room
A classic way of making a bit of extra money from your home is to rent out a spare room for people to stay in. If you’re looking for a lodger, have a look at roomgo – it’s free to post an ad.
If you don’t want to commit to a full time lodger, check out MondaytoFriday or SpareRoom. The former lets you rent to people who want to stay with you during the week and will return home on the weekends.
There are lots of professionals looking to cut their costs, and becoming a weekday lodger turns out to be a much cheaper deal for them. MondaytoFriday prices start from £29.95 depending on how long you want to post your advert for.
What’s more, with the government’s rent-a-room scheme, you can earn up to £7,500 a year from renting a room without having to pay a penny in tax! Take a look at our article on renting a room.
Rent to a student
Alternatively, if you want a full time let for a shorter period, you can rent to students who will only likely need the space during term time.
You can list your room for free on StuRents – the UK’s largest dedicated student property marketing platform.
Have a look at our article on hosting foreign students, too. This also opens up the opportunity to make a little extra money as a language tutor. For this, a TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) qualification may make it easier to find a willing lodger.
Rent to travellers
With travel becoming an ever more accessible pastime, the demand for accommodation that is not only affordable, but also offers an authentic and memorable experience, has increased enormously.
The good news? You don’t need to be a hotelier or guest house owner to jump on this opportunity to make money.
With Airbnb, you can rent out your home/apartment – or a part thereof – to guests from all corners of the globe. All you have to do is create a listing, get a professional photographer to take some quality pics of your space, and start renting out. Pretty simple!
If you’re based in a big city, like London, you’d be able to charge anything from £29 to £300 per night, depending on the space you’re renting out. The amount you charge is pretty much up to you.
Just take note: since Airbnb has become so popular over the past few years there are strict rules and regulations in place. It’s worth familiarising yourself with them before making any hasty decisions
Rent your garden
Although municipal allotments cost relatively little – full plots costing around £75 per year in some cities – the waiting lists for them are long. This means that there’s bound to be someone eager to use your garden for growing their vegetables. You can charge whatever you like!
If your garden’s becoming too much effort to maintain, why not have someone else do it? For more information, try our article hiring out your garden as allotments.
Alternatively, you can rent out your garden as camping space, or perhaps as a place for people to hold garden parties. Once again, Spareground can offer you free advertising.
Rent your whole house
If you’re looking to turn to rent to bring in a lot of extra cash, letting out your whole home could be the way to go. Just make sure you have some family/friends to stay with, or a smaller place to live while your main property makes you money!
If you live somewhere really striking, find how to rent your home as a film set.
Rent your stuff
Space in your house isn’t the only thing you can rent out – you can also make money from pretty much everything you own.
Rent your car
If your car is your pride and joy, and your own family members get shouted at if they dare to wear shoes or breathe on the windows when you give them a lift, this may not be advisable. There are never any guarantees of its safe return!
However, if you’re a little more laid back, and have times when your car just sits in the garage, why not make money from it?
While there’s nothing to stop you from making informal arrangements with friends, neighbours or family members you trust, there are actually several companies out there who can facilitate the process for you.
There is, of course, the option of making your car available to Uber. In order to do this, your vehicle must be less than eight years old and you will also need to obtain a license for private hire.
If you’re looking for something slightly simpler, check out easyCar Club and HiyaCar. According to a 2016 Telegraph article, one easyCar Club user made £2,300 in two years from renting her car out for £30 a day.
Similarly, Daily Express reported that motorists who rent out their car on the service can earn between £20-£300 a day, depending on what car they own. HiyaCar themselves report figures of up to £800 per month.
Rent your board or your bicycle
Ever travelled to another country and found yourself wishing you had your bicycle, surf- or snowboard with you? Well, when you join Splinster, you’ll not only be able to hire one, but you’ll also be able to help your fellow outdoor enthusiasts out by making your own boards available for rental.
Owners list their bikes, and renters search for a bike in whatever area they want. They then complete the rental process easily through the website, mobile app, or in-store kiosks. Splinster even offers various protection options and delivery services to please all parties. You can get up to £4,000 of damage protection!
Depending on where you live, you can make up to £400 a week with the site.
Rent your clothes
If you’re lucky enough to have some designer clobber that others might like to borrow, why not make back some of the money you spent on them? Rentez-Vous is a site that lets you both lend and rent clothes.
Also have a look at Rent My Dress, a website featuring carefully picked dresses and accessories for all occasions.
Rent just about anything!
Some sites will let you advertise everything from video cameras and chainsaws to bouncy castles and massage tables. There is no end to the possibilities when it comes to letting out your property!
RentNotBuy lets you rent out absolutely anything without paying a penny, and so does Fat Lama. According to the founders of Fat Lama, some of their London users are “earning thousands every month” through listing unused household items, ranging from cameras to cars… and everything in between.
In fact, as a MoneyMagpie reader, you can get £25 credit for signing up to Fat Lama here.
Renting not only saves you money, but helps the environment by encouraging people to share and reuse instead of buying new.
And don’t forget to save…
Whilst you’re making money renting out your stuff, why not save a bit by renting from other people?
Particularly popular are baby accessories. Next time you’re babysitting, instead of spending a fortune making your home baby-safe, just rent a stair safety gate for £8 a week!
Here are some examples of what you can rent out and how cheap they can come:
|
What you can make from renting |
||
|
Item |
Weekly Revenue |
Website |
| Violin | £15 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
| Drill | £25 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
| Large rucksack | £10 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
| Advanced soccer and spanner set | £25 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
| Caravan | £180 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
| Large Ladder | £55 | RentNotBuy.co.uk |
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I’ve had a lot of success using ULend.Me (www.ulend.me) to rent out my gently used items. The website is easy to use and fun! Definitely worth checking out!
nice work, keep up the good work.
very nice article