Governments Vs Councils: The Debate for Your Driveway

Have you heard of the recent phenomenon that’s been happening up and down Britain for the past few years concerning people’s driveways? No? Well prepare to be amazed (or relatively interested).

Homeowners are making money by renting out their driveways to people. It might be because they live near an airport or football stadium, or purely because there are many parking restrictions in their towns. People rent them out for business/commuting purposes as well as for simple tourist uses. People are making a decent side income from it and it’s helping those people who struggle to find affordable parking in the busier cities and towns across the UK.
I’m going to take you through some of the political history around this business and give you some information on how this helps you, or could potentially help you, that is.
Councils Sniff a Problem
It didn’t take long for our dear, beloved councils to notice that they weren’t making as much money from their abundant parking restrictions, car parks, and parking tickets and fines. And as we all know councils don’t like it when they aren’t draining all the money from us that they possibly can. So they decided to start fining and taxing anyone who were renting out their driveways. They claimed that the fines were because the people were breaking the council’s precious laws by turning their homes into what they now saw as a business. These fines and taxes were reaching up to £20,000, which is ridiculous. Luckily the councils have an enemy and his name is Pickles.
The Government’s Response
Eric Pickles, to be precise. See, the government (I knew they were good for something) decided that they didn’t like the fact that the councils were draining all the money from people who were just trying to support themselves with a little side business. These people were making good money and were reducing the amount of illegal parking on our streets. The government set about changing the law which meant that councils could no longer impose such strict fines and taxes on the hardworking people of the nation.
You can read more on this story here.
That’s All Good, But How Does it Affect You?
You too could be making a lot of money by renting out your driveway space – as long as you are in an area where people need cheap parking. If you live in the middle of a village in the Cotswolds, then chances are no on will care that you are renting out your drive, however if you live in London or Bath, then perhaps you might be onto a winner.
See YourParkingSpace for a hassle-free way of renting out your space or Gumtree if you’re happy to organise rentals yourself and before long you’ll have people flocking to your driveway, paying you for the privilege to park on it. It’s a neat idea, and with the concept of renting out a spare room having been around for so long, you have to wonder why it’s taken so long for driveway rentals to catch on.
 
Nicholas Tarling @ FreeDigitalPhotos.Net
Serge Bertasius @ FreeDigitalPhotos.Net