Earn extra cash by renting out your driveways, says Pickles
Home owners will be allowed to cash in by renting their driveways to commuters, under new guidelines announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
Mr Pickles has vowed to clamp down on a “back-door parking tax” that forces residents to seek planning permission to charge.commuters to park on their drive.
New government guidance will allow homeowners to rent out their drives for a single car without making a planning application.
It comes after some town halls demanded that households apply for “change of use” planning permission costing £385, with the threat of a £20,000 fine if they did not, the minister said.
Mr Pickles said: “Councils should be welcoming common sense ways that help hard-working people park easier and cheaply and for families to make some spare cash.
“Councils shouldn’t be interfering in an honest activity that causes no harm to others, unless there are serious concerns.
“Parking charges and fines are not a cash cow for town halls. This government is standing up against the town hall parking bullies and over-zealous parking enforcement.”
More cheap parking spaces
Households can earn more than £200 each month renting out their parking space, according to moneysavingexpert.com.
Several internet companies have been set up to help households rent out their spare or unused dedicated off-street parking space near town centres, train stations and sports grounds.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “This provides a small income for hard-working families and helps provide more cheap parking spaces for people to park their car, taking pressure away from on-street parking.
Mr Pickles said residents would be allowed to rent a single parking space without planning permission, provided there was no public nuisance to neighbours, or other substantive concerns.
Householders wishing to change their garden into a car park or for other commercial uses would still require planning permission, he added.
It emerged this week that some councils were racking up huge surpluses from their parking-charge activities, according to figures from the RAC Foundation.
In 2011/12, English councils had a total current account surplus of £565 million from their on-street and off-street parking operations.
This is a £54m increase on the £511m surplus in 2010/11, said the foundation.