Do you have an accessible space on your property that measures about 4.8m by 2.4m that you’re not really using? Well you could have an opportunity to be earning a nice little additional income every month from it by advertising it to rent as a private car parking space – probably more if you are located in a busy city centre where public parking is expensive and scarce.
Any city centre commercial property with allocated parking becomes immediately more valuable. Many of these properties go through changes in use and the parking space may be releasing for use as a private car park for external use.
There has also been an explosion of online booking websites which follow the AirBnB model, in which you can upload the details of your parking space and rent it out on an hourly, daily, or longer basis.
Who would have thought that such a small patch of ground could prove to be so valuable?
Private parking adds significant value to your property
Having a private parking space in your home is a valuable asset – in fact it can add anything between five to fifteen per cent to the value of your property. The more private and specific the actual parking asset, the more valuable it can be.
In London, for example, a parking space is a hot commodity. Not all new builds are put on the market with an allocate parking space unless they have more than two bedrooms. In fact, many developers offer parking as an additional purchase – less than a fifth of new build properties on London include a parking space in the purchase price (compared to 67 per cent in other UK cities).
As an example, a London based property developer was marketing a small one bedroom apartment for £500,000. As an additional purchase, the buyer had the option of adding a parking space for £65,000 – a staggering 13% of the original purchase price.
Understanding your parking options
The differentials begin when comparing a house in a street with unrestricted parking, and one with parking permits. Unrestricted parking may seem a good cheap option, but it invariably becomes a free for all for people looking to park their cars for free and walk into town to work. This can be stressful for local residents, as the street fills up with unknown vehicles and they are forced to park a distance from their homes until the end of the day when the 9 to 5’ers return to their vehicles.
Having a permit system on your street is not quite private parking, but it can help break the gridlock of your street becoming an unauthorised car park. The downside is that there is still no guarantee of finding a parking place, but at least the pool of potential parkers is much smaller.
The next best thing is to have a parking space on your property. Whether you have a garage or just a driveway, not only can this add significant value – sometimes as much as tens of thousands – to your property, it can also help reduce motor insurance premiums due to the lower risk of crime.
A garage is the best solution – according to statistics from the Home Office, only seven percent of car thefts are from a private garage. While 66 per cent of vehicle thefts occur on driveways, or public streets.
Providing parking for your employees
If you are an employer, making sure that your employees have access to free, local parking is a big perk that can help in your recruitment drive. Be sure to check national insurance and tax implications though with your accountant, as there may be issues relating to expenses and benefits.
