Is Renting Out Your Driveway With JustPark A Worthwhile Side Hustle?

Written by Al Baker | Founder & Editor, The Penny Pincher - Last updated: the 3rd of November 2026

If you’re thinking about renting out your driveway as a side hustle, start with the hours it’s already sitting empty. A commuter heading to work near you might happily pay for the space you’ve just left to drive to your own job. When I had a spare driveway, I tried JustPark and charged £2.80 on an ordinary weekday. Once someone had booked, I could get on with my day without having to be home to meet them.

I lived five minutes’ walk from a football ground so that I could charge a little more on match days, but the booking I remember best had nothing to do with football. A woman who went to a local learning centre a couple of times a week would book my drive once she had her dates for the month. It cost her less than the local car park and gave me a regular booking for a space I wasn’t using. I rented the house myself, so I’d checked with my landlord first, and they were happy for me to go ahead.

How much can you earn renting out your driveway?

At my weekday price, two bookings a week would bring in £5.60, or £291.20 over 52 weeks. Five weekdays a week would bring in £14, or £728 over the same period. Those figures assume somebody actually books and pays for every one of those days, and they’re before fees and any tax. The £2.80 was the price I set, and these annual figures are examples of what that price could produce.

What would it take to make £1,000? At £2.80 you’d need 358 paid days to bring in £1,002.40 before fees. Even if somebody booked all 365 days, that’s £1,022 gross, or £991.34 if the only deduction were JustPark’s published 3% withdrawal fee. At £5 a day it would take 200 paid days to bring in £1,000 gross, so the price the space can command makes quite a difference.

If your driveway’s empty only on the two days you go into the office, the two-day example is a better place to start than the 365-day figure in the table. Over four fully booked weeks at £2.80 a day, those eight bookings would be worth £22.40 before fees. One week without a booking brings that down to £16.80, which gives you a feel for what you’d actually notice in your household budget.

What would someone pay to park on your street?

Start with the search a driver would make. Put your postcode into JustPark's driveway earnings checker for an initial estimate, then use the parking search as though you were driving there. Enter the destination, day and arrival time to see what a driver could actually book. For the comparison, look at how far someone would have to walk from your driveway and how much the whole stay would cost in the nearest car park.

A station five minutes’ walk away could give you a weekday customer who needs the space from early morning until the evening. A hospital visitor might want two hours, while someone heading to a concert will be looking for a space they can still get out of when the show ends. If your driveway’s only free from 9 am until 3 pm, the hospital visit could be the better fit even if commuters usually pay more. It’s worth doing that walk, particularly where a fence, railway line or busy road makes the route longer than it looks on the map.

At mine, people had two quite different reasons to park. The football brought extra demand on particular dates, but the learning centre gave one driver a reason to come back week after week. Around a workplace, university, airport or town centre, I’d do the same comparison at a time you can regularly offer. If there are usually plenty of free spaces across the road at that hour, a higher asking price on another listing tells you very little about what drivers will pay.

How JustPark pricing and fees work

It’s free to advertise a private parking listing on JustPark. The company’s pricing guide for space owners says it takes a 3% transaction fee when you withdraw your earnings. On £10, that works out to 30p, leaving £9.70 before any tax. Compare the amount in your owner account with the price you set, because the total a driver sees at checkout can include their own charges.

You can set hourly, daily, weekly and monthly prices yourself or let JustPark adjust the price as demand changes. My weekday price was modest, but the rate could go up on match days when a lot of people wanted to park near the ground at once. If it’s a fixture you’ll be attending yourself, block out the space first if you need it. A higher price is only useful on a day you can honour the booking.

With manual pricing, think about what happens when somebody stays longer. JustPark describes the rates as caps, so if you set £1.50 an hour and £5 for the day, four hours would cost £5 at those owner rates. A weekday-only monthly booking also works differently from a series of individual daily bookings. JustPark says the Monday-to-Friday monthly option pays 80% of your monthly rate, so a £100 monthly rate gives an £80 payout basis before the withdrawal fee. It’s worth knowing that before you agree to give someone the space every working day.

Can you rent out a driveway if you rent your home?

My landlord’s answer was yes, with the condition that any problems were mine to sort out. I never had a problem with a driver, but the conversation was worth having before I took a booking. If you rent, tell the landlord which space you’d be offering, when people would use it and how they’d get in. Get the answer in writing, especially if you’re dealing with a letting agent or the parking is managed separately from the house.

If you own a leasehold flat, being allocated a numbered bay for your own car doesn’t necessarily give you the right to let somebody else use it. Check the lease, any permit conditions and, where needed, ask the freeholder or managing agent for permission. For a freehold home, check any restrictions in the deeds or mortgage terms that could affect paid parking. JustPark’s eligibility guide is a useful starting point before you rent out a parking space, particularly if anyone else has rights over the entrance.

Do you need planning permission to rent out a parking space?

In England, the government’s planning guidance on renting out a parking space says an existing space can generally be let without planning permission if there’s no material change in its use and no other planning restriction prevents it. A driver parking one car where yours would normally stand is quite different from turning a front garden into a car park. The council can also consider whether the use causes a nuisance for neighbours.

If the entrance is shared or drivers would be arriving and leaving late at night, think about how that would work for the people next door. A planning condition on a particular development can matter even where the neighbours are happy with the idea. Ask your council’s planning team if your proposed use is unusual or you’re unsure about a condition. If the space is in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, check with your own planning authority because the guidance linked here applies to England.

How to list your driveway and get the first booking right

Open a JustPark account and choose the option to list your space. You’ll need the address, the number of vehicles you can accommodate, the type of space and the days and times you want to offer. Place the pin at the entrance a driver should use, which can be on a different street from the front door. Then add photos, access instructions and your price, and submit the listing for review.

Take at least one photo from where the driver will first see the entrance. If two identical drives sit side by side, a close-up of an empty patch of paving won’t tell someone which one is yours. Include the bay number or a landmark they can recognise and explain which side to park on if you still need access to the other side. Enter any gate code in the booking instructions intended for the driver rather than in the public description.

Size can matter more than the number of spaces. Measure the narrowest part of the entrance and look at whether a driver will have room to open the doors once parked. If the driveway looks generous but has a tight turn past a low wall, explain that before a driver arrives with a larger vehicle. A little detail in the listing saves somebody having to ring from outside while you’re at work.

You can set a regular timetable and block individual dates. If the household car is usually away from 8 am to 6 pm but you sometimes finish early, allow a little room either side before accepting a full-day booking. A monthly arrangement can save administration, but it also commits the space on the days agreed. My repeat customer booked the days she actually needed when she got her schedule, which is another way regular use can work.

Do you have to be at home when a driver arrives?

I never had to be at home for mine. I put the details a driver might need in the instructions they’d receive with the booking, including anything about the space that might catch them out. That was what made a £2.80 booking worthwhile for me. It wouldn’t have held much appeal if I’d had to organise my day around meeting somebody at the gate.

Before going live, try reading the instructions from the pavement as though you’d never seen the house before. Would you know which gate to use, where to leave the car and whether anyone else needs to get out? Make sure you can be contacted about a booking if something does go wrong, and keep conversations about changes on the platform where you have a record. Once someone has booked, you’re responsible for keeping the space available to them for the agreed time.

If you’re getting enquiries but few bookings, look first at what drivers are asking. Three people wanting to know whether a van fits may tell you more about a gap in the listing than a quiet weekday tells you about your price. If nobody’s enquiring at all, compare the availability and walking distance with nearby spaces over a few weeks. For a ground like the one near my old driveway, I’d include a home fixture and an ordinary weekday in that comparison.

When does JustPark pay you?

There are two dates to look for in your account. The first is when the booking money becomes available to withdraw, and the second is when the transfer reaches your bank. For hourly, daily and weekly bookings, JustPark earnings become available 48 hours after the booking starts. A booking starting at 9 am on Monday would therefore normally become available from 9 am on Wednesday. That’s the point at which you can request the money.

Monthly parking follows a different timetable. JustPark says the first amount becomes available after the first month’s renewal, then on the same date in subsequent months. You can choose manual withdrawals or automatic payouts, so check which you’ve set up and the bank details shown in your verified account. If a transfer hasn’t arrived, look at whether the money is still pending, available to withdraw or already on its way before contacting support with the booking reference.

I’d keep a copy of the bookings and payouts as well as the bank entries. A bank credit of £97 could represent £100 of parking income with £3 taken in fees, and the difference matters if you’re getting close to the property allowance. Having the dates, full booking amounts and fees in one place also makes it much easier to spot a missed payout or answer an HMRC query later.

Do you pay tax when you rent out your driveway?

For UK tax purposes, letting someone park on your driveway can count as property income. The HMRC property allowance guidance gives most eligible individuals up to £1,000 of qualifying gross property income in a tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April. Gross means the amount before expenses or platform fees. You get one allowance across your qualifying property income, even if you let several spaces or use more than one app.

Suppose the driveway brings in £850 over the tax year and you also receive £300 for letting a separate parking bay. That makes £1,150 gross, even if the money comes in through two different platforms and both take a fee. If you qualify and choose to claim the full £1,000 allowance, £150 would remain as taxable property income. The tax you’d actually pay on that depends on your wider circumstances. If you claim the allowance, you can’t also deduct those fees or other expenses against the same income.

At £1,000 or less, you generally won’t need to tell HMRC about that income if you qualify for full relief, although there are exceptions. For gross property income over £1,000 and up to £2,500, HMRC’s guidance directs you to contact them. If your income is higher, or you already complete Self Assessment, use HMRC’s rental income checker for the reporting route that fits your position. It specifically covers payment for parking spaces and garages, so you can report the income you actually have.

Does the £3,000 side hustle allowance from April 2027 cover driveway rent?

The government has announced an increase in the trading allowance from £1,000 to £3,000 from 6 April 2027. That change applies to qualifying trading and miscellaneous income. Simply letting someone park on your driveway normally brings in property income, so the separate £1,000 property allowance still applies. If your only side-hustle income is £1,200 from letting your driveway, you’re already over the property allowance and should contact HMRC, even though you’re below £3,000. If you also earn money from a separate side hustle such as selling goods as a business, keep those earnings separate when you check which allowance applies.

Does JustPark report driveway income to HMRC?

Digital platforms can be required to collect information about people who earn through them, and HMRC includes parking spaces in its guidance on property rentals. That explains why a parking app may ask for identifying information before it can complete verification. If you receive a request, open your account directly and check what details it needs there.

A platform report can cover the calendar year from January to December and show what you earned after the platform’s deductions. Your tax year runs from April to April and starts with gross income, so copying the annual payout figure straight into a tax calculation could give you the wrong answer twice. Keep the report alongside your bookings, group the payments into the correct tax year and record the fees separately. HMRC says receiving a copy of the platform report doesn’t by itself mean you owe tax.

What if a driver damages your gate or blocks the drive?

This was the part I had to get comfortable with as a tenant. My landlord was content for me to earn the parking money, but if a driver damaged something or caused a nuisance, I’d agreed to sort it out. Before listing, I’d ask my home insurer specifically about taking payment for parking and what would happen if a car clipped the gate or damaged a shared entrance. If the gate belongs to the landlord, make sure they know what you’re proposing as well.

If something does happen, photograph the damage, save the booking details and contact the driver through the platform. JustPark's owner agreement asks owners to try to resolve a dispute with the driver first, then refer it to JustPark if that doesn’t work. If the driver’s car caused the damage, ask for their motor insurance details and tell your home insurer what happened. A booking record can help establish who was using the space, but it doesn’t tell you whether the repair is covered.

An overstay is a different sort of problem, especially if you’ve promised the space to the next driver or you need to get your own car out. Contact the booked driver and use JustPark support if you can’t resolve it. It’s another reason to make the finish time and parking position clear in advance, particularly on match days when a driver may not get back to the car as quickly as they expected.

Was renting out my driveway worth it?

For me, yes. The ordinary weekday price was only £2.80, but I didn’t have to buy anything to get started or be there whenever somebody parked. The repeat bookings fitted around our household, my landlord was happy with the arrangement, and I stopped because I no longer had the spare driveway. A space that meant moving my own car up the road twice a day would’ve been a different proposition altogether.

If you’re considering it, pick one week that reflects how your household normally uses the drive. Work out which hours you can genuinely offer, check what a driver would pay nearby and multiply a realistic number of paid bookings by the price you’d be happy to set. If that figure feels worthwhile after the fee and your permission and insurance checks are in order, try those hours and see who books.

If you need the space more than you need the likely income, there are other ways to make extra money without taking a second job.

If you'd like to see if renting out your driveway can earn you some extra money, then you can sign up with Just Park.

Frequently asked questions

How much can I make renting out my driveway?

I charged £2.80 on a typical weekday, and match days could command more because I lived close to a football ground. At that weekday price, two paid days every week for a year would bring in £291.20 before fees and any tax.

How much does JustPark charge driveway owners?

It’s free to list a driveway. JustPark’s pricing guide quotes a 3% transaction fee on withdrawals, so £100 of earnings would leave £97 before any tax if that’s the only deduction.

Do I pay tax if I rent out my driveway?

Eligible individuals can usually receive up to £1,000 in gross property income per tax year under the property allowance. Count driveway rent together with any other qualifying property income before fees. The increase to £3,000 announced for 6 April 2027 applies to qualifying trading and miscellaneous income, so it doesn’t raise the allowance for letting a parking space.

Do I need planning permission to rent out my driveway?

In England, an existing space can generally be rented out without planning permission if there’s no material change of use and no planning restriction prevents it. Check with your council if the use might cause a nuisance or if you live elsewhere in the UK.

Can I rent out my driveway if I rent my home?

You’ll need the right to let somebody else use the space. Check the tenancy and get permission in writing where needed. My landlord agreed, provided I dealt with any damage or nuisance.

What happens if a JustPark driver damages my property?

Photograph the damage, keep the booking record and contact the driver and the relevant insurer. If you can’t resolve it with the driver, refer it to JustPark under its owner agreement.

Do I need to be at home when someone uses my JustPark space?

For a driveway the driver can access independently, you don’t normally need to be there. I never had to meet a driver because my booking instructions explained where to park and how to get in.