If you are fortunate enough to have a garage, but aren’t using it, then you could be missing out on a great opportunity to make the most of your extra space – and maybe even on a valuable source of extra income as well.
Garage owners, particularly ones in bigger cities, can chose to rent out their garage to others. This can be a fantastic way of making use of your garage, alleviating other driver’s stress by providing them a place to park and receiving financial incentive for doing so.
Preparing your garage
Assuming you want to convert your garage into a parking space for people to rent, the first thing to do is to make sure it is safe, protected and ready for other drivers to use for this purpose.
People will be entrusting your location for the protection of their car, so if you want to ensure that they keep coming back, make sure that your garage is neat, tidy and safe. If you rent, rather than own your property, then make sure you ask permission from your landlord before renting out your garage.
How much should you expect to charge?
The amount you should expect to charge for rent of your garage space depends on where you live and what times and days the garage is free.
JustPark offer a great service which allows drivers to look for available driveways in locations throughout the country. To get an idea of what you can expect to charge for your location, have a look at what other garage owners are charging near where you live. According to JustPark: “Large city garage spaces may rent for £150 per month and up, whereas suburban spots may rent for £50-100/month.”
As a good rule of thumb, try to be reasonable and not charge too much, as you will be more likely to get more repeat customers. This is especially true with longer term users, who may be interested in renting your garage for months – or even years. For these kind of contracts you should try and offer some kind of discount to make it more inviting and rewarding for the customer.
Advertising your garage
Once your garage is clean, you have permission from your landlord (if required) and you have decided on a price you are happy with, then it is time to get your garage on the market and start earning some money.
There are a number of websites which allow you to list your garage for people to rent including:
www.parkatmyhouse.com
www.yourparkingspace.co.uk
www.parklet.co.uk
Take a look at these sites and work out which one would be the best for you.
Don’t forget the paperwork
In order to make sure your transactions are accounted for, and both parties are protected, make sure that you both sign a garage let agreement or parking agreement contract. These are usually available on the sites featured above, but you can also find templates online.
And you are set
Once you and the driver are both happy and the paperwork is signed, then you should be good to go. If you have an automatic garage door then you will need to make arrangements to allow the driver to use it, but the process should be easy, and you will be able to make the most of your garage and start earning money.
