For example, almost anyone who is willing to share part of their home with a lodger can receive up to £4,250 a year or £81.73 per week tax-free under the rent a room scheme. However, beware that you cannot use the scheme if your home is converted into separate flats that you rent out. In that case you would need to declare your rental income to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and pay tax in the normal way. Nor does the scheme apply if you let unfurnished accommodation.
Matt Hutchinson, director of flat and house share website SpareRoom.co.uk, said: “Some homeowners take in lodgers purely for financial reasons, but it can also be a good way to socialise too, as lodgers share communal spaces such as the kitchen, bathroom and living room. Bills are usually included in the monthly rent.
“If you’d rather have your weekends to yourself, advertise for a ‘Monday to Friday’ lodger. You’d be surprised how many people choose to live close to work during the week rather than face a long and expensive commute, then go home to their families at weekends.
“We’d strongly advise writing up a lodger/landlord agreement that you both sign before the lodger moves in. You’ll also need to check with your mortgage lender, landlord or – if you are a council tenant – your local authority to make sure you are allowed to take in a lodger.”
You might be able to make money out your home without the loss of privacy entailed with taking in a lodger. For example, it costs nothing to register with a location agency but if your home catches the eye of TV producer or professional photographer fees can it £2,000 a day. Obviously, unusual and opulent properties are most likely to generate the highest revenues but many soap operas, pop videos and other photo-shoots are based in quite ordinary locations and still pay good money.
Kell Gatherer set up Location Works, which has thousands of properties on its books and organises hundreds of shoots each year. He said: “We accept registrations from all over the country but being within 30 miles of a major city is an advantage, and most work happens inside the M25 or Home Counties. All kinds of properties have some potential, but larger, aspirational homes may be used time and again.”
There is no charge to register with the locationworks.com, however the agency charges 20pc commission on successful bookings. In return, your property will be promoted on the website and the agency will handle contractual and insurance matters.
You will need to get a good set of comprehensive photographs together – the better the photographs, the more likely you are to get noticed in a competitive field. A small magazine shoot may pay £500 a day, but fees rise to reflect the level of inconvenience. A full-blown feature film might pay £5,000 a day, but there could be a crew of 100 technicians parked in your street.
Homeowners with the sort of property that people might wish to stay in for short periods on business or holiday can make money from them while they are away and enjoy enhanced security, as Camilla Shaughnessy, director of luxury accommodation website EventfulStays.com, explained: “If you are heading off on holiday and your home is likely to be sitting empty, why not rent it out?
“You could earn upwards of £600 for renting out your home for a two or three night break. Not only can you make some extra cash, it’s also a burglar deterrent. Earnings from residential property lettings are taxable, and you will also need to inform your insurance company that people will be staying in your home.”
The downside, of course, is that you might have to give the place a thorough clean and tidy-up before you can expect strangers to pay to stay in it. That’s a problem some of those letting homes for the Olympics 2012 are beginning to encounter with demanding corporate clients.
Even the space outside your home might be put to use to generate extra cash. Charles Cridland, director of parking marketplace YourParkingSpace.co.uk, said: “If you have off-road parking – be it a garage, driveway or secure gated space with CCTV – why not rent it out? In London there are spaces being rented for in excess of £3,500 per year, but on average most people earn around £1,200 each year.”
The website charges a £15 registration fee and then passes on all of the rent paid. People – not necessarily homeowners – most likely to gain will live near railway stations, large employers, sports stadiums or airports. As official car parks become more expensive – and traffic wardens increasingly quick to impose penalties – people who live in the right place can profit from the problems faced by motorists.
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