Man makes an extra £8,000 a year by renting out his driveway

A man who rents out his driveway is earning an additional £8,000 a year.

Full-time carer Joe Gorham rents out three parking spots at the front of his Brighton house to anyone willing to pay.

Gorham's main customer base tend to be tourists but he gets interest from student nurses and people attending hospital appointments.

He says he first discovered the idea whilst he and his partner found themselves paying £200 a week to park their car in Southampton whilst on a cruise.

When a friend told him that he could have found a cheaper alternative on YourParkingSpace, Gorham decided to give it a try himself.

The platform allows users to advertise their own parking spaces for others to use.

Gorham said: "I started doing it because we had the spaces spare and we also had some issues with the house that needed to be sorted, we had to get a new roof because of a leak, and we also had to get the windows and the garage doors sorted too.

"It was initially for this but with all the price hikes going on it's really helped us keep going."

Gorham's first booking came within two days and customers have been regular ever since.

Gorham added: "Where we are in Brighton is a huge draw for people because we are a ten-minute walk from the beachfront and so close to hotels, the city centre, the railway station, and the hospital.

"I've also got an electric power charger too."

Initially Gorham charged £8 for 24 hour parking rights, before bumping the price up to £12.50 for a day of parking access.

"The pay and display on our street costs you around £16 to park for four hours - so my spaces are pretty cheap in comparison."

Gorham will often liaise with customers when they arrive and give advice on navigating Brighton as well as recommendations on what to do.

To this day, he continues to give free parking spaces to cancer patients visiting the local hospital.

Gorham said: "It's so expensive to park at the hospital and it's the least I can do to help."