Rising mortgage repayments leave struggling homeowners turning to their driveways for cash

Three rate rises in five months, the most recent rise only last week, have pushed the yearly repayments on a £200,000 variable rate loan up by £1,032 since August. With many homeowners strapped for cash, especially with the rise coming straight after the festive period, many have decided to generate income by turning to an innovative web based parking solution - renting out their driveway through the parking space matchmaking site YourParkingSpace.co.uk.

There’s been a surge in people registering the details of their driveways on YourParkingSpace.co.uk since last week, many of them believed to be having difficulties meeting their mortgage repayments. “Over the course of a year driveways can generate between £500 and £3,000 in rental income,” says Charles Cridland, founder of YourParkingSpace.co.uk. “It’s a substantial amount of money so it’s not surprising that many people facing financial difficulties are deciding to rent out them out.”

Many grim warnings have been expressed over the past week, with Peter Tutton, policy officer at Citizens Advice, saying, “Any increase in mortgage interest rates could spell disaster for people whose finances are balanced on the very edge of affordability.” It now appears that the rising costs have hit home, with homeowners seeking new sources of income to meet their repayments.

With interest rates expected to increase again in the coming months this web based parking solution could become even more popular. It’s estimated that 11 million people have been affected directly through higher mortgage repayments as a result of the interest rate change, millions of whom own some form of off-street parking.

“It’s unfortunate in a way that we are benefiting from people’s struggles to meet their mortgage repayments but people are seeing this as a potential income-generating solution. As the awareness of this idea becomes more widespread there could even be a further boost in the price of houses with off-street parking, further benefiting those with financial difficulties,” says Charles Cridland.

YourParkingSpace.co.uk was launched in July 2006, a site designed to match people who require parking with the owners of off-street parking.