Letting my driveway?

armadilloF150

My neighbours have offered to pay me to place a skip on my driveway while they have some major works done to their home. The terms they're offering (payment per skip, with a limited time for each skip to remain) means I expect to earn around £300-400 from this. A tidy little earner (and their house is only accessed via an alley which runs down the side of my home, so I'm going to enjoy similar levels of disruption even if I say no).

I've decided to counter that they will need to compensate me for any adjustment to my car insurance from parking on the road. Which I think is fair.

Are there any other costs/considerations I'm missing? I realise I will effectively be giving them license to use part of my property (much the same as a lodger) so I want to be sure I've got everything covered.

saajan_12

It would be a licence, but not a lodger as the latter involves it being their residence. 
You would have to pay income tax on whatever they pay you. Also check this is fine for your home insurance and mortgage. 
In your contract, also agree on any terms to terminate (eg if the skip ends up being there longer, does the payment increase? Is there a time limit? Can you terminate early?)

greatcrested

........

Mickey666

I'd suggest some sort of agreement to cover any damage to your property.  Skip lorries are very heavy and can easily break paving etc.  Personally, I would ask for an up-front payment for any rectification works that might conceivably be necessary, because in my experience people tend to forget any agreements about rectification works once their own works have been completed, whereupon it's pretty much impossible to get them to pay up.

oldbikebloke

saajan_12 said:

It would be a licence, but not a lodger as the latter involves it being their residence. 
You would have to pay income tax on whatever they pay you. Also check this is fine for your home insurance and mortgage. 

re tax position, yes letting parking space is different to taking in a lodger however that means you have two distinct "sources" of income:
parking - where you can claim the £1,000 property rental allowance (so with £400 one off income, there is no tax to pay)
(if applic) a lodger - where you can claim rent a room allowance

because they are distinct, you can, where applic, claim both allowances

Thrugelmir

Is your driveway paved? 

Wanderingpomm

Parking on a drive makes minimal difference to your insurance 

saajan_12

oldbikebloke said:

saajan_12 said:

It would be a licence, but not a lodger as the latter involves it being their residence. 
You would have to pay income tax on whatever they pay you. Also check this is fine for your home insurance and mortgage. 

re tax position, yes letting parking space is different to taking in a lodger however that means you have two distinct "sources" of income:
parking - where you can claim the £1,000 property rental allowance (so with £400 one off income, there is no tax to pay)
(if applic) a lodger - where you can claim rent a room allowance

Did not know this, thanks!

davidmcn

saajan_12 said:

Also check this is fine for your home insurance and mortgage.

It's a few weeks - the mortgage lender isn't going to care (or be able to do anything about it) even if they find out.

NameUnavailable

You need to consult a solicitor and have an agreement drawn up. You should involve your mortgage company in the discussions and also their legal representatives, as well as your home and car insurers. Probably best to hire a meeting room in a conveniently located hotel so you can all thrash this out together (with appropriate Covid precautions of course).

Once an agreement has been written up it will then need review by all parties with no doubt a numerous list of amendments. This will probably take many months and many further meetings.

I would expect the need for a surveyors report on the condition of your driveway before and after the period of hire.

You probably also want to speak to your local authority to alert them of potential damage to the path/road by the skip lorry and also consult the neighbours around you to advise them of the potential noise and disruption.

I would also ask for the skip company's insurance details and a deposit from them against any potential damages.

coachman12

Solicitors, legal agreements, hire a meeting room, involve local authority-----blimey, you'd think a musical festival as big as Glastonbury was taking place 
Your neighbours sound polite and pragmatic------most folk just stick the skip on the road, which is a nuisance for everyone. Take the money, forget income tax, keep friendly with your neighbours and enjoy a nice long weekend away with your mini-windfall.
You'll find the car insurance costs are either nil or minimal. Make sure you've got the money up front and that your neighbour gives you an estimate of time period in advance and agrees to add compensation if that estimate proves to be too short in practice. 
I've let my garage in London be used full time by a neighbour, all with a handshake and the proviso that he moves out when I need the garage; and I've done same with part of a garden that a neighbour wished to use for 3 months.
All the best---hope the upheaval next door does not last forever and that the results will all add to the value of your own house perhaps.