Economic recovery may be underway, but for many of us money is still pretty tight. Your home is probably your most valuable asset, so why not see if you can use it to boost your income. Whereas before the credit crunch this might have involved remortgaging to release additional cash, falling house prices and tighter lending criteria mean you will have to be a bit more imaginative …
1. Rent out your parking space
You could earn up to £500 a month by renting out a driveway, allocated parking space or unused garage, particularly if you live near a football stadium or train station where demand for parking is high. Register your space for free on a website such as ParkatmyHouse.com or YourParkingSpace. Commuters will typically pay around £75 a month to hire out a private space within walking distance of a train station, while a space within walking distance of Wembley Stadium can be rented out for £17 when an event is on.
Pay-as-you-go car club Streetcar will also rent designated spaces in residential developments from users in exchange for free driving time.
2. Offer your home for a photo or film shoot
Magazines and television companies are always scouting for places to feature as backdrops for photo shoots or filming. If your house happens to be gorgeous it could be ideal for a magazine or book shoot; regular family homes, meanwhile, are in demand from television production companies. It is by no means a guaranteed way of earning extra cash, but considering many agencies offer free registration (they will take a 20% cut if your home is chosen for a shoot), there is no harm in signing up. You can expect to earn about £1,000 a day if your home is used.
Atlanta Bartlett, who co-runs location company Beach Studios, says it helps if you're not too houseproud: "It can be quite inconvenient to have a big crew in your house for days – they will change things around, move furniture and scrape walls. They might even want to paint the place, but then again if you get a shoot that will last a few days then you could say you've hit the jackpot."
The Collective is specifically looking for houses on the west side of the M25, close to many studios where TV dramas are filmed. Its properties have featured in the Bill, Spooks and Silent Witness. Lavish Locations is also keen to hear from owners of spacious family homes.
3. Clear out your clutter
Think outside the eBay box: there are plenty of other websites and places to sell your unwanted gear.
Clear your bookshelves of unread tomes by listing them for sale on GreenMetropolis.com (you'll make £3 for each book sold); or if you're a fashion junkie with too many clothes you could sell the classics that no longer fit to a second-hand designer store, or list them for sale at Whatsmineisyours.com.
If you don't want the bother listing things online then hold a garage sale – post flyers and entice potential buyers with homemade cake. Or copy Cash in the Attic and take your valuables to auction. Find your local auction house and get them to value your items.
4. Rent out your spare room
Split your bills and get a little extra help meeting your mortgage payments by taking in a lodger. Under the government's rent-a-room scheme you could earn up to £4,250 a year tax-free if you get a lodger (as long as you provide him or her with a furnished room).
Register your spare room for free on sites such as Easyroommate or Spareroom.co.uk to find someone. Just make sure you set any ground rules and get a tenancy agreement in place (you can purchase the contract for £5 from the Residential Landlords Association).
5. Offer your house for homestays
If you don't want a long-term lodger, consider instead a short-term homestay. Language schools are always looking for host families to house foreign exchange students for the holidays or single terms. Most schools, such as International House, will pay you directly.
How much you get depends on whether you provide just breakfast or dinner too, but you could earn around £200 a week. If you happen to be a qualified EFL (English as a foreign language) tutor you could earn around £400 a week with InTuition Languages.
6. Set up a bed and breakfast
Running a bed and breakfast is certainly appealing, but don't forget you have to comply with an awful lot of rules including fire, food and gas safety legislation before you can open your doors for business. It's hard work, but bed and breakfast owners say it is worth it. Here are some tips on setting one up.
7. Host a Tupperware party
It's kitsch but it could be fun, and you'll earn a bit of money every time someone buys from you. A lot of people are taking their lunch in to work these days, so we all need Tupperware, preferably colour co-ordinated sets. Sign up to be a Tupperware host or, if you fancy something a little less retro, host a cooking show. ThePamperedChef signs up stay-at-home consultants to perform cooking demos in their own kitchens using its products – you will initially get discounts and free gifts but can proceed to making money on sales.
You could also host a cosmetics party – VIE and the Body Shop both run schemes – or sell home candle decorations with PartyLite, although you will have to buy a starter sales kit before you get going.
8. Swap your house
Technically this won't earn you money, but you might be able to save some. If you are going away, swapping your property with someone else's instead of paying for hotel accommodation is a good option, especially if you have kids and can swap with a family home. This summer, home swaps soared as Brits looked for cost-cutting ways to save money on holiday. You can register your property for homeswaps both here and overseas with the Guardian's home exchange service.
9. Turn your dining room into a study hall
Tutoring at home is a good way for university students or graduates to make a bit of extra cash. It's free to register your tutoring skills with First Tutors and Personal Tutors; the money's not bad either. At First Tutors you could earn on average around £17 an hour.
10. Put your home office to good use
Don't while away the hours on Facebook in the study; make some money out of time spent online. If you're passionate about getting your views heard and don't mind filling in loads of online forms, register at YouGov where you can earn points for every survey you complete. After collecting 5,000 you will be sent a cheque for £50.
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