
I'm obsessed with app that got me £6 parking in London ALL day – and loads of Brits could earn hundreds a month with it
WHO actually enjoys parking? Well, me – now that I've found a bargain way to stick my car in busy locations for rock-bottom prices.
It's not just a money-saver for savvy drivers either. Even Brits without cars can use the app as a side-hustle to pay for a quick summer holiday or a new iPhone.
4
4
I'm talking about JustPark, which I probably installed years ago in some long-forgotten car park. Sure enough, the app faded from memory too.
JustPark is one of those apps where you plug a code in and pay online for parking
It means you don't have to faff around with stuffing coins into an inevitably broken meter out in the rain with a queue of grumpy, tutting and increasingly sodden motorists behind you.
But it turns out that you can use the app to rent out your parking spots – even your driveway. Then people will pay money – yes, proper money – to drop their car there.
Those people are me.
LONDON CALLING
I managed to bag £6 parking for a full working day in London, on a weekday – just outside of the congestion zone, no less.
I don't know how many of you ever travel to London by car but it's a famously awful place to park.
Street parking without a permit basically doesn't exist. Multi-storeys are a bank-raiding hellscape. I was stumped – stuck between forking out an enormous train fare to get down from the Midlands or driving into a wildly expensive car park.
So a £6 bill to park right near work (at The Sun's London Bridge HQ) beggared belief.
Normally you'd be likely to pay three to four times that in our brutally costly capital. That's if you can even find a space after forking out £15 just to drive into the congestion charge zone.
Apple unveils INCREDIBLE 'next generation' CarPlay smartphone mirroring that will take over every screen in your car
I was so shocked at my £6 that I thought it must be a wind-up. Some bored coder was having me on. Maybe it was a typo? I'd check my bank and find that I'd actually been billed for £60, surely.
Naturally, I was worried I'd turn up and the spot would either be full, located right beneath a load of pigeons, or worse, not exist at all.
But I got there and sure enough it was empty, exactly as described, and seemingly faeces-free.
So I left my car there, and found it in the same place at the end of the day. No fines, clamps, or key scratches. It was a miracle. The wheels were still on, and my windows weren't smashed.
I booked it again. It was like finding a cheat code in a video game – but far better for my bank account.
What made this all the more shocking is that I was booking for the next day. If I'd had the foresight to book in advance, who knows what deals would've awaited me?
What I particularly like about JustPark is that you can see all the prices hovering on a map – and then dive into the details.
4
You can see recent reviews ('don't park here, it's tiny'), photos of the space, and even whether you have the option to book it up for an entire month.
There's the option to add a small percentage fee on top for an insurance that covers the excess you'd pay if your car was damaged.
And you can check, amend, and even cancel your driveway parking all from the app. So if you're stuck at work late, you can easily top it up with your phone.
Footie fans can scoop up top spots minutes from stadiums, and you can grab a premium location right next to an arena gig.
HOW TO RENT YOUR DRIVEWAY FOR CASH
Here's how the process works on JustPark...
First, you go to JustPark and go through the Get A Quote process.
That involves handing over your name, postcode, and an email address.
Then you add the details for your actual space, choose the days and hours that you prefer, and set a price.
You'll need to be the legal owner of the space, or have permission from the landlord.
JustPark will let you know when you get a booking from one of the 13 million drivers on the app.
As long as you've given clear parking instructions, you shouldn't need to do much else.
You don't need to make your space available constantly.
For instance, you could set it so that it's only available while you're out at work – or while you're away on holiday.
You can take down your space from JustPark if you get tired of it – or if you decide it's just too much hassle.
For short-term bookings, money is added to your JustPark account 48 hours after the it begins. And longer-term bookings will see payments added after the first month.
You can do manual withdrawals, or set up automatic withdrawals every month or quarter.
And it'll take up to 10 working days for the money to come into your bank account.
DRIVE-WAY TO GO!
Of course, there is a sadness to my discovery: I can't use the best bit of the app, which is flogging parking.
If I had a driveway without a car, I'd be right on there, renting it out to the highest bidder.
I checked the in-app calculator and if I was able to rent my own driveway (which sadly, I can't) then I could be getting about £75 a month. That's £900 annually, and I'm not living near anything particularly exciting.
You can bag up to £1,000 a year from a side-hustle (so in addition to your regular employment) without having to declare it for tax purposes – and letting wallet-savvy motorists park on your driveway isn't exactly hard work.
JustPark recently estimated that nearly £2 million is being lost each year by Brits failing to rent out their driveways in the most active 15 cities.
In fact, the app says some hosts are turning over more than £4,000 a year. That's a holiday, an iPhone, and then some.
4
If you've got space for multiple cars, you might even have a small business on your hands. A concrete goldmine right outside your door.
That's especially true if you've got a prime spot near to a train station, stadium, or beach.
And I hope you do, because people like me want to pay to park on your driveway.
Squeezing through the narrow lanes of a multi-storey or sitting in car park gridlock at a tourist hotspot aren't exactly fun.
I'd much rather plonk it on your driveway for a couple of quid, topping up your Friday night takeaway fund.
And with the money I'm saving on parking, maybe I'll get myself a curry too.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Three-quarters of parents have bought children beauty products in the last year
Three-quarters of parents have bought their children beauty products in the last year, a survey suggests. Parents have spent £111 on average on items such as lip balms (41%), face moisturisers (39%), and cleansers (37%), according to the poll for cashback and rewards site Rakuten. Other popular items bought for children aged eight to 17 included lip gloss or lipstick (32%), body moisturiser (30%), face masks (28%), skin oil (22%), mascara (22%), makeup remover (21%) and foundation (19%). A typical adult spends £148 on beauty products a year, the study found. Of the 75% of parents who bought beauty products, 41% said they did so to boost their child's confidence, while 24% saw it as a way to bond with their children. Fathers were more willing to spend on their children's beauty regimes, buying £144 worth of items per year compared with the average £82 paid for by mothers. Bola Sol, from Rakuten, said: 'With skincare and make-up routines and trends taking over social media, it's no surprise that younger children are asking for more luxurious beauty products. 'All parents want to make their kids happy, but it's also important to balance that with your budget. A great way to do this is by tracking products for when they go on sale, and where possible, bag even more savings by using a cashback provider such as Rakuten to make the purchase through.' OnePoll surveyed 1,000 UK parents with children aged eight to 17 between May 28 and June 15.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
The World Tonight Will voters feel better off from Chancellor's spending plans?
What would you do with a trillion pounds of public money over the next four years? The Chancellor says "renewing Britain" is at the heart of her plans. So when will voters start to feel better off? We ask a Treasury Minister. Also on the programme: After the US Ambassador to Israel told us that Muslim countries should give up their land to create a Palestinian state - we get reaction from a senior Palestinian official. And one of the most influential figures in the history of pop music, Brian Wilson - the creative genius behind the Beach Boys - has died. The veteran DJ Bob Harris - who knew him for more than five decades - pays tribute.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Aukus: US to review submarine pact as part of 'America First' agenda
The US has launched a review of its multi-billion dollar submarine deal with the UK and Australia, saying the security pact must fit its "America First" the trilateral pact, widely seen as a response to the growing power of China, Australia is to get its first nuclear-powered subs from the US, before the allies create a new fleet by sharing cutting-edge Australia and the UK - which did its own review last year - have sought to play down news of the US probe, saying it is natural for a new administration to move comes as Australia faces pressure from the White House to lift its military spending, from 2% to 3.5% of GDP, a push so far resisted by Canberra. The agreement - worth £176bn ($239bn; A$368bn) - was signed in 2021, when all three countries involved had different leaders."The department is reviewing Aukus as part of ensuring that this initiative of the previous administration is aligned with the President's America First agenda," a US defence official told the BBC."As [US Defense] Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has made clear, this means ensuring the highest readiness of our servicemembers, that allies step up fully to do their part for collective defense, and that the defense industrial base is meeting our needs."The review will be headed up Elbridge Colby, who has previously been critical of Aukus, in a speech last year questioning why the US would give away "this crown jewel asset when we most need it".Defence Minister Richard Marles, speaking to local Australian media on Thursday morning local time, said he was optimistic the deal would continue. "I'm very confident this is going to happen," he told ABC Radio Melbourne."You just need to look at the map to understand that Australia absolutely needs to have a long-range submarine capability."Some in Australia have been lobbying for the country to develop a more independent defence strategy, but Marles said it was important to "stick to a plan" - a reference to the previous government's controversial cancellation of a submarine deal with France in favour of Australian government spokesperson told the BBC it was "natural" that the new administration would "examine" the agreement, adding the UK had also recently finished a review of the security pact between the long-standing allies. There is "clear and consistent" support for the deal across the "full political spectrum" in the US, they said, adding Australia looked forward to "continuing our close cooperation with the Trump Administration on this historic project".A UK defence spokesperson told the BBC it was "understandable" for a new administration to look at the deal, "just as the UK did last year". Aukus is a "landmark security and defence partnership with two of our closest allies", the spokesperson said, and "one of the most strategically important partnerships in decades, supporting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic".