Doing a favour for a neighbour can see you quids in

EVER looked at that half-empty loft and wished you could make some money out of it? Or watched your car sitting depreciating on the drive every day after you started bussing it to work because parking was becoming too much of a headache?

Now, a growing number of people are using companies created to help householders squeeze a bit of extra cash out of assets and skills they already have – which were previously unused.

Unused parking spaces – in domestic driveways or garages – can be leased out to motorists in need of somewhere to put their vehicle at Parkatmyhouse.com, while newcomer Storemates.co.uk matches households with extra storage space – in spare rooms, attics or sheds – with people strapped for space to put their excess junk.

Community and neighbourhood-based booking sites have rocketed in popularity as the economic crisis has taken hold – giving those with unused assets a chance to earn extra money – and for customers to find a service they need, usually at a cut price compared to more commercial rivals.

And the sites, the majority set up initially as a one-man band business, have attracted attention from major investors and corporate names. BMW last year ploughed an undisclosed sum into Parkatmyhouse, while Keith Bradley, the former deputy chief executive of mobile phone operator Three, sits on the board of skills sharing service Fivesquids.co.uk.

Many of the sites, such as Storemates.co.uk, have been launched after the founders spotted a need for a service in the market.

“Co-founder Shaff Prabatani was moving in with his girlfriend and found he didn’t have enough space for all of their stuff,” said Ben Rogers, managing partner of the firm, which launched earlier this month. “He looked into commercial storage solutions and found it was expensive and not really ideally located – so he put out leaflets to his neighbours asking if they had any space he could rent.”

Ten neighbours replied, offering out their spare storage and the man in question realised that he had stumbled across a potential business opportunity.

Whipcar is a community version of a city car club scheme – where people can loan their car to someone who needs one, for a few hours or even a weekend.

But unlike city-specific schemes, users can borrow cars wherever they need them – in rural areas or even on holiday – with one Scots lessee offering out his vehicle on the Isle of Mull.

“The great thing about using our site is that, as well as cities, you can find cars in smaller villages and hamlets,” said company spokesman Jon Clark. “Anyone who has an unused car for whatever reason, can lease it out and make a bit of extra money.”

The scheme is popular with people who do not use their car while at work – and those who do not need to use it during the weekend.

“Two-car families are particularly suited to the service,” added Mr Clark. “People often find when they are both home from work at the weekend, one car sits on the drive for two days. If we can match it with someone who wants a vehicle for a weekend break, it is perfect.”

Householders who have a spare parking space near a big stadium or football ground such as Ibrox, can expect to command up to £20 a day for their unused space at peak times, according to Anthony Eskinazi, who founded Parkatmyhouse in 2006 after becoming frustrated at the driveways he spotted lying empty while he and his friends circled a gig venue in desperate search of a parking space. The site now has 150,000 registered users in the UK – and 50,000 available parking spots.

“I just thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you could just knock on that lady’s door and offer her a few pounds to park in her driveway?’” he said. “It would be a win-win situation.”

He added: “In cash-strapped times, people are looking to ways of raising money, which they can do easily without having to do anything by renting out their driveway when they’re not there.”

On a similar theme, but diverging in a totally different – and sometimes fairly wacky – direction, is Fivesquids.co.uk. Divided into a number of categories, including “business”, “writing” and “fun and bizarre”, it allows users to advertise a service they can provide for £5 only. Offerings range from the highly professional – communications experts who will write a press release or a website for a small business for a fiver – to the truly bizarre – someone who will, for the agreed sum, break up with the customer’s partner for them.

While the company insists that some people have made “good money” from selling their services through the site, others are more niche. One recent poster offers to spell a name or short message in pebbles on a sandy beach in Cornwall.

The man who offers to end relationships warns the prospective buyer to be sure they are serious about going through with the act.

“Having travelled the world and been in many relationships, I see myself as a bit of a relationship ending pro,” he says. “I will contact your ‘worse half’ by mail or phone or both and give them the news.”

“Looking through the postings does get quite addictive at times,” admitted founder Terry Koutsios, who set up the site a year ago. Most of the sites insist they have to tackle few problems between customer and seller, although the majority have measures in place if necessary.

“I think it is because it is mainly neighbourhood based,” said Mr Clark from Whipcar. “You might not have known the person before, but you probably live round the corner from them. Most people don’t want to get into any kind of argument with their neighbours.”