‘Strangers pay me £200 a month and I do not even should carry a finger’
Satyan Dharamshi has earned over £4,300 in two years – and plans to keep going
A clever entrepreneur is pocketing more than £2,000 annually thanks to a clever scheme that only costs him £30 for the whole year. Insurance account executive Satyan Dharamshi, 51, started renting out his parking space in December 2023 as a way to boost his earnings.
His home in Newham, East London, sits in a brilliant spot near popular destinations like The O2 and ExCel London. The area is also perfectly positioned for trips into central London, but with all street parking requiring permits, visitors face limited choices.
Satyan snapped up a discounted residents’ parking permit for just £30 annually, thanks to his electric vehicle, and began charging £10 daily for his driveway. He is now pulling in up to £200 monthly from this clever scheme – recouping his permit costs within just three days – and has banked over £4,300 across the past two years.
Satyan channels the proceeds from this hassle-free side business towards his monthly mortgage repayments. He explained: “There demand all year round. The customer base is working and commuting people, plus traders, and people coming to events.
“Some park in the day and some at night, depending why they’re here. Newham is permit parking only but it only costs me £30-a-year for the permit. It’s passive. I don’t do anything, except take the occasional call from people checking they’ve parked in the right place. It’s an extra income. Everything in London is expensive, every little helps.”
Satyan cottoned on to just how much his driveway was worth to visitors without parking permits in the locality two years back, promptly advertising the space on YourParkingSpace. He swiftly discovered there was enormous demand, securing as many as 20 bookings monthly at £10 per day.
Satyan explained: “I know it’s in demand and a hotspot, and I don’t really drive that much anyway, I normally cycle. I don’t need to meet or interact with the people, they just come and go.
“Nothing bad has ever happened – they are all well-behaved people. I do get some regulars, some traders and events people, or people involved with housing projects.
“It’s good for them too – they get a convenient place to park close by, so they can come back to get their lunch.”
