OXFORD’S parking is now so expensive hundreds of people are renting out their parking spots to desperate drivers.

People with spare parking spots can make thousands a year by renting them out to people online.

It comes as a survey puts Oxford as the fifth most expensive city for parking in the UK.

Robert Bullard rents his spare space off Botley Road for £5.50 a day and makes almost £1,000 a year.

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The writer, 52, said: “When I bought my house four years ago it had a vacant plot beside it, which I turned into parking space.

“There’s space for two cars but I only have one, so it seemed obvious to rent the other out.

“People can book in advance which takes the hassle out of it for them when they come to visit the city.

“It means they can come and go when they want. It works very smoothly.”

He said: “I earn enough out of it to tell the tax-man about it.”

Off-street car parks, run by Oxford City Council and private companies, cost an average of £15.90 a day, according to the survey.

Drivers can spend up to £25 a day to use off-street parking, with the most expensive car parks being Worcester Place and Gloucester Green car parks.

The poll was led by Just Park, a website that helps people find parking spots for rent.

Researchers studied the prices of city centre parking in the UK’s 25 biggest cities. London, Edinburgh, Cambridge and Brighton were the only places more expensive than Oxford.

Lucy Morris, from East Oxford, has two parking spaces with her Ablett Close house and rents one of them out.

The communications worker said: “Sometimes I’ll have it booked up for weeks and then other times it’s empty for a while.

“I charge £4.50 a day. I only get a few hundred a year but it’s money for very little effort.

“Car parks are way more expensive than that. It’s quite prohibitive for some people. This makes it more affordable.

“Because I live near the O2 I often get people coming to go to concerts and they don’t want to pay that much for parking on top of tickets.”

JustPark has more than 500 spaces listed in Oxford, with popular areas including Jericho, Iffley and Headington.

A spot on St Clement’s Street can cost £25 a day, while a space in Cumnor Hill can cost £2.50 a day.

One woman, who did not want to be named, rents a parking space in Halliday Hill, near the John Radcliffe Hospital, for £4.50 a day.

She said: “Parking at the JR is ridiculous. You see cars parked on double yellow lines everywhere because the car parks are full..

“It’s a massive problem for the hospital. They need to do more about it, but it means people are looking to rent more reliable parking spaces nearby.”

The city council made a £4.1m surplus in 2013/14 from car park charges – a four-year high.

WHAT private parking spaces currently cost per day in the city

  • Cave Street, St Clement’s – £12.50
  • Ablett Close, East Oxford – £8.80
  • Peacock Road, Headington – £6.90
  • Iffley Road – £12.50 
  • Marston Ferry Road,  North Oxford – £8.80
  • Clear Water Place, North Oxford – £11.30 
  • Stanton Road, Harcourt Hill – £10 
  • Ash Grove, Headington – £4.50

As revealed in the Oxford Mail, the council’s proposed budget puts parking charges up by 30p an hour at selected car parks.

The council said the surplus was spent on capital work, including £372,000 to resurface several city car parks and £97,000 to waterproof Gloucester Green underground car park.

It is also funding projects such as £3m improvements to parking in Oxpens and a £2m Seacourt Park-and-Ride expansion.

Council spokesman Chofamba Sithole said: “The council has a duty to ensure the assets are well utilised and maximised, especially when central government funding is being further eroded.”

Deputy council leader Ed Turner said: “Car parking charges are an important source of income to the council, especially given the many tourists who visit Oxford.

“Without this, council tax paid by local people would have to rise or front line services would have to be cut.

“If parking were free for all in the city centre, I’d predict gridlock.”

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith said: “There is a difficult balance to be got right here.

“With 50 per cent of its government grant having already been cut, the city council is between a rock and a hard place financially.

“At the same time, car access is crucial for some shoppers, and it is important that charges don’t impact on the viability of the shopping centre.”

The UK's top 10 for expensive parking:

London – £35 per day average
Edinburgh – £19
Cambridge – £18.60
Brighton – £18
Oxford – £15.90
Reading – £14.30
Bristol – £14.10
Manchester – £14
Leeds – £13.50
Glasgow – £13.20
Source: JustPark

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