Homeowners in Birmingham could reduce their mortgage by over six years through renting out their driveways and parking spaces.

According to research by Spacehopper , the city is one of the sweet spots in the UK – where house prices are lower but parking is pricey.

This research shows that the opportunity would be most valuable to first time buyers, who could start making monthly over payments as soon as they move in.

First time buyers in Birmingham homeowners could earn £91 from their driveway, reducing their mortgage by 6 years, 4 months and generating a saving of almost £19,000 in interest.

Liverpool is where you can earn the most as parking spaces can be rented out for £150 a month - which could reduce your mortgage by a massive 11 years, 3 months, saving nearly £24,000 in interest.

Elsewhere in Leeds, homeowners could take 7 years 11 months off their mortgage by renting out their driveway for £120 a month.

This would also mean a saving of over £23,000.

In Edinburgh, first time buyers could reduce their mortgage by 4 years 9 months by putting their driveway rental earnings of £80 a month into overpayments on their mortgage, saving themselves nearly £18,000 in interest payments.

While the top 20 locations are all outside London, the capital’s residents have the potential to save the most in overall interest.

Even those in areas where property is most expensive, such as Westminster in central London, could take 3 years, 1 month off their mortgage – with the added bonus of over £60,000 in interest saved. Driveway rental is just one of the many ways consumers are using their homes to pay for their homes.

Capitalising on the growing sharing economy, people are increasingly renting out their houses, spare rooms, cars, and even pets.

According to PwC the UK’s sharing economy has grown the fastest in Europe, with transactions almost doubling to £13bn in 2016.

PwC has also predicted that peer-to-peer transactions generated by the UK’s five most prominent sharing economy sectors, could grow by 60% or £8 billion in 2017 alone.

Spacehopper director Alex Walker said, “It’s becoming increasingly tricky for first time buyers to get onto the property ladder. And once they’re on there, the idea of spending 30 years paying off your mortgage can be daunting.

“Peer-to-peer parking can provide a welcome source of revenue for enterprising homeowners, who can turn their own parking spaces into extra cash.

"The appeal is that the property starts to pay for itself. And we’ve found that putting this cash towards an overpayment on your mortgage will really speed up people owning their own home – and save a lot of money at the same time.”