How To Turn A Spare Plot Of Land Into A Passive Income

There are many ways to make money from unused land. While some revenue ideas are a bit more hands-on (such as growing crops or turning it into a campsite), others require very little ongoing work once they are all set up. In this post, we’ll explore some of these passive income ideas.

Car park

If you own a plot of land in a town centre or near to popular attractions, you could potentially turn this land into a car park. Charging drivers a small fee to park here could allow you to make some extra money.

What improvements are necessary to set up a paid parking lot? First, you will need to resurface the land with either asphalt, concrete or gravel. Then you need to determine the layout of the bays and traffic flow (install signs and use marking to help drivers navigate it). Then install cameras, lighting and a parking meter (or set up a parking app). The whole thing doesn’t cost much to set up and can be even cheaper if you simply lease the land to a car park management company.

Self-storage

You could also build storage units on your land. You’ll then be able to make money by renting these storage units out.

To set up your own basic self-storage facility, look into storage unit kits for sale. Such units can vary in size and style from powerless mini units to climate controlled large units depending on how upscale you want the facility to be and what your budget is. Add some lighting and cameras for customer security and peace of mind – and voila!

Solar farm

Running a solar farm requires very little upkeep and could allow you to make extra money by selling energy to local providers or directly to nearby property owners. It’s also a great investment for those wanting to do something environmentally-friendly. 

To consider this passive income, make sure that your plot of land is flat and not shady. Then obtain planning permission and work alongside a solar installation company to set up your panels. Finally, you’ll need to establish a grid connection agreement. Your solar farm should then be up and running.

Billboard rental

Only got a small plot to work with? Is it near a main road or in a busy area? If the answer to these two questions is ‘yes’, you could consider the option of billboard rental.

This involves erecting a billboard and letting advertisers rent it out. You can work with a billboard advertising company who can source advertisers for you and design billboards for these clients. 

Agricultural lease

A large plot of rural unused land could be well suited for agricultural use, but you don’t have to be the one to farm it. Instead, you could lease it to a local farmer and let them use it for either crops or livestock.

This could be particularly worthwhile to consider if your neighbours are farmers – while selling the land could give you a large sum of money upfront, leasing it could be more attractive to local farmers on a budget and will turn it into a steady passive income.