How to Rent Out Your Land for Match-Day and Event Parking: A 2026 Guide for UK Landowners
In short: if you own a car park, field or yard within walking distance of a UK stadium or arena, you can earn from it on event days without running anything yourself, so landowners partner with Matchday Parking: we fill the site with pre-booked drivers, staff it on the day and pay you within 48 hours of every event. Tell us about your space on our partner page or email partners@matchdayparking.com.
Can you rent out your land for match-day parking?
Yes. Land near a stadium or arena can be used for paid event parking, and in most cases the landowner does none of the work. Two things decide whether a site is viable: it has to sit within a realistic walk of the venue, and it has to hold cars safely with workable road access.
Everything after that is operational, and that is the part we take on. Drivers book and pay online before the event. Our team sets up the signage, marshals the site, scans tickets at the gate and answers drivers directly. You receive payment within 48 hours of every event.
The reason this works is that event parking is a different business from everyday parking. A city-centre car park earns a little every day. An event car park earns a lot on perhaps twenty-five to forty days a year, when several thousand people all need to arrive in the same hour, and sits empty the rest of the time. Land that would never support a full-time car park can still earn well on event days.
What kind of land works for event parking?
If a site can safely hold cars and sits within walking distance of a major venue, it is worth a conversation. These are the site types we work with most often.
| Site type | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Schools and colleges | Staff car parks, playgrounds and playing fields are empty on exactly the evenings and weekends when events happen. |
| Sports and social clubs | Club car parks and pitches close to the ground earn on match days instead of standing quiet. |
| Offices and business parks | Staff parking empties out at 6pm and at weekends, which is when most fixtures and concerts take place. |
| Churches and community halls | Car parks and grounds can raise funds for the community on event days. |
| Private land and fields | Fields, yards and hardstanding with safe road access within walking distance of a venue. |
| Stadiums and event venues | Venues hand over their own parking entirely: pre-booking, payment, staffing and customer support as one service. |
Capacity matters less than people expect. A site holding fifty cars is worth listing if the walk is reasonable. Surface matters more: grass works in summer but needs assessing for winter fixtures, and we look at that when we visit.
Do you need planning permission to use land as an event car park?
Usually not for a limited number of event days, but it depends on the site and the council, and there are two different questions depending on what your land is now.
If your land is open ground, a field or a yard. In England, Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015 permits the use of land for any purpose for not more than 28 days in total in any calendar year without a separate planning application. Event-day parking often sits inside that allowance. Three limits are worth knowing: the right does not apply to a building or to land within the curtilage of a building; the 28 days are a total across all temporary uses of that land in the year rather than 28 days for each use; and Wales and Scotland have their own orders, so a site in Cardiff is not covered by the England order.
If your land is already a car park. The question is not whether parking is allowed, because it plainly is. It is whether paid public use on event days counts as a material change of use, or breaches a condition attached to the existing permission. That is a judgement for your local planning authority and it varies between councils.
We look at this as part of assessing your site, and we can assist with the regulatory compliance your site needs. Treat the above as general information rather than planning advice: your council’s planning team gives the definitive answer for your land, and we are happy to make that enquiry with you.
How much can you earn from event-day parking?
It depends on three things: how many cars the site holds, how many events a year the venue runs, and what drivers pay to park there. We model those for your site before you commit to anything, using the booking data we already hold for that venue.
Be careful with the per-space annual figures quoted around the internet. Those come from full-time commercial car parks that earn every day of the year. Event parking does not work that way. The arithmetic that actually applies to your land is capacity multiplied by the number of events, multiplied by the price drivers pay, and that last number depends heavily on how far the walk is and what the venue’s own parking costs.
This is why we would rather visit than quote a figure on a web page. A fifty-space site seven minutes from a Premier League ground and a three-hundred-space site forty minutes away are completely different propositions, and an averaged number tells you nothing useful about either.
Who runs the car park on event days?
We do. Our team staffs every event day, so nothing operational lands on you.
- Marshals on site to direct and park vehicles
- Signage set up before drivers arrive and taken down afterwards
- QR ticket scanning at the gate, so only booked vehicles come in
- Real people answering drivers 24 hours a day, including on the day itself
That last point is the one landowners tend to ask about most. If a driver cannot find the entrance twenty minutes before kick-off, they call us, not you.
When do you get paid?
Within 48 hours of every event. Other operators in this market can take up to six weeks to settle, which is the single most common complaint we hear from landowners who have worked with someone else before.
You are paid per event rather than on a monthly or quarterly cycle, so income follows the fixture list rather than an accounting calendar.
What about insurance and compliance?
We are fully insured, and we can assist with any regulatory compliance your site needs. For a school, club or church this is usually the part that decides whether the idea gets off the ground, so we deal with it early rather than leaving it with you to work out.
How do you see what has been booked?
Through your own partner portal, which shows bookings and numbers in real time for each event. You can see what is coming before the day arrives rather than finding out afterwards.
How do you get started?
Four steps, and the first one takes a couple of minutes.
- Tell us about your space. Send the form on our partner page with the location and roughly how many cars it could hold.
- We take a look. We visit, check access and capacity, and agree terms that work for you.
- We get it ready. Listing, pricing, signage and staffing are set up before your first event.
- You get paid in 48 hours. Drivers pre-book online, our team runs the car park, and you are paid within 48 hours of every event.
Which venues does Matchday Parking already operate at?
Drivers already book with us for events at the venues below. We are actively looking for new space near Wembley, The O2 and other major venues across the UK.
| Venue | City |
|---|---|
| Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | London |
| Wembley Stadium | London |
| Selhurst Park | London |
| Ashton Gate Stadium | Bristol |
| The Rec | Bath |
| St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park | Birmingham |
| Principality Stadium | Cardiff |
If your land is near a venue that is not on this list, that is not a problem. New venues are how the business grows, and a good site is often what makes us open a new location.
Frequently asked questions
Can I rent out my car park for match-day parking?
Yes, if it sits within walking distance of a stadium or arena and can safely hold cars. Matchday Parking lists the site, takes the bookings, staffs it on event days and pays you within 48 hours of every event, so you do not run anything yourself.
Do I need planning permission to use my field as an event car park?
Often not for a limited number of days. In England, Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits the use of land for any purpose for up to 28 days in total in a calendar year, which event-day parking often sits within. The right does not cover buildings or land within a building’s curtilage, and Wales and Scotland have separate orders. Your local planning authority gives the definitive answer, and we can help you make that enquiry.
How quickly does Matchday Parking pay landowners?
Within 48 hours of every event. Payment follows each event rather than a monthly or quarterly cycle. Other operators in this market can take up to six weeks to settle.
Who staffs the car park on the day?
Matchday Parking does. We provide marshals, signage and QR ticket scanning on site for every event, and real people answer drivers 24 hours a day, so nothing operational lands on the landowner.
How much can I earn from event-day parking?
It depends on how many cars the site holds, how many events the nearby venue runs each year, and what drivers pay to park there. We model those figures for your specific site using the booking data we already hold for that venue, rather than quoting an average that would not apply to your land.
Is the site insured on event days?
Yes. Matchday Parking is fully insured and can assist with any regulatory compliance your site needs.
What kinds of land does Matchday Parking work with?
Schools and colleges, sports and social clubs, offices and business parks, churches and community halls, private land and fields, and event venues handing over their own parking. The test is whether the site can safely hold cars and sits within walking distance of a major venue.
Can I see how many bookings my site has taken?
Yes. Partners get their own portal showing bookings and numbers in real time for each event, so you know what is coming before the day arrives.
Talk to us about your space
Send us the location and roughly how many cars your site could hold, and we will tell you honestly whether it works. Use the form on our partner page or email partners@matchdayparking.com.
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