54+ Sure-Fire Ways to Make Money From Home in the UK

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There are many reasons you might want to make money from home in the UK.

Perhaps you want a work-at-home job so you can stay at home with your children.

Perhaps you already work one job and need something you can do from home in the evenings and weekends to bring in extra money.

Or maybe you want a flexible job that will allow you to travel.

Whatever your motivation, I want to help you find a home based job to suit you!

I’ve been learning how to make extra money at home and online for a couple of years now, and I have plenty of ideas to share with you.

Here are over 50 different ways to make money from home. I hope you find the perfect money-making idea for you on this list!

How to make money from home UK: 54+ must-try ideas

Please note that this site uses affiliate links. If you purchase something through a link on this page, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my site!

By the way, I’m in the UK so this post will focus on ways to make money from home in the UK, since that’s what I’m familiar with!

But of course, many of these ways to work from home and make money will work anywhere in the world.

Childminding

Childminding is a great work from home job for mums, because it provides a way to make money from home while also looking after your own kids.

You could start by looking after friends’ or neighbours’ children, and maybe build up to a larger business, if you have the space.

If you have kids at school, an easy way to start could be offering wraparound care for your children’s classmates with parents who work late.

Please check for relevant regulatory and licensing requirements where you live. In the UK, you will probably need to register with Ofsted and get a DBS check, depending on the age of the kids and how many hours you work.

Pet boarding

Pet sitting or boarding is another great fun way to make money from home if you love animals!

You could take in a dog for a few hours every day while its owner goes to work, or even have an animal to stay for a longer period while its family are away.

Rover is one popular site in the UK to find pet boarding work, as well as other animal-related jobs.

Again, please check for licensing requirements. This will depend on where you live. In the UK, pet boarding licences are issued by local councils.

>>> Related post: How to Make Money with Animals

Matched betting

If you’re in the UK like me, matched betting is my top work from home recommendation for you.

I’ve made between £300 to £600 a month in just a few hours per week matched betting, and it can be possible to earn over £1000 a month.

Matched betting is a way to make money online from the free bet offers on betting sites. It’s not gambling, because you ‘match’ your bets on two different sites to cover all outcomes. The profit comes from the free bet offers.

If done correctly, you should make money every time. I’m a member of this matched betting training site, which has videos and live support to talk you through it.

Oh, and it’s tax free!

Earn up to £40 with a free trial of matched betting this weekend.

Proofreading

If you love words and reading, proofreading could be the perfect home based job for you.

Most proofreaders work as freelancers, meaning that they can work on their own schedule. You can take on as many or as few clients as you like.

This makes it the perfect flexible job to work around your childcare commitments or travel.

If you’re interested in proofreading as a career, I highly recommend this free 76 minute introductory workshop. It will help you decide if proofreading’s right for you, and point you in the right direction to find your first client.

You can also check out this list of websites to find work from home proofreading jobs.

Laundry business

A lot of people HATE laundry and ironing. Personally, I don’t mind it. I enjoy ironing while I watch something on TV.

Anyway, a lot of people are willing to outsource their laundry and ironing. This makes a great money making home based business opportunity.

Assuming you already have a washing machine and iron, there are no start up costs. You can probably find your first client just by asking around your family and friends.

Sewing alterations

This is another simple task that a lot of people are willing to outsource. So many people don’t know (or don’t take the time) to do minor repairs or hem long trousers.

If you know how to do this, offer your services out to your local community for a fee!

Run a blog

I’ve been blogging for two years and it’s now my full time job!

To me, blogging is the ultimate way to make money from home because it’s completely flexible. I love choosing my own hours and not having a boss.

Plus, your earnings are almost unlimited, because your audience can be potentially millions of people online!

Start your own blog with my step-by-step tutorial now.

Keep in mind, though, that it does take time to build up a successful blog. I barely made any money at all in my first year – but after time, the money starts to snowball 🙂

Cake decorating business

Are you a Great British Bake Off wannabe? Beautiful celebration cakes are always in demand for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and more.

Pop-up restaurant

Have you always fancied running a restaurant? Pop-up, in-home restaurants are a new trend that let you make some money from your culinary skills, without the commitment.

You could throw a gourmet dinner in your home once a week, or whatever you have time for. This article has more information on getting started.

Again, there are usually licensing and regulatory requirements to work with food at home, so please check with the authorities in your area.

Furniture renovations

If you know how to restore old furniture and make it look beautiful again, look for clients who will pay you to renovate their favourite pieces.

Read this interview with mum of 3 Steph, who has been upcycling furniture as a profitable hobby for the past few years!

Customer support

Telephone or live chat customer service jobs are one of the most common work from home jobs.

Some companies that are always hiring work-from-home customer service reps are TheChatShop and Sensee. I also see lots of this kind of job advertised on job boards like Indeed.

You will need a quiet space to work, so it might not be ideal if you’re looking after children at the same time. But if your kids are in school or you can get childcare for a few hours a week, you can find shifts to suit you.

Here’s more info from Claire, how worked as a home-based customer service rep for several years.

And check my separate post for more companies that pay you to chat online.

Phone chat lines

This is not for everyone – but adult chat lines can be a lucrative way to make money from home!

Find out more in this interview with a woman who makes a full time income from home as a chat line operator.

Sell crafts

Are you crafty? You could make goods to sell at home. Sell your creations online on Etsy, or locally at fairs or in gift shops.

There are endless crafts you can make to sell, from jewellery to key rings to art prints to stuffed toys. I recommend browsing on Etsy for inspiration.

Freelance work

There are so many kinds of freelance work you could do from home if you have the right skills!

Common freelance jobs include writing, translating, design work, editing, website design, voiceovers and programming. Popular sites to find freelance work are Upwork, People Per Hour and Fiverr.

Check out this article on getting started as a freelancer for more information, and this article on freelance writing jobs for beginners.

If you are fluent in more than one language, this company is always looking for freelance translators, interpreters and editors, and they sometime have other work from home positions such as Account Manager too.

Transcription

Transcription is another flexible job that you can do from home. You can work directly for a company like Daily Transcription or Rev, or as a freelancer. Here’s a long list of companies to apply to!

This free 7 day email course will set you up to become a transcriptionist from home.

Data entry

Data entry is another common work from home job. Many online data entry jobs do not require much in the way of experience or qualifications, although it helps if you are generally good with computer systems.

Search for home based data entry jobs on any major job site such as Jooble and you will see lots of options. You can also advertise your services for data entry work on freelance sites such as Fiverr – although this is a slower way to proceed, as you have to wait for clients to come to you.

Wedding planner

If you love all things wedding, consider setting up a home based wedding planning business!

Planning a wedding can be a stressful time, and many brides will pay to have someone take over small tasks such as researching and contacting suppliers, and organising decorations and stationery.

You can do most of these tasks from home without any special set up.

Events planner

Similar to wedding planning, events planners help people out at a busy time by helping them create a perfect day!

You could specialise in an area like children’s parties or corporate events, or keep it general. If you are organised and enjoy research and planning, this could be a great opportunity for you.

Travel consultant

Freelance travel consultants work from home helping their clients to plan a perfect trip. Your duties could be creating custom itineraries, booking hotels and travel, and advising on visa or passport issues.

This is an interesting business that you can run from home, working by email or phone.

Search engine evaluator

Search engine evaluators work from home to help search engines improve their results. The work usually involves researching search results and/or social media.

If you’re internet savvy and want a computer-based work at home job, look into the companies LionBridge and Appen.

Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistants (or VA for short) work independently for bloggers and small businesses.

They can take on any kind of virtual task, such as email management, social media scheduling, creating graphics, assisting with writing or editing blog posts, and more!

You can even become a VA who specialises in Pinterest. Sounds like a dream job to me! 🙂

Tutor

Tutors are always in demand! If you have good knowledge of key subjects such as English or maths, you could offer private tutoring, especially in the run up to exams. Your students can come to you if you have a suitable space at home – or you can do it online!

Even if you don’t feel qualified to teach an academic subject, there is huge demand online to teach English as a second language. You often don’t need any qualifications or experience, as long as you are a native speaker.

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping is another job that it’s possible to do from your home office. You should be highly organised and good with numbers.

You will need professional qualifications, but there are online courses you can take.

Try asking local accountancy firms if they want to outsource any work, or you could provide services to other self employed people or small businesses.

Run kids parties

Love entertaining children? Consider running children’s parties! You could offer activities such as decorating cupcakes, baking or other simple crafts.

Depending on your space, you could run parties from home, travel to a client’s house, or hold the events in another suitable space such as a church hall.

Concierge jobs

Concierges help their clients with tasks such as making reservations and arranging special services. There are work from home concierge jobs available for people who are organised, comfortable on the phone and who get things done!

Search job sites for terms like ‘home-based concierge’ and ‘virtual concierge’.

Rent out specialist items

I love this idea, because it’s one of the simplest ways to make money and takes almost none of your time!

If you have any kind of item that people tend to only use once – such as wedding decorations or power tools – you can rent them out for a small fee.

You can also rent out items for a longer period of time. Baby equipment is a good one for this, especially if you’re in between babies yourself.

There are a few sites that do this, but here’s one I’ve heard good things about.

Subscription box business

Subscription boxes have been booming in popularity recently!

I’ve seen subscription boxes on every theme, from stationery to socks. You can set up a subscription box business from home. It looks like fun sourcing different items every month!

Here’s more information on how to get started.

Grow and sell plants

Houseplants are also having a moment right now. If you’re green fingered, you could grow plants at home and sell them.

Perhaps you can sell them at local markets, or a local shop might let you have a stand outside.

Some sturdier plants, like succulents, are even suitable to sell online and send through the post!

Create and sell wedding favours

Everybody wants new and inventive wedding favours. This could be a cute way to make money from home!

Wedding favours can be as simple as a bag of sugared almonds with a personalised label, or something more creative like plants, jams, soaps or individually decorated cupcakes.

You can find business at wedding fairs or by advertising among your community.

>>> Related post: 16 Crafty and Creative Ways to Make Money

Buy and sell vintage clothing

There is a huge market for vintage clothing, but a lot of people don’t know its real worth.

If you know your fashion, you can make a living from home by buying old clothes on eBay, charity shops or boot fairs and reselling online.

This is how Sophia Amoruso from Nasty Gal got started, and she turned her eBay shop into a multi million dollar business!

Sell second hand goods

Clothes aren’t the only second hand item to buy and sell. Old furniture can be worth a lot more money if you fix any damaged parts and give it a new lease of life with some chalk paint or wax.

You can often get old furniture cheap or even free on sites like Gumtree, Nextdoor and Freecycle. You can then upcycle for profit.

Test websites and apps

This is an easy way to make money online. Companies like User Testing, UTest and Userlytics pay people to test out their clients’ websites or apps from home and provide feedback.

You don’t need any special computer knowledge: the companies want to know how their sites work for normal consumers.

This pays around $10 for a 20 minute test and you might only get one or two tests a day, so this isn’t a full time job opportunity, but can be a good way to make some extra cash.

Etsy printables store

Printables are HUGE on Etsy – just take a look!

You can design and sell printable products on any theme. Once sold, the customer just downloads and prints. There are no shipping costs or trips to the post office for you.

Popular categories include art prints, journal pages, calendars, colouring pages, baby shower games, household organisation binders, and more.

You don’t even have to have great design skills – simple products sometimes do well, and there are free programs like Canva you can use to create your printables.

This is a simple home business that you can start for free.

Airbnb

Renting out a room on Airbnb is an awesome way to make money at home, from your home if you have the space.

Don’t worry about not having the perfect designer suite for your guests. There’s plenty of demand for lower priced, simple, single rooms too. As long as you have a spare bed, you could try this.

And even if you don’t have a spare room, check out my post on ways to make money with Airbnb without owning property.

Host exchange students

If you do have that extra space, one alternative to Airbnb is hosting foreign exchange students.

You could host a student for a full year, or for a shorter period. Some areas have a lot of foreign students on short-term language programs in the summer, which could be a great way for teachers to earn some extra cash during their quiet period.

Depending on the program, you might be required to offer one or two meals a day, and possibly simple English lessons in addition to accommodation.

You also need to welcome the student into your family, and help them with any daily issues that come up during their stay. So don’t go for this option if you’re only interested in the money.

But it could be a wonderful and enriching experience for all the family, with a little extra cash as a bonus 🙂

These programs are often local, so check with local schools, universities or language colleges about demand in your area.

>> Related post: How to Make Money From Your House

Pet groomer

We talked about pet sitting, but another way to make money with animals is dog grooming!

If you already have a pet of your own, perhaps you already have all the equipment and skills, and you could offer your services to a friend with pets to get started.

Flower arranging

Flower arranging is a fun home business idea. You may have to get up early and travel to flower markets to source the freshest blooms, but then you can do the arranging from home.

Design and sell greetings cards

We will never run out of reasons to need greetings cards. If you have an artistic side, you could produce your own range of greetings cards from home.

You can sell them at local events or shops, or even online (perhaps as printables on Etsy!)

Dropshipping/Ecommerce Store

‘Dropshipping’ is when you sell physical products through an online store, but when somebody makes a purchase, you purchase the product from your supplier who ships the product directly to your customer.

You will charge more than your supplier, so the difference in the prices would be your profit. As there is no inventory, you don’t need a huge budget.

One of the most popular sites used to create dropshipping stores is Shopify.

Drop Servicing

Drop servicing or service arbitrage is a type of business where you sell services. This could be any kind of service you can sell online: freelance writing, building websites, and so on.

However, instead of doing the service yourself, you outsource the work to a freelancer on sites such as Fiverr.

The reason you can charge more than the freelancer is that you market the service at a higher price, whereas selling on Fiverr is quite competitive.

That’s not to say you can’t make a lot of money by selling on Fiverr yourself, but there are businesses out there that often pay higher prices.

It works the same as dropshipping, but instead of selling physical products, you sell services.

Write an e-book

Have you ever thought about writing a book?

You can self publish it on Amazon, or even sell it through your own store and market it through places such as social media. E-books have become very popular and anyone can create them.

You never know, you may be a best-selling author!

Start a YouTube channel

Starting a YouTube channel is a great idea. Why?

It’s like blogging: you can make it about anything you want! Your interests, your hobbies or whatever you can think of.

Once you start gaining a few more views you can then monetize it through ads or affiliate marketing.

A YouTube channel won’t make you money overnight, but it does have the potential in the long term to replace your job.

Sell a digital course on Udemy

Are you very skilled in a certain field?

If you are, you can create a digital course and sell it on places such as Udemy. It doesn’t have to be on a super-professional topic, it can be around your interests, for example, cooking or art.

Chances are, people are willing to learn from you!

Start coaching/consulting

If you are skilled in a certain field, then this one could be for you too!

You would be surprised how many people are looking for help in fields that you are good at. You could offer coaching or consulting, in these fields.

It could be in fields such as relationships, chess or anything else that you are good at.

Buy and sell domains and websites

Have you ever heard of flipping domains or even websites?

Well, you can make quite a lot of money from doing so. Some domains alone are sold for thousands!

You can buy and sell domains on marketplaces such as Sedo, Flippa and Godaddy’s domain marketplace.

If you study it well, the potential is huge!

Flip social media accounts

Social media accounts are another good thing to buy and sell.

Online entrepreneurs are prepared to buy accounts with a large number of engaged followers in order to monetise the accounts with ads or affiliate links, or to drive traffic to a blog.

Often, when an account owner is not making any money with the account, they sell the account for quite cheap.

This is where you can jump in and sell it to somebody who values the account at a higher price.

It’s a great side-hustle, but it does require some research first!

Create presentations

Businesses are always in need of presentations.

Usually, they need presentations to educate their employees, affiliates, or even customers. That’s where you come in, as a lot of businesses outsource the creation of a presentation.

So, if you are good at creating presentations or are willing to learn how to create them well, this idea may be for you!

Start a CV writing service

Have you always been good at writing CVs?

That’s great because a lot of people need help with writing their CV, meaning they will pay you to write it. They hand you the information about themselves, you do the writing.

I’m sure there are also some other document types that you could add to your services as well. It’s definitely an option you could consider if you are good at writing CVs.

Create and sell content

Businesses and content creators always need help creating content.

Whether it’s for their social media profiles, their blog or their YouTube channel, there is always demand. If you can help these businesses create content, they will pay you.

This is a good option if you don’t want to wait until you gain traffic by creating your own content. However, the long-term potential is a lot bigger if you were to start your own blog or YouTube channel.

Import items not available in your country

Everyone loves stuff from other countries, whether it’s sweets, fashion or video games.

With a little bit of research, you may be able to import interesting goods from other countries. You can then sell them on places such as eBay or to your friends and family.

You can charge a higher price because they aren’t available in your country. The difference between the two price points is your profit.

Here’s an interview with a woman who turned over 100K in the first 10 months running her import business!

Start a home nail studio/hairdressers

Can you do your own nails? Or, maybe you can cut hair well?

Well, if you can, why don’t you do it at home and earn some money for doing so? You can start off with family and friends and then branch out into their friends.

You don’t need a qualification to do this from home, although it might help you get more work in the long run. Also, don’t forget to check with your local authority about licencing regulations, as this can vary.

If you can do something like nails, hair or something else, then why not? You would probably enjoy it and it would earn you some extra cash.

Survey sites

Another good way you can earn money online is through survey sites and other similar ‘get paid to’ sites.

These sites will often pay you to either take surveys or do some other little tasks. On sites such as OhMyDosh! there is a range of different things that you can get paid for such as:

Surveys
Signing up for free trials
Cashback
Trying products for free

You won’t make a fortune but it’s a fun way to make a bit of extra cash in your spare time.

>>> Related post: The Ultimate List of Paid Survey Sites in the UK

Creating/editing videos

Do you have any experience in video editing or video animation?

You can get paid for it! There are many businesses and content creators who need help with videos.

You can offer services such as:

Video creation
Video editing
Video animation

If you are good with videos, then this might be a good way to earn from home for you.

Sell photos

Lastly, you could also sell stock photos (and videos).

There are many sites like Shutterstock, or the app Foap, that will pay you every time someone downloads your image. If you upload a large number of photos, you can earn a decent amount of money through sites like these.

Make sure that you are aware of how Shutterstock’s customers can use the images you upload.

FAQs on making money from home

How can I earn money from home without investment?

This is a great question. If you want to start making money from home, it’s important to think about how much – if any – money you can spend upfront.

If you don’t have any money to invest into your home business, steer clear of anything that requires a license or training – such as childminding or dog sitting. You should also avoid anything that requires you to spend a lot of money on materials or stock – such as crafting, reselling vintage clothes, or direct sales/MLM businesses.

But the good news is, there are plenty of ways you can start earning money right now with no money upfront! Here are some of them:

Freelance work
Proofreader
Transcription
Home-based customer service rep
Search engine evaluator
Chat line operator
Data entry
Testing websites
Survey sites and get-paid-to sites such as OhMyDosh
Matched betting – you do need around £70 to get started, but you will make it back right away

Check this related post for more ideas:

>>> How to Make Money With No Money: 5 Online Business Ideas You Can Start for Free

How can I earn money from home online?

So many ways! Here are some of the ways you can earn money from home with just a computer and internet connection:

Blogging
Matched betting
Proofreading
Freelance writing (and many other freelance services)
Customer support – online chat
Transcription work
Virtual Assistant
Search engine evaluator
Online tutor
Test websites
Survey sites
‘Get paid to’ sites
Design and sell printables
Dropshipping/dropservicing business
YouTuber
Sell online courses or ebooks

How can I make money from home in the UK?

All the ideas in this post (all 50+ of them!) will work to make money from home in the UK. I’m in the UK myself, so I make sure that all the ideas I write about will work here.

Of course, most of these ideas will work wherever you are in the world!

Here are some ways to make money from home that are specifically for the UK only:

Matched betting – this is the best way to make money from home in the UK in my experience, and it is basically only available in the UK and Ireland! So we’d be crazy not to make the most of it!
OhMyDosh!
20Cogs

Can you make money from home stuffing envelopes?

When people think about making money from home, envelope stuffing jobs or leaflet packing jobs are one of the first things that come to mind.

However, I do not recommend these jobs!

Most envelope stuffing jobs you see advertised are scams. They charge you a fee for a ‘starter kit’, and then you’ll never hear from them again.

Think about it – machines can do this job way faster and cheaper than humans. Why would they pay you to stuff envelopes from home?

And you should be wary of any job that charges you money upfront. Real jobs pay you money, not the other way round!

Look into one of the many legitimate ways to make money from home listed in this post instead.

How to make money from home as a kid?

If you are just a kid reading this, you might be wondering which of these ideas you could try.

The easiest way to make money from home as a kid is by asking your parents, family and neighbours if they will pay you to do some chores. Here are some things you could offer:

Washing up
Folding laundry
Feeding pets
Walking dogs
Babysitting (if you’re old enough)
Simple gardening e.g. weeding
Watering houseplants
Washing cars

If you want to make bigger money some day, and you’re not afraid to put in the time, you could consider some kind of ways to make money online as a kid, such as blogging, YouTube or TikTok. But be prepared to work hard to build up an audience!

I also have a whole other post full of ways to make money as a kid.

What can I sell to make money from home?

Selling online is a great way to make money from home! And anyone can do it!

If you have a lot of unused things at home, the best way to start is having a clearout. You can sell your unwanted clothes, furniture, books, tech, etc.

You might think you don’t have anything valuable to sell, but think again. I’ve seen people selling things such as empty jars and toilet roll tubes on eBay. Usually these things are sold in bulk for crafting.

If you want to take it one step further, you can consider going into retail arbitrage or a reselling business. This is when you buy something at a cheap price, and sell it for more.

You can also create things to sell from home. That could be crafts, bakes, digital printables, information products such as ebooks, and so on.

See these related posts for more ideas:

How to make money from home: conclusion

As you can see, there are so many ways to make money from home!

Whether you just want to make a bit of extra cash to help with the family budget each month, or start a whole new career from the comfort of your sofa, I hope you’ll find some inspiration in this post.

Have you tried any of these ideas to make money from home? Do you have any more great home business ideas to share?

Comment below and let’s help each other out!

About the authors

This post was written by Becca Whitestone from Boost My Budget and Sam Nelson from Five Star Funnel.

Sam Nelson is the founder of fivestarfunnel.com which specializes in affiliate marketing and helps its readers with tips and frequent content.

This post was first published on 23 October 2018 and updated on 16 April 2020.