We have heard that creating a passive income allows us to work less and enjoy financial freedom, but how on earth do you come up with passive income ideas that can do done in the UK? Whether you have a lot of money to invest (like buying a rental property) or you are starting with absolutely nothing, I have compiled a list of ideas to generate a passive income UK.
What is a passive income?
Passive income is an income that you don’t directly work for, or you do the work once and keep getting paid. It is money you make whilst you are away from actively work – perhaps sleeping, being on holiday or something else entirely.
Creating a passive income is about putting in the hard work now to reap the benefits later.
Nothing beats the feeling of receiving an email saying I have made an affiliate sale that has earned me £30, or selling a digital product overnight. I love making a passive income and in this post I have lots of passive income ideas to share with you – whether you are starting with no budget at all, or you have money to invest in companies like Primerica, American Electric Power, or other leading brands, or you have an idea for a business. Get started today, and you could be generating a passive income very soon!
How long does it take to make a passive income in the UK?
Depending on how you decide to make a passive income, you could start making money almost straight away!
Different routes of passive income will take different lengths of time to start generating an income. For example, the process of buying a rental property requires a lot of capital to get started, a few months for the sale to go through and then time preparing the property before advertising it to rent. Add on another few weeks for finding tenants and the time really adds up.
Or if you were to list digital products on Etsy and get a sale the next day then you would have made a passive income a lot faster.
There are no quick fixes when it comes to making a passive income and you will need to put in the time and effort initially to reap the rewards. However, by generating a passive income you can start to experience financial freedom and the ability to work when you want to work and spend your life doing what you want to do.
I am going to share some of the best passive income UK ideas with you.
Blogging for a passive income – low investment
Blogging is by far my biggest passive income earner, from affiliate marketing, adverts and selling digital courses and ebooks.
I have managed to turn a passion for helping others with their money into a decent enough income to hire my husband full time and work with a small team of freelancers.
It is fair to say that blogging has changed my life (here’s how you can start a blog).
There are plenty ways to actively make an income from my blog – for example, writing new blog posts and sponsored content takes time, as does posting to social media.
If I were to step away from my blog for a few days, weeks or even months then I would continue to make an income passively from the adverts you see on my blog, from the affiliate links I have placed on my blog and from selling any of my digital courses and ebooks.
Blogging for a passive income has a low financial investment, but you will be investing your time in order to make a passive income.
Renting out property – high investment
When most of us think about generating a passive income we immediately think of owning a rental property to generate a passive income from monthly rent.
Property investment is out of the question for many of us because of the high cost associated with buying a rental property. Not only would you need to get a buy to let mortgage (which usually requires a 25% deposit) and need to pay stamp duty, there could be a lot of ongoing work and repairs to pay for.
Remember that this could also increase the stamp duty you need to pay for your main residence if you purchase another property. If you own a rental property you would need to pay additional stamp duty based on the price of the residential property you are purchasing. This can be quite a deterrent for choosing to invest in property for passive income in the UK.
The added benefit of property investment is that there is the potential for an increase in capital over time. There are also real estate tax incentives for property investors. You should also consider investing in property with Electric Vehicle chargers. By making use of various EV Charging Solutions, you can generate passive income with EV Drivers being more attracted by your property.
Investing into property isn’t something we are rushing into.
Savings – any investment
Okay…hear me out.
I know the interest rates on savings right now are awful, but it is still money for nothing and a passive income.
Most bank accounts and savings accounts will offer interest on the balance, and depending on the account you have, you could still have easy access to your money.
There are some better ways to save for long term things (such as investing) but if you don’t want the risk of your capital being at risk then a regular savings account could work for you, and help you to generate a passive income.
Investing and dividends – any investment
Investments could earn you a passive income from interest and/or dividend payments. Of course, your capital is at risk with investments and the value could go up or down, which is why they should be considered as long term investments.
We have ISAs with Nutmeg and Wealthify (you can read more about where we save and invest our money) and also use FreeTrade and Stake for buying individual stocks and shares.
Most of them offer free money offers.
YouTube – Free To Start
When it comes to passive income ideas then YouTube can be a really great one!
By creating videos on a wide range of topics, your videos can be monetised with display adverts once you have hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 minutes watch time.
You can create videos on any number of topics including:
- Daily Vlogs
- Recipes
- Beauty
- Game play (Let’s Play)
- Travel
- Mindfullness
- Affirmations
- Birthday videos
And so much more. You should consider creating your own set of affirmations too, to help you to succeed!
One of my first ever clients when I started freelance work had created a channel based around birthday videos:
Affirmation videos are extremely popular, with this one having reviewed more than 7 million views:
And a friend of mine is experimenting with a new channel:
Creating YouTube videos is free, but if you wanted to outsource this you could buy videos on Fiverr. Read more: how to start a faceless scary stories YouTube channel.
Writing a book – zero to low investment
It has been said that many of us have a book in us, and these days we don’t even need to get a publishing deal to start making money from books we have written.
I myself have an e-book available on Amazon called 50 iPhone Apps To Earn Cash, and another e-book hosted on my own website called 90 Days To A Profitable Blog.
A book can be created on almost every topic, meaning that you can easily turn your passion into a profitable ebook, or write fiction or poetry.
My books are able to bring in a passive income for me every month – and even more income when I spend time promoting them.
There is no cost associated to writing your own ebook, however you many want to pay for things like your front cover to be designed and a proof reader.
Creating ecourses – no investment
If there is a subject that you know a lot about then developing an e-course is a great way to generate a passive income.
Not only can you help to teach others, but you can create a new passive income stream for yourself.
One of the best courses I have invested in is Elite Blog Academy which was quite pricey, but so far it has been worth every penny. Not only is Ruth helping me to improve my blog and bring in more revenue, she is also earning an income herself from running the course.
I have also created some of my own courses at different price points which allow me to bring in a passive income.
Print on demand – no investment
Print on demand is exactly as it sounds. Instead of holding a lot of stock like t-shirts and mugs, you create the design once and use a print on demand service like RedBubble to host your products.
When someone comes to make a purchase then RedBubble will take care of everything – letting your buyer choose their product, colour and size, to shipping.
You will then earn a commission for every sale that you drive.
If you were able to jump on a popular trend and spend some time creating designs then you could start making a passive income through print on demand for very little time and no outlay.
Drop Shipping – Low investment
Drop shipping is another passive income stream that gets me very excited because I love e-commerce but lack the space to store a lot of stock and the capital to purchase a lot of stock.
Drop shipping, put very simply, is where you sell something on your own platform/website, and then once it sells you buy it from somewhere else and then have it delivered directly to the customer.
Setting up your drop shipping shop is free, but where you need to make a small investment is the time in between the customer making a purchase and you getting the money paid from the purchase. You will need to purchase the product and get it delivered to the customer.
There are so many ways to do this, from finding suppliers in China to finding a UK based drop shipping company. There are also tools you can use to completely automate this process once it has been set up, so that it can truly become a passive incomes stream.
Digital products and downloads – free to start
Are you a pro at making a spreadsheet? Or perhaps you can create some printables? If you can create a downloadable product that there is a demand for then you can set up an automated process where a buyer purchases your product and then receives a digital copy as soon as they have paid.
Here your investment is your time – the time it takes to create a great spreadsheet, printables or something else that will serve a purpose.
You can then sell them on Etsy (this link gives you 40 free listings) or through your own website.
Some ideas include:
- Spreadsheets
- Meal planners
- Planners
- Wall art
- Prints
Fulfilled by Amazon – low to medium investment
When it comes to thinking about passive income I wasn’t sure whether to include Fulfilled by Amazon, but I have decided to include it because you only need to purchase the products and send them to Amazon, and Amazon deal with everything else.
I have a full guide to selling with Fulfilled By Amazon, but the idea is really simple. You buy products from somewhere else and sell them on Amazon for more money.
Using Fulfilled by Amazon you pay around £5 to send a box of goods up to 15kg to Amazon, and they deal with the selling and shipping for you.
Cashback Credit Card – No Investment
It is fair to say that I flipping love our cashback credit card (MBNA Horizons).
We do all of our shopping on our cashback credit card (and you can even pay your council tax using a credit card) and pay it back in full every month.
Last year we earned over £200 just by doing our usual shopping!
AirTime Rewards – No Investment
Another great way to make a passive income is to use the app AirTime Rewards.
Connect all of your bank cards with AirTime Rewards and when you make purchases at participating retailers then you will earn cashback.
The cashback earned cannot be withdraw and instead must be applied to your phone bill, however it is literally free money.
Enter my promo code for a bonus: 8QJJJJ36
Are you looking for more ways to make money online? Enter your name and email address below to be sent a FREE copy of my ’10 Ways to Make £1000 in the next 30 days’ workbook.
If you live in the UK, making a passive income is definitely possible!
