BBC 6分钟英语 Sharing economy

English from BBC, learning English. Hello, and welcome to Six Minute English.

I'm Finn Robs here too. Yes.

Hello. Hi, rob Tell me, do you have a spare room in your house?

Absolutely not. No. We are full to capacity in our house.

What about a driveway for your car?

A driveway? So you mean a parking space off the road at my house?

Yes, well, not exactly a driveway, but yes, I do have a parking space.

Yes. Okay. Well, both of these are ways of making money in the sharing economy.

Interested? Hmmm. Well, we'll be talking about this new economy in the program, and learning some language related to making money.

But 1st, a question. Great. I don't have to pay for it, do I?

It's a free question, right? With no prize either.

In February 2014, britain's most expensive parking space went on sale.

But for how much was it?

A 80000 lb. B-A? Hundred thousand pounds.

Or C 400000 lb? Hmm. Well, it's, it's just a parking space, isn't it?

Yeah, I'm gonna go for the lowest value, 80000 lb.

80000 lb. Still a lot of money.

We'll find out if that's the right answer at the end of the program.

But 1st, let's find out a bit more about this sharing economy.

Rob You feeling the pin at all?

Feeling the pinch? You mean feeling poor?

Well, yes, I'm always feeling the pinch.

So come on Fi and tell us how we can make some money.

Okay? Well, perhaps the best known example of a company in the sharing economy is Air b and B.

Now it's an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holiday makers.

OK? Holiday makers. So these are people on holiday.

So using your spare room as a BMB that's a bed and breakfast?

Yes. Well, yes, you can. You can provide breakfast for your guests too.

That sounds like a clever way to make a few pennies.

Yes, to make a few pennies to make a bit of extra money.

Okay? Well, airbnb say they operate in 34000 cities and have 800000 listings of rooms and apartments.

In fact, we could say they're the market leader in this industry, the main, most successful company.

There are other companies, of course, doing very similar things.

And one doing something with parking spaces is Just Park Now, it's a British business that lets you rent out your driveway or parking space.

Ah, another way to make money on the side, which means to make some extra money in addition to your normal job.

We're going to hear from the founder of Just Park Now.

Anthony Escornazi Where did the idea for the business come from?

When I have the original idea, I spotted a driveway close to a sports stadium.

It would have been just so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in the commercial car park.

So Antony said that he got the idea when trying to park near a stadium, he said he saw a driveway.

He thought it would be more convenient to just park there than in a commercial car park, a normal one, which makes money.

So he set up this site, and around 20000 people have put their spaces on the site, and he says, around half a million drivers use it.

Hmm. Now, interestingly, a church near Kings Cross in central London has apparen'tly made over 200000 lb.

By renting out space in its yard to travelers.

And of course, there are other sites doing very similar things, like Uber and Lift.

Now these let drivers share their cars with other passengers, and there's even a company in Hong Kong which lets you share space under your umbrella when it rains.

That sounds like one rob for a rainy day.

A good story, an idea to store away until you need it.

But I do have a question What about the people who run things like traditional bmbs or commercial car parks or taxi services, things like that?

Won't they be out of pocket?

Out of pocket? Yes, lose money.

Many of them are out of pocket and are not happy about this.

And there is another issue that regulations or laws.

Listen to the editor of Tech City News, alex Wood.

Why are regulations for these new businesses unclear?

Take the example of someone that has a driveway in their house.

They've got some spare capacity there.

They're looking to make some more money.

But how does that affect their neighbors?

How does that affect the council and the regulation and the rules around them?

Because this is a new business world.

Those rules aren't there yet. Well, he says, they're unclear because the rules aren't there yet, because it's a whole new business world.

In fact, BMB has had problems with the law.

But in a time when the economy is doing badly, these businesses seem to be thriving, doing really well and provide an extra

source of income for many people.

That's right. Many are benefiting from this new economy, but others are out of pocket.

That's business rob What about us?

Could you maybe make some money from this sharing economy?

You could rent out your bike, you're lovely folding bike while you're at work.

That's a really good idea. Yeah.

And of downtime, the bike's not being used, so why not?

Absolutely. Anyway. How about the answer to today's question?

Yes. Earlier, I asked you about the most exciting expensive parking space ever to go on sale in London.

How much was it on sale for?

Well, I had a guess, and I said 80000.

Well, you were completely wrong. It was the most expensive one, really, 400000 lb.

No way for a parking space.

Yes. This is a space in London, in Kensington, and it went on sale for 400000 lb.

Which is over twice the price of the average UK house.

So very expensive. Anyway, rob Before we go any further, how about those words again?

OK, the words we heard today were, driveway Feeling the pinch.

Holiday makers make a few pennies on the side.

Market Leader One for a rainy day Out of pocket Regulations thriving source of income.

Thank you, rob. And that's it for today.

If you want to listen to more programs like this one, visit our site, bbc learning english dot com.

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