From carpooling to house swapping, the Sharing Economy empowers you to hire out everything from power drills to spare rooms. Debbie wants your views to feed into her review of the Sharing Economy.
Over the past 12 months, the UK has seen an explosion in the Sharing Economy. Peer-to-peer businesses such as Zipcar, Airbnb and TaskRabbit have enjoyed rapid growth – and created a new wave of everyday entrepreneurs around the country.
It’s estimated that 25% of Brits currently take part in this type of sharing online, and current global revenues of around £9bn could reach £230bn per year by 2025. The Sharing Economy’s estimated to reach 50% market share in key sectors such as holiday accommodation and car-sharing/car rental by 2025.
More and more, people are thinking differently about how they make use of their assets and resources. For instance, the average car sits idle for 23 hours a day – so car clubs such as easyCar Club allow owners to rent out their car when they’re not using it.
Likewise, the average power drill is used for an estimated 12-13 minutes over its entire lifetime – so services such as Streetclub offer an online market place to hire out spare tools.
Help review the Sharing Economy
Against this backdrop, the UK government asked me last month to lead a review of the Sharing Economy. Over the next few months I’ll be exploring the social and economic potential of this sector in the UK, and making recommendations on how its potential can be reached. I will also be looking at how to create a level playing field with traditional operators in businesses which are impacted by the Sharing Economy.
I’m keen to hear from as many people as possible as part of this review – including Which? readers who are using Sharing Economy services as part of their everyday lives. I’d love to hear your feedback, either through our online survey or by leaving your comments below.
Have you ever shared or swapped your house, car, holiday home or anything else? Would you like to take part in the Sharing Economy, but something’s holding you back? If so, what is it?
Which? Conversation provides guest spots to external contributors. This is from Debbie Wosskow, CEO of Love Home Swap and leading a review for the Government on the Sharing Economy. All opinions expressed here are Debbie’s own, not necessarily those of Which?.