Park legally in front of someone's garage with new app

Park your car in front of a stranger's garage without getting towed or shouted at. That's the idea behind a new app launching next month which could make finding a parking spot in Brussels a bit easier.

Brussels start-up Pasha (Parking Sharing) is developing a platform that allows residents to charge an hourly fee for a driver to block the entrance when the garage it isn't in use.

Users with a space available would download an application, register their address, the hours when the space can be used and their bank account details for receiving payments.

A digital display is then sent to them in the post, to attach to their garage door. When another driver books the parking space, their car registration number appears on the screen.

The Belgian highway code states that parking is banned "in front of vehicular accesses to properties, with the exception of vehicles whose registration sign is displayed legibly at the entrance".

"It's a good way to make your garage profitable when you're not there," said co-founder Salvatore Arrigo. Rates range from €0.50 to €1.20 per hour depending on location and the developers believe that garage-owners could earn in the region of €500 to €1,000 a year.

The application and website will be available from 15 August and the founders hope to have 500 garage spaces available from day one. There are 60,000 garages in the Brussels region alone.