Just thought- see how much it is to hire a campervan. In winter months it might be a lot cheaper….
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@DieFledermaus our go-too hire company in the UK these days is Drivalia. We have got great deals from their Gatwick & Heathrow branches. @Cuttlefish another one for you to check out!
Regarding excess insurance we always refuse to pay the extortionately priced excess coverage the hire companies offer and used to just wing it & take the risk. Then a few years ago we discovered www.icarhireinsurance.com a UK based company. They completely cover the excess. Price varies depending on countries travelled. E.g UK/Europe costs from about £49 a year to be fully covered for the excess on a rental. It covers the policy holder and up to 8 named drivers on the rental contract for multiple rentals per year up to 60 days per rental. Its a brillant deal and gives extreme peace of mind! Fortunately we have not (yet!) had the need to claim but they appear to be reliable on paying out.
@Cathie maybe something for you?
If you are not from UK then there must be something similar offered in your country.
However as @Colin rightly says do not use GREEN MOTION or any hire companies connected to them. They are daylight robbers and will charge you for anything and everything. They are actually the only rental company specifically excluded from coverage by www.icarhireinsurance.com
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@DieFledermaus fledermauslast year we hired a car in the UK for 4 weeks and found by far the best price was through Celtic Legend https://www.celticlegend.co.uk/ as we wanted to do a one way rental, which is normally more expensive. They are a tour company but also hire cars via Arnold Clark, who are very reputable. They could not have been more helpful and very easy to deal with. We didn’t even have to pay upfront, we just provided our credit card details. All done via email from Australia. I would definitely use them again.
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That’s exactly who the £75 deal was from my friend - Drivalia at Heathrow 
And the icarhire policy has already saved my bacon when I pranged a hire car last year & it paid out in full in 10 days #youreagoodun
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Yay! That’s great to hear confirmation the icarhire people do actually pay out when needed!! 
And good old Drivalia! We go directly to their website these days. They are always friendly and helpful and we always get great deals.
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I’m in the UK often and have both rented cars and been added to the insurance on family members’ cars. I live in Canada and my credit card covers the car rental cost which makes the costs h more bearable.
I have had good luck using Autoeurope.ca which is a broker for a number of rental companies. I’m going to try out some of the other sites others have given though. Great resource.
finally, if you are not confident using stick (manual transmission) make sure you pay extra for an automatic.
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Perhaps we have been lucky but our sitters so far have been from New Zealand and Australia as well as several from the UK. So all have been used to driving on the correct(!) side of the road. Yes, where we live are single track roads with passing places so reversing skills are also needed. Treacherous roads in winter, is not really true if your speed matches the conditions. Our overseas sitters are in the UK for a few months and often are visiting relatives as well so seem content to rent for extended periods. Airport rentals will always be expensive.
Our latest sitter doesn’t drive or want to so we have agreed to lend him our electric bike with panniers and will shop with him on arrival. We have our regular dog walker on stand by if an unexpected trip to the vet is needed.
In short there is always a work around!
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Echoing what Chrissy says - you can be charged a very hefty valeting penalty if the hire company assesses that you’ve taken dogs in the car against their agreed policy (I’m yet to find a hire company in the UK that allows dogs in their cars). When the weather is bad, especially, it’s really difficult to keep all evidence of dogs out of cars 
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Wish I’d heard of Celtic Legend a few days earlier.. Although I don’t know if they’d be more affordable, since you have to submit a formal enquiry to get quotes and it’s now not worth that, because…
We’ve withdrawn from the sit. The HOs have been incredibly kind and understanding about it - they were shocked by the cost of car rental too.
Thanks so much for your input, all. I haven’t ruling out renting a car in the UK. I’ll just make sure I check the costs before I hurl us at a sit. And I’ll be much better placed next time, with all your experience and suggestions..
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I really like the electric bike idea. I can’t help but wonder if for longer sits it might make sense for a sitter to purchase a used one and then sell it again on departure.
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First, don’t rent at the airport. Train to a near by town and hire from there.
Second, don’t take out their insurance. Check your own car insurance, they may cover rentals. Also, your own credit card may have that option. Our American Express saved us last summer with a fender bender in the UK. They were brilliant.
Third, it is unlikely the HO will offer, as in the UK, the person is insured not the vehicle. The HO may be willing to put you on the their policy, but it’s unusual and very expensive.
We are faced with the same issue this January. We are looking into a two for one train pass, taxi/UBERS and local rentals versus airport rentals. We spent a fortune on a rental the last time and found our rental sitting in the drive way many days. We won’t do it again.
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Turo has my vote, we rented for 6 weeks in the UK, paid half the price of rental companies
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@DieFledermaus
When I first started with TH in 2019 HOs were able to add me (US citizen/resident) to their auto insurance for a 3 week and a 1 week sit. For sits in 2022 that was no longer possible at any reasonable cost or for some HOs at all. Several did share the cost of rentals with me. Mostly I used public transportation but rented cars for several strings of sits when I could use the car both during the sit and for moving between sits (saving rail/bus fare).
I did one rental from Sixt but picking up/returning the car at Stanstead - much cheaper than any other location. Other rentals were from Enterprise but shopping around for the best price at multiple Enterprise locations around London - prices varied significantly but there seemed to be no pattern as to which location was cheapest. And if you do rent in central London with the congestion fee, check on how the company is handling it.
And in the UK an automatic transmission is much more expensive so work on your shifting technique. For me, driving on the other side of the road wasn’t challenging - but shifting with the left arm took a bit to get used to.
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In the US, driving a stick is like writing cursive: a lot of folks don’t have the skillset. Shifting a stick on a modern vehicle with left hand is a minor adjustment IF you already can drive a stick. It’d be a nightmare to try if you can’t.
Has anyone seriously looked into temporary driving insurance in the UK? It looks like foreign drivers can get UK coverage for up to 4 weeks without any involvement of the vehicle’s owner’s insurance. I tried checking rates but you need a specific vehicle’s registration # to get a quote. TempCover and DayInsure look promising.
@DieFledermaus, we have faced this situation quite a few times. Many of our UK housesits have included use of Pet Parent vehicle. If sit is rural location then, from experience, this can be a dealbreaker for our interest.
Earlier this year we looked at a high experience on the rural Scottish isle of Skye but got highly surprised by car rental costs. Issue is acute for non-residents. Car insurance policies US, Canada, [many, if not all] Schengen counties cover a stated vehicle and we find there is often zero, or minimal, incremental cost to add housesitter temporarily to car insurance. UK is different - policies cover stated driver (in any vehicle). From experience, we find that UK car insurance companies and policies vary a lot in regards the ability and cost of adding temporary drivers.
We’d encourage you to politely open conversation with Pet Parent. From our experience, some Pet Parents have not even considered making their vehicle available to a housesitter. Pet Parent may simply decline, all good. But, in our experience, many explore the idea with their insurance company and reflect on their appetite. Many say yes. Importantly, we have this conversation and policy research prior to sit confirmation so that there is clarity prior to commitment.
For context, in our application then we note extensive experience in automatic/manual vehicle; in left/right hand drive vehicles; and clean driving history - topics that may impact pet parent decision and incremental policy cost.
Could you rent a car for half the time as a compromise? Then you have a week at home, and week to explore?
As someone with a uk licence who has never driven on the other side of the road, needing a car is the number one thing that puts me off sits abroad, which is a shame. I’mterrified of it, but it seems to be a pre requisite for most of the sits i see in southern europe. I wish there was a way to practise….
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Maybe you could take a driving lesson or two with someone you hire.
This has been such a useful thread! So many good ideas and recommendations. Although our car hire was not cheap for 41 days it paid us back in so many ways, allowing us to travel through Wales and Scotland, lots of freedom to sightsee along the way and also during our pet sitting. In Wales there were many places within a 30 minute drive so easy for an afternoon out. There were no local shops whatsoever so a car was a necessity. Travelling and stopping at places on the way to the next sit in Scotland all added to our experience. After the 41 days the car was returned to Stansted and we continued to London by train and have been fortunate enough to get two back to back sits and neither of these require a car. We did catch an uber both ways to the giant Tesco yesterday, but it was worth it not to carry all those groceries home😆 There is no way we could afford to spend over a month in London without THS.
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That sounds like the going rate here in uk.
We were looking to hire a car for four days and were quoted £160
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Even when hosts offered me use of their cars in the U.K., I ordered groceries and meals via apps. Saved me carrying stuff, including things I brought home as treats or gifts, like biscuits, chocolates, liquor, soaps and such.
Deliveroo worked for all U.K. / Scotland locations I’ve sat, as did apps for Waitrose and such. They even deliver to hotels, like when I piggyback days at my own expense before or after sits.