How Much Does a New Driveway Cost in the UK?

Typical driveway costs by material

Prices are usually worked out per square metre, and a standard single driveway is around 15 to 30 square metres. As a rough guide for a properly built driveway including excavation and a sound sub-base, expect the following ranges. These vary by region, access and ground conditions, so treat them as a starting point rather than a promise.

• Gravel: roughly £40 to £70 per square metre, the cheapest option but needs occasional topping up and raking
• Tarmac: roughly £60 to £100 per square metre, hard wearing and quick to lay
• Block paving: roughly £80 to £140 per square metre depending on the block and pattern
• Resin bound: roughly £70 to £130 per square metre, laid over a solid tarmac or concrete base
• Concrete, plain or pattern imprinted: roughly £70 to £120 per square metre

What actually drives the price

The biggest cost on most driveways is groundwork, not the surface. A driveway that lasts needs the old surface breaking out and carting away, excavation to around 200 to 300mm, a compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base and proper edge restraints. Skipping or thinning any of that is how driveways end up rutted and sunken within a couple of years, and it is usually where suspiciously cheap quotes save their money.

Other things that move the price are access for machinery and wagons, how many skips or grab loads of muck need removing, drainage requirements, tree roots, sloping ground, and whether manhole covers or kerb drops need dealing with. In towns like Luton where many houses have tight frontages and on-street parking nearby, restricted access can add labour time because material has to be barrowed rather than tipped.

• Full single driveway, around 15 to 20 square metres: commonly £2,500 to £6,000 depending on material
• Double driveway, around 40 to 50 square metres: commonly £5,000 to £12,000
• Dropped kerb, if you do not already have one: typically £1,500 to £3,500 including council permissions

Drainage and planning rules you should know about

Since 2008, if you lay more than five square metres of impermeable surface at the front of a house that drains onto the road, you need planning permission. You avoid this by using a permeable surface such as gravel, permeable block paving or resin bound over an open base, or by draining the water to a soakaway or lawn within your own boundary. A good contractor will design this in from the start rather than treat it as an afterthought.

Drainage matters for more than the rules. Standing water against your house or garage causes damp problems, and water sheeting onto the pavement can freeze in winter. Falls, channel drains and soakaways should be itemised on your quote so you can see they have been thought about.

How to compare quotes fairly

Two quotes are only comparable if they specify the same job. Ask every contractor to state the excavation depth, sub-base type and thickness, edging details, drainage provision, and exactly what happens to the waste. A quote that just says supply and lay block paving tells you almost nothing.

Be wary of anyone asking for large cash deposits, quoting on the doorstep without measuring properly, or unable to show you recent local work you could drive past. A driveway done properly should give you 15 to 25 years of service, so paying a little more for correct groundwork is nearly always the better value over time.