Concrete Driveway Costs UK — What to Charge to Lay One in 2026

Concrete Driveway Finishes and What to Charge

"Concrete driveway" covers a wide range of finishes, and the finish is the single biggest driver of your headline per-m² rate. The groundworks underneath are broadly the same — the difference is in the surface treatment, the labour skill and the materials. Here's a breakdown of the main types with current UK supply-and-lay rates.

Plain and Brushed Concrete

Plain concrete is the workhorse finish — a tamped, floated or brushed surface in standard grey. A broom-finish (brushed) texture is the most common because it gives slip resistance underfoot and tyre, hides minor imperfections and needs no specialist tooling. This is the cheapest concrete finish and the easiest to lay quickly, which makes it the default for budget jobs, large industrial-style hardstandings and rear parking areas where appearance is secondary.

• Per m² (supply and lay, including sub-base): £70–£120/m²
• Typical medium drive (40–50m²): £3,500–£6,000

Price toward the lower end for simple rectangular areas with good access and easy dig-out, and toward the top for awkward shapes, poor ground or reinforced slabs designed to take vehicle weight.

Pattern-Imprinted Concrete

Pattern-imprinted concrete (PIC) — also called stamped or imprinted concrete — is poured as a coloured slab, then mats are pressed into the surface while it's still green to mimic block paving, cobbles, slate or brick. A release agent and a colour hardener give the finished colour, and the slab is sealed once cured. It's the most popular premium driveway finish in the UK because it gives a decorative result as a single monolithic pour, with no joints for weeds to grow through.

PIC carries a higher rate because of the colour hardener and release materials, the imprinting mats, the skill needed to press a consistent pattern before the slab goes off, and the sealing coat. It's a finish where timing is everything — too early and the imprint blurs, too late and the mats won't take. This is skilled work and you should price it accordingly.

• Per m² (supply and lay): £90–£150/m²
• Typical medium drive (40–50m²): £4,500–£7,500

Build in a re-seal upsell: imprinted concrete needs re-sealing every 3–5 years to keep its colour and protect the surface. A re-seal on a typical drive is worth £300–£600 and is a low-effort return visit.

Exposed Aggregate

Exposed aggregate is a poured concrete slab where the top layer of cement paste is washed or brushed off before it fully cures, revealing the decorative stones in the mix. It gives a natural, high-grip, hard-wearing finish that suits both contemporary and traditional properties. The aggregate can be a standard gravel blend or a premium decorative stone, and the choice of stone has a big effect on material cost.

It commands the highest of the mainstream concrete rates because the decorative aggregate is expensive, the wash-off (or seeding) process is labour-intensive and time-sensitive, and a poor job is very visible. Get the timing of the surface retarder and wash-off wrong and the result is patchy — this is a finish that rewards experience.

• Per m² (supply and lay): £100–£160/m²
• Typical medium drive (40–50m²): £5,000–£8,000

Power-Floated Concrete

Power-floating uses a ride-on or walk-behind float to produce a dense, smooth, hard-wearing surface. It's more common on garage and workshop floors and commercial hardstandings than domestic drives, because a fully smooth power-floated surface can be slippery when wet — for a driveway you'd usually specify a lightly textured or burnished finish rather than a mirror float. Where a customer wants a clean industrial look, power-floating sits between plain and decorative finishes on price.

• Per m² (supply and lay): £80–£130/m²

Flag the slip risk in writing if a customer asks for a smooth power-floated driveway. A burnished or lightly brushed finish is safer underfoot and protects you from a comeback after the first wet winter.

Groundworks — The Part Installers Underquote

The finish gets the customer's attention, but the money is made or lost on the groundworks. A concrete drive is only as good as what sits under it. These are the cost items that catch people out — price them as separate lines so the customer sees where their money goes and you don't absorb a surprise.

Excavation and Muck-Away

A concrete drive needs digging out to allow for the sub-base and slab depth — typically 200–300mm total. Excavated spoil has to be carted off, and muck-away is one of the most underestimated costs on any driveway job. Tip charges have risen sharply, and a grab lorry or skips for a medium drive add up fast.

• Dig-out and muck-away (medium drive): £600–£1,500
• Grab lorry load: £250–£400 per load

Sub-Base (MOT Type 1)

A compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base — usually 100–150mm, laid and whacked in layers — is what spreads vehicle load and stops the slab cracking and settling. Skimping here is the most common cause of failed concrete drives. On soft, clay or made-up ground you'll need a deeper sub-base, possibly with a geotextile membrane to stop the stone migrating into the subgrade.

• MOT Type 1 supply and lay: £15–£30/m²
• Geotextile membrane (where ground is poor): £2–£5/m²

Edgings and Falls

Most drives need an edge restraint or decorative edging — block paving borders, kerbs or brick edges — both to contain the slab and to finish it neatly. You also need to set falls so surface water runs to the right place rather than toward the house. Getting the falls right at setting-out is far cheaper than fixing ponding after the slab has gone off.

• Block paving / brick edging: £20–£45 per linear metre
• Concrete kerb edging: £25–£50 per linear metre

Drainage

Drainage is both a cost item and a regulatory one (see the SuDS section below). Depending on the design you may be installing a channel drain (ACO) across the threshold, linking to a soakaway, or routing to an existing surface-water connection. A soakaway dug to the right size for the area being drained is a meaningful cost in its own right.

• Channel drain (ACO) supply and install: £40–£70 per linear metre
• Soakaway (excavate, crates, membrane, backfill): £500–£1,500

What Affects the Price

Two drives of the same square meterage can differ by thousands. When you survey a job, these are the variables that move your price up or down:

• Area and shape: Larger drives bring the per-m² rate down through economies of scale; small, awkward or curved shapes push it up because of cutting, formwork and waste.
• Depth and reinforcement: A drive taking regular vehicle or van weight needs a thicker slab (typically 100–150mm) with A142/A193 steel mesh or polypropylene fibres in the mix. Reinforcement adds material and labour but is essential to prevent cracking.
• Sub-base and ground conditions: Soft, wet, clay or made-up ground needs a deeper sub-base, a membrane and sometimes a dig down to firm subgrade. Unknown ground is a risk — note it and protect yourself with a clause.
• Existing surface removal: Breaking out an old concrete slab or tarmac drive is far more work than digging soil, and breaking out reinforced concrete is harder still. Price the break-out and extra muck-away separately.
• Drainage and SuDS: A soakaway or permeable design adds cost but is often legally required (see below). Never leave it out to win the job — it's the customer's liability and yours.
• Access for a pump or lorry: If the ready-mix lorry can't get close, you're either barrowing concrete (slow, labour-heavy) or hiring a concrete pump. Restricted access genuinely changes the cost of the pour.
• Expansion and control joints: Large slabs need joints to control cracking. Forming or saw-cutting joints at the right spacing is part of doing the job properly, not an optional extra.
• Finish type: As covered above — plain, imprinted, exposed aggregate and power-floated all carry different rates for the same groundworks.
• Edgings and falls: The amount of edge restraint and the complexity of the drainage falls add labour and materials.

Access for a Concrete Pump or Lorry

How you get the concrete from the road to the formwork is a real cost driver that customers rarely think about. If a ready-mix lorry can discharge straight into the area, you save hours of labour. If it can't — a narrow side return, a drive behind the house, or a long run — you're either barrowing every cubic metre by hand or hiring a line or boom pump.

• Concrete pump hire (half-day): £350–£700
• Volumetric / mix-on-site lorry: useful for smaller or staged pours where you don't want a full load going off

Always check access at survey: kerb crossovers, overhead cables, gateway widths and where the lorry can legally and safely stop. A pour that has to be barrowed 30 metres needs more bodies on site and that labour has to be in your price.

Drainage, SuDS and Planning — The Rule You Cannot Skip

Since 2008, planning rules in England (with broadly similar rules in Wales) treat front-garden surfacing as permitted development only if the surface is permeable, or if it directs run-off to a permeable area such as a soakaway or border within the property. If you lay more than 5m² of impermeable surface in a front garden that drains directly onto the road or pavement, the homeowner needs planning permission.

Standard concrete is impermeable. So for a front-garden concrete drive over 5m² you have two compliant routes:

• Drain within the curtilage: design the falls so run-off goes to a soakaway, a permeable border, a lawn or a rain garden inside the property boundary — not to the highway.
• Apply for planning permission: if run-off will go to the road, the homeowner must get consent before the work starts.

This is the customer's legal responsibility, but in practice they expect you to know it and design for it. Build the drainage solution into your quote, make clear in writing that the design avoids the need for planning permission (or flag that permission is needed), and you both stay on the right side of the rules. Skipping drainage to undercut a competitor leaves your customer exposed and your reputation on the line.

Getting the Concrete Right — Curing and Joints

A concrete drive can be ruined by good materials laid badly. The two things that most often go wrong are curing and joint control — and both are within your control.

• Curing time: Concrete is walkable after 24–48 hours but should be kept off by vehicles for at least 7 days, and ideally 28 days for full design strength. Protect a fresh pour from rain, frost and strong sun while it cures — a polythene sheet or curing compound stops it drying too fast and cracking. Set the customer's expectations on when they can park.
• Joint spacing: Control (contraction) joints let the slab crack in a straight, planned line instead of randomly. As a rule of thumb, space joints at no more than 24–30 times the slab thickness, and keep panels roughly square. Saw-cut joints within the first 24 hours, or form them in the pour. Add isolation joints where the slab meets the house, a wall or a manhole.
• Why the sub-base matters: Most cracked and sunken concrete drives failed at the sub-base, not the surface. A properly compacted MOT Type 1 base, laid to the right depth on a sound subgrade, is what carries the load. It's the least visible part of the job and the easiest to cut corners on — and the most expensive to put right later.

Quoting Tips — What to Check Before You Price

Concrete driveway quotes go wrong when the installer prices off the area alone and ignores everything underneath. Before you commit to a number, check:

• Existing surface: Is there an old slab, tarmac or block paving to break out? Reinforced concrete is the worst case. Price break-out and extra muck-away separately.
• Ground conditions: Probe the subgrade. Soft, wet or made-up ground means a deeper sub-base, a membrane and more spoil. Add a clause covering unforeseen ground.
• Access: Can a ready-mix lorry get close, or do you need a pump or to barrow? Measure gateway widths and check for overhead cables and kerb crossovers.
• Drainage and SuDS: Where does the water go? Design a compliant solution for any front drive over 5m² and put the design in writing.
• Levels and falls: Check the level against the house damp-proof course, thresholds and any manholes. Set falls away from the building.
• Loadings: Cars, vans, a caravan or a horsebox? Heavier vehicles mean a thicker, reinforced slab.
• Edging and boundaries: How much edge restraint, and where does it meet neighbouring land or the highway?

Break your quote into clear lines — dig-out and muck-away, sub-base, drainage, edgings, and the concrete finish — rather than a single lump sum. It shows the customer where their money goes, protects you when ground conditions turn out worse than expected, and stops you being undercut by an operator who has quietly left out the drainage and the muck-away.

Quick Reference: Concrete Driveway Prices UK 2026