Electric Gates Costs UK — What to Charge to Install Automated Gates in 2026

Swing Gates vs Sliding Gates — Choosing the Right Type

The first decision on any automated gate job is swing or sliding. The choice is driven by the site, not customer preference, and getting it right at the survey stage protects you from expensive problems later.

Swing Gates

Swing gates open inward (or occasionally outward) on hinges, in either a single-leaf or a pair of leaves meeting in the middle. They are generally cheaper to automate, look traditional, and suit most domestic driveways. The catch is swing room: you need clear, level space for the leaf to arc through. A driveway that slopes up toward the house, or one where cars park close to the gate line, often rules swing gates out. Outward-opening swing gates create a hazard over a public footpath or road and are usually not permitted.

Sliding Gates

Sliding (cantilever or tracked) gates run sideways across the driveway opening on a rack-and-pinion drive. They suit sites with limited driveway depth, slopes, or where there is no room for a leaf to swing. The trade-off is that you need clear run-back space alongside the opening for the gate to slide into — typically the full width of the opening again — and the groundworks for a cantilever gate are more substantial because the gate is held entirely on a foundation beam at one side. Sliding gates also tend to cost more in materials and motor for the same opening width.

As a rule of thumb: quote swing gates where there is swing room and a level approach, and sliding gates where depth is tight, the ground slopes, or the opening is wide (over roughly 4 metres a single sliding leaf often beats a pair of long swing leaves).

Quick Reference: Electric Gate Prices UK 2026

What Drives the Price — Breaking Down the Quote

An electric gate quote is really five or six separate jobs bundled together: the gate leaf itself, the motor and automation kit, the control and access system, the safety equipment, the groundworks, and the electrical supply. Pricing each as a line item keeps you honest and helps the customer see where their money goes.

The Gate Leaf (Material, Size and Weight)

Material is the biggest single variable in the leaf cost, and it dictates the motor you need because heavier leaves require more powerful, more expensive automation.

• Timber: Warm, traditional look. Heavy when fully boarded — factor a stronger motor. £600–£2,500 per pair depending on hardwood vs softwood and design.
• Galvanised / powder-coated steel: The most common automated gate material. Durable, takes any RAL colour, moderate weight. £800–£3,500 per pair.
• Aluminium: Light, rust-proof and low-maintenance, which makes it kind to the motor. Increasingly popular for contemporary slatted designs. £1,200–£4,000 per pair.
• Wrought iron: Premium, ornate and very heavy — needs the strongest motors and the best foundations. £1,500–£6,000+ per pair.

Always confirm the leaf weight and width with the gate fabricator before specifying the motor. Gate size and weight are the numbers the automation manufacturer rates their kits against — get them wrong and you fit an underpowered motor that fails inside two years.

The Motor and Automation Kit

For swing gates you have two motor styles. Ram (linear) or articulated-arm motors mount on the pier and push the leaf open — they are quicker to fit, easier to service and cheaper, but visible. Underground motors sit in a buried foundation box at the hinge point and are almost invisible, which is what premium customers pay for; they cost more and the groundworks are harder.

For sliding gates the standard is a rack-and-pinion motor: a geared unit bolted to a foundation beam drives a toothed rack fixed along the bottom of the gate. Bigger and heavier gates need a higher-rated rack-and-pinion unit.

• Ram / articulated-arm swing kit (pair, control board, fobs): £700–£1,800
• Underground swing kit (pair): £1,200–£3,000
• Sliding rack-and-pinion kit (single leaf): £900–£2,800

Reputable brands — FAAC, BFT, CAME, Nice, Roger Technology — cost more than budget imports but carry better spares support, longer warranties and proper force-limiting control boards. For a job you have to maintain and certify, the cheap kit is rarely worth it.

Control System and Access Control

The control board is the brain. On top of it sits whatever the customer wants to operate the gate, and this is where you can add genuine value (and margin) to a quote:

• Remote fobs: Usually included with the kit; spares £20–£40 each.
• Keypad: Coded entry for the household and visitors. £80–£250 fitted.
• Audio intercom: Speak to callers from the house. £150–£500.
• Video intercom: See and talk to callers, often with a phone app. £350–£1,200.
• GSM module: Open the gate by phone call or app from anywhere; ideal where there is no handset cabling. £150–£600.
• ANPR (number-plate recognition): Auto-opens for recognised vehicles — a premium feature for larger homes. £1,000–£2,500+.

Power Supply and Electrical Work

Automated gates need a permanent, protected mains supply. In almost all cases that means an electrician running an armoured SWA cable on a dedicated spur from the consumer unit out to the gate, often trenched 450–600mm deep across the driveway. This is notifiable work: depending on the route and whether it is a new circuit, Part P of the Building Regulations may apply, so use a registered electrician who can self-certify or notify Building Control.

Budget £400–£1,200 for the supply, more if the cable run is long, the driveway has to be dug and reinstated, or a sub-board is needed. Never absorb this into a vague allowance — trenching across a block-paved drive and reinstating it is real, expensive work and a classic source of lost margin.

Groundworks, Foundations and Posts

Gates are only as good as what holds them up. Swing gates need substantial piers or steel posts set in concrete foundations to carry the leaf and the motor loads. Underground motors need a watertight, drained foundation box cast at the hinge. Cantilever sliding gates need a long, reinforced concrete foundation beam — often 1.5 to 2 times the opening width — to take the cantilever rollers. Underestimating concrete, excavation and reinstatement is the second most common way installers lose money on these jobs. Survey the ground, allow for spoil removal, and price the civils realistically.

Safety and Compliance — This Is the Law, Not an Upsell

This is the most important section in the guide. A powered gate is legally classed as machinery. It falls under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 (which implement the Machinery Directive), and a newly automated gate must be CE / UKCA marked, supplied with a Declaration of Conformity, and accompanied by a documented force-limitation and safety risk assessment. As the installer who powers the gate, you are effectively placing a machine on the market — the responsibility is yours.

This is not box-ticking. Following the deaths of two children in separate automated-gate entrapment incidents in 2010, the Health and Safety Executive made gate safety an enforcement priority and ran a national campaign. Poorly installed automated gates have killed people, and an installer who skips the safety assessment is exposed to serious liability.

A compliant automated gate must include, as a minimum:

• Force limitation: The gate must stop and reverse if it meets an obstacle, tested with a force gauge against the limits in BS EN 12453. This is the force test, and it must be recorded.
• Photocells: Infra-red beams across the opening that stop the gate if something breaks the beam.
• Safety edges: Pressure-sensitive rubber edges on leading and crushing edges that reverse the gate on contact.
• Obstacle / entrapment protection: Eliminate or guard crushing, shearing and drawing-in points (gaps between the moving leaf and posts or walls).
• Manual release: A key-operated release so the gate can be opened by hand in a power cut.
• Warning signage and a logbook: Operating and maintenance instructions handed to the customer.

Build the cost of safety edges, photocells, the force test and the risk assessment into every quote as standard. It is never optional, and pricing it in protects both the customer and you.

Worked Example — Automated Swing Gates for a Detached Driveway

A pair of powder-coated steel swing gates across a 3.6m opening on a level block-paved driveway, ram-arm motors, keypad and video intercom, with a 12m SWA supply run from the garage consumer unit:

• Steel gate pair (supply): £1,600
• Ram-arm swing automation kit, control board, fobs: £1,300
• Photocells + pair of safety edges: £350
• Keypad + video intercom with app: £700
• Steel posts, foundations, concrete and reinstatement: £900
• Electrician — SWA spur, trench, Part P notification: £750
• Labour (2 fitters, 2–3 days), force test & risk assessment: £1,400

That totals roughly £7,000 to the customer, sitting squarely in the new-swing-gate band. Swap the ram arms for underground motors and add ANPR and you are quickly into the £10,000–£14,000 premium range. Note how the gate leaf itself is barely a quarter of the price — the value is in the automation, civils, electrics and compliance.

What's Included — and What to Spell Out

A clear quote prevents disputes on a job this size. Always state explicitly:

• Whether the price includes the SWA supply and trenching, or whether the customer is arranging an electrician separately
• Driveway reinstatement after trenching (block paving rarely goes back perfectly — manage expectations)
• The number of fobs supplied and the cost of extras
• That the price includes a documented force test, safety edges, photocells and a handover logbook
• What the warranty covers and the recommended annual service interval

Practical Pitfalls and Ongoing Servicing

• Never hand over without a force test and risk assessment. It is your legal obligation and your liability shield — record it and give the customer a copy.
• Always fit safety edges and photocells. Force-limiting alone is not enough; layered protection is the standard.
• Always provide a manual release. A gate that traps a car or a person during a power cut is a serious problem.
• Spec the motor to the heaviest realistic leaf, not the lightest — underpowered motors fail and the callbacks eat your profit.
• Sell the service contract. Automated gates need an annual safety check and force test (£120–£300). It is recurring revenue, it keeps the installation compliant, and it puts you first in line for the customer's next job.