Pergola Costs UK — What to Charge to Build or Install a Pergola in 2026

Quick Reference: Pergola Prices UK 2026

These are typical supply-and-fit prices including materials, labour and a working margin. Use them as a sanity check against your own measured quote, not as a substitute for one — site conditions, access and finish level move these figures significantly.

Pergola Types and the Cost / Maintenance Trade-off

The single biggest driver of price is the type of pergola. Each has a different cost base, lifespan and maintenance burden — and the right choice depends on the customer's budget, the look they want and how much upkeep they're willing to do. Knowing the trade-offs lets you steer the customer toward a structure you can build profitably and they'll be happy with for years.

Timber Freestanding Pergola

The classic garden pergola: four (or more) posts carrying beams and rafters over a patio or seating area, standing free in the garden. Built from treated softwood it is the cheapest option and the easiest to fabricate on site, which is why it suits carpenters and landscapers with no specialist supplier relationship. Expect £1,000–£3,000 supply and fit for a typical domestic size.

The trade-off is maintenance. Softwood needs re-staining or re-oiling every two to three years and will eventually move, split or rot at ground contact if the post bases are not detailed properly. Set this expectation in writing — customers who think timber is "fit and forget" come back disappointed.

Lean-to (Attached) Pergola

A lean-to pergola fixes to the house wall on one side and stands on posts on the other, typically extending out over a patio or back door. It uses fewer posts and less timber than a freestanding equivalent, but you take on the responsibility of a sound, weather-tight wall fixing — a structural wall plate bolted into masonry, properly flashed where it meets render or brick.

Attached structures can be slightly cheaper on materials but carry more risk: a poorly detailed wall fixing causes damp or pull-out. Price the fixing and flashing work in, and never assume the wall is sound until you've checked it.

Aluminium Pergola

Powder-coated aluminium pergolas — usually supplied as a kit with a fixed or open roof — are the mid-market choice. They cost more than timber at £2,500–£6,000 supplied and fitted, but they don't rot, don't need staining and hold their finish for 15–20 years. For customers who want a modern, low-maintenance result, aluminium is an easy upsell from timber.

Most of the cost is the kit itself, so your margin sits in the supply mark-up plus a clean, accurate install. The frames are square and unforgiving — bases and levels must be exact, which is where the groundworks below matter.

Louvered / Bioclimatic Pergola

The premium option: an aluminium pergola with an adjustable louvered roof. The blades rotate to control sun, shade and ventilation, and close fully to shed rain — turning the structure into a usable space in almost any weather. Add motorisation, rain sensors, integrated LED lighting, heaters and side screens and you have a four-season outdoor room. Supply and fit runs from £4,000 to £10,000 and beyond depending on size and specification.

These are the highest-value pergola jobs and the hardest to get wrong cheaply. The roof mechanism, motors and electrics demand precise installation, and the customer is paying premium prices — your finish and snagging have to match. If you offer bioclimatic units, build in commissioning and a handover walk-through; they are not a structure you bolt up and leave.

Materials: Softwood, Oak and Aluminium

• Treated softwood: The default for budget timber pergolas. Pressure-treated for ground contact, cheap and easy to work, but needs ongoing staining and has the shortest realistic lifespan (15–20 years if maintained).
• Oak: Green or air-dried oak gives a premium, characterful structure that silvers attractively and lasts decades with no treatment. It costs three to four times the price of softwood, is far heavier and harder to cut, and will move and check as it dries — set that expectation with the customer. Oak pergolas command a price closer to aluminium.
• Aluminium: Powder-coated extruded aluminium. Highest material cost, lowest maintenance, longest finish life. Supplied as engineered kits, so the value is in the supply margin and a precise install rather than fabrication skill.

What's Included in a Pergola Quote

A pergola is more than its frame. Spell out exactly what your price covers so there's no argument over scope later. A complete supply-and-fit quote typically includes:

• Posts, beams and rafters — or the supplied aluminium kit and any roof louvres
• Post bases and concrete — bolt-down anchor plates onto an existing slab, or set-in-concrete footings dug to depth
• Fixings — coach bolts, brackets, structural screws, wall plates and flashing on attached structures
• Roof or louvres — open rafters, slatted roof, polycarbonate panels or adjustable bioclimatic blades
• Finishing — staining, oiling or painting timber; touch-up on aluminium
• Electrics — wiring for integrated lighting, heaters or motorised louvres (notifiable work — see below)
• Waste disposal — offcuts, packaging, spoil from footings and any old structure removed

Cost Drivers — What Moves the Price

Two pergolas of the same headline type can differ by thousands depending on the factors below. Price each of these explicitly rather than guessing a round number.

• Size: The biggest single driver. Per-m² rates run £150–£300 for timber and £350–£600 for aluminium, and labour scales with span — larger structures need bigger sections and more posts.
• Attached vs freestanding: Attached structures save on posts but add a structural wall fixing, flashing and the risk that comes with it.
• Ground type and base: Bolting to an existing patio is quick. Digging and concreting footings into soil, clay or near tree roots adds time and materials — groundworks and post bases typically add £200–£600.
• Louvered roof and motorisation: Adjustable blades, motors and rain sensors are the single largest premium and push a job into the £4,000–£10,000+ bracket.
• Integrated lighting and heating: LED strips, downlights and radiant heaters mean wiring, and notifiable electrical work — budget £200–£700.
• Planning: If the structure falls outside permitted development, allow for an application, drawings and the delay it adds.

Do You Need Planning Permission for a Pergola?

In most cases a pergola is permitted development and needs no planning permission — but you should confirm it for each job rather than assume, because the limits are easy to breach. As a general rule a pergola is permitted development when:

• It is no more than 3m high (or 4m with a ridged roof; lower again within 2m of a boundary, where the limit is 2.5m at the eaves)
• Together with other outbuildings it covers no more than 50% of the garden
• It is not forward of the principal elevation — i.e. not in the front garden facing the road

Permission is more likely to be needed for a front-garden structure, a listed building (where listed building consent may be required), or a property in a conservation area, National Park or area of outstanding natural beauty, where permitted development rights are often restricted. Always tell the customer to check with their local planning authority, and make it the customer's responsibility in writing — you don't want to be liable for a structure that has to come down.

Worked Example — 3 × 4m Timber Freestanding Pergola

Here's how a typical job builds up. A 3m × 4m (12m²) freestanding pergola in treated softwood, bolted onto an existing patio, with rafters and a light stain finish:

That lands squarely in the £1,000–£3,000 timber band and works out at roughly £144/m² before margin and £210/m² delivered — bang on the £150–£300/m² guide. Set-in-concrete footings instead of a bolt-down base would add a day's groundworks and £200–£400; lighting would add notifiable electrical work and £200–£700.

How to Quote Pergolas Profitably

Pergola quotes go wrong the same way most trade quotes do — the operator prices off a mental picture instead of a measured, itemised build-up. Protect your margin with these habits:

• Measure on site and price per m². Use £150–£300/m² for timber and £350–£600/m² as your starting frame, then adjust for finish and complexity rather than guessing a round number.
• Itemise the base and groundworks. Whether you can bolt to an existing slab or have to dig footings is the difference between half a day and a day and a half. Survey the ground before you price.
• Quote electrics as a separate line. Lighting, heating and motorised louvres are notifiable work under Part P — they need a registered electrician and add £200–£700. Never absorb this into a single round figure.
• Mark up supplied kits properly. On aluminium and bioclimatic units your margin lives in the supply mark-up plus a precise install — don't hand the customer trade prices and charge only for labour.
• Use a day rate as your floor. At £180–£300 per fitter per day, never let a quote drop below your true labour cost plus materials plus margin. Labour-only builds where the customer supplies the kit run £400–£1,200.
• State scope and maintenance in writing. What's included, what isn't, who's responsible for planning, and how often timber needs re-staining. Clear scope is how you avoid disputes and protect the margin you priced.