Block Paving Driveway Cost Guide (UK, 2026)

What block paving costs per square metre in 2026

Across Aldershot, Farnham, Farnborough and Fleet our fitted block paving prices in 2026 sit between £90 and £160 per square metre. That range is not marketing padding. The bottom of it is a standard rectangular concrete block on a level, well drained plot with easy access. The top of it is a permeable clay or granite sett laid to a pattern on ground that needs a deeper dig, a new drainage run and a rebuilt edge.

A typical single driveway in this area is 30 to 40 square metres, which puts most complete jobs between £3,200 and £6,000. A double drive of 55 to 70 square metres normally lands between £5,500 and £11,000. Both figures include excavation, spoil away, sub-base, laying course, blocks, edge restraint, kiln dried sand and compaction.

The sub-base is the driveway, the blocks are the surface

Almost every failed block paved drive we are called out to in Hampshire failed underneath, not on top. The blocks themselves are extremely durable. What sinks is the layer below them.

For a domestic car drive we excavate to around 250mm, lay a geotextile membrane, then 150mm of MOT Type 1 compacted in two passes with a plate or roller, then 40mm of sharp sand or grit laying course screeded flat. On clay, which we hit regularly around Farnham and the Blackwater valley, we go deeper. Clay holds water, water moves, and a 100mm sub-base on clay will settle within a couple of winters.

If a quote does not state the excavation depth and the sub-base thickness, you have no way of knowing what you are buying. That single omission is the most common reason two quotes for the same drive differ by £1,500.

The costs that sit outside the per square metre rate

Edge restraint. Every block driveway needs a haunched concrete edge or a kerb line, or the whole field of blocks migrates outwards and the pattern opens up. Budget £30 to £55 per linear metre.

Drainage. Since 2008, new front garden hard surfaces over five square metres either need to be permeable or drain to a soakaway or border within your own boundary. A linear channel drain connected properly costs £350 to £900. A soakaway is £900 to £2,000 depending on ground conditions.

Dropped kerb. If you are creating new vehicle access rather than replacing an existing drive, the council crossover is a separate job with its own approval. In Rushmoor and Guildford, budget £1,200 to £2,800 including the licence.

Levels and retaining. Sloping plots need steps in the sub-base or a low retaining wall, which adds £150 to £400 per linear metre in brick or sleeper.

Spoil disposal. A 40 square metre drive dug to 250mm produces around ten tonnes of arisings. That is real haulage cost and it should be itemised, not hidden.

Block paving compared with the other surfaces

Block paving is the most repairable driveway surface there is. Lift a few blocks, fix the trench, put them back. Nothing else gives you that. It is also the most maintenance hungry, because the joints need sand topping up and weeds will find them.

How to compare block paving quotes properly

Ask each quote for six numbers: excavation depth, sub-base thickness and material, laying course type, block manufacturer and range, edge restraint detail, and the drainage strategy. Then ask what happens to the spoil and what the guarantee covers.

Our quotes state all of that in writing before you commit to anything, along with our insurance cover and a written workmanship guarantee. We do not take material deposits on domestic driveway work.

Timing and disruption

A single drive is normally three to four working days, a double four to six. The drive is unusable for the whole of that period and for 24 hours afterwards while the sand beds in, so plan parking with a neighbour before we start.

Autumn and early spring are our quietest windows and the ground is workable. Deep winter is possible for block paving in a way it is not for resin or tarmac, because there is no temperature dependent binder involved.