A new patio can transform a garden, but the range of paving materials and labour costs in the UK is wide enough to be genuinely confusing. A 20 m² patio might cost £1,600 in concrete block paving or £4,000 in large-format porcelain, and both can be good value depending on what you want. This guide gives you the real figures, the key differences between materials, and what drives the price.

What Does a Patio Cost?

Most UK homeowners pay between £80 and £200 per m² for a patio, fully installed. The main variables are material choice and ground conditions.

MaterialSupply cost (£/m²)Installed cost (£/m²)
Concrete block paving£20–£401£80–£1202
Concrete paving slabs£15–£303£75–£110
Porcelain paving (600×600 mm)£30–£60£110–£160
Porcelain paving (large format 900×600+)£50–£90£140–£200
Indian sandstone£25–£504£100–£150
Natural limestone£40–£705£130–£180
Granite setts£50–£80£140–£200

The cited prices in this table were published in 2024 and brought to 2026. What that means.

Prices are 2026 UK averages. London/South East typically 20–30% higher. Costs assume reasonably accessible, level ground.

Worked Example: 20 m² Patio

Scope itemBudget optionPremium option
Sub-base excavation and MOT Type 1 hardcore£400–£600£400–£600
Sand or mortar bed£150–£250£150–£250
Paving material£400–£700£1,000–£1,800
Labour (laying, cutting, pointing)£600–£900£900–£1,400
Total (approx.)£1,600–£2,500£2,500–£4,000

Sub-base: The Most Important Cost You Cannot Skip

Regardless of the surface material, a correct sub-base is what determines whether your patio stays flat for 20 years or starts to rock and dip within three. Expect:

  • Excavation to 200–250 mm below finished level
  • 150 mm compacted MOT Type 1 crushed stone
  • 40–50 mm sharp sand or dry-mix mortar bed (depending on material)

Do not lay paving on existing lawn or topsoil. Installers who skip the sub-base are cutting corners that will cost you more in the long run.

Porcelain Paving

Porcelain is the most popular premium choice in the UK right now, and for good reason. It is:

  • Extremely low maintenance, does not need sealing, resists moss and staining
  • Durable, frost-resistant when properly specified (look for R11 slip-resistance rating for external use)
  • Consistent in colour, manufactured to tight tolerances, no colour variation between batches
  • Thin but heavy, typically 20 mm for outdoor use (do not use 10 mm indoor tiles outside)

The main disadvantages are cost and the skill required to install it. Large-format porcelain (e.g. 1,200×600 mm) needs a perfectly flat mortar bed, even small deviations cause lippage (tiles sitting at different heights). Labour rates are higher for porcelain than for natural stone.

Key spec to check: an R rating and a pendulum test value are two different measurements, and one does not convert into the other. R11 comes from the German DIN 51130 ramp test, walked in cleated safety boots with motor oil as the contaminant; HSE has reservations about it and notes that a single R class covers a wide spread of real slip potential. The pendulum is the test HSE relies on, and a pendulum test value (PTV) of 36 or above is classed as low slip potential.6 Ask for both figures, and treat a supplier that only quotes an R number as having told you half the story. Smooth-finish porcelain can be dangerously slippery when wet.

Natural Stone: Indian Sandstone, Limestone, Granite

Natural stone gives a warm, organic look that many homeowners prefer. The main options:

Indian sandstone is the most affordable natural stone and widely installed across the UK. It has a naturally textured surface with good slip resistance. The main maintenance requirement is an annual sealer coat to prevent moss, algae and staining. Colour varies between calibrated (uniform thickness, machine-cut) and riven (handcut, variable thickness), calibrated is easier to lay.

Limestone has a cleaner, more contemporary look than sandstone. Quality varies enormously by source, look for low water-absorption figures (under 3%) for frost resistance. Limestone can etch from acidic cleaners.

Granite setts are extremely durable but labour-intensive to lay. More commonly used for driveways or edging than full patio surfaces. They last 50+ years with minimal maintenance.

Concrete Block Paving and Slab Paving

Concrete block paving (CBP), the interlocking blocks used on driveways, is a cost-effective and durable choice for patios too. It handles heavy loads, any individual block can be lifted and relaid if drainage work is needed, and it comes in a wide range of colours. Aesthetically it reads more as “driveway” than “garden patio,” which some homeowners find off-putting.

Plain concrete slabs from builders’ merchants are the cheapest option but look functional rather than attractive. They crack more readily than blocks or porcelain over long service.

Drainage: Do Not Forget It

The 5 m² front-garden rule people quote is a planning rule, not a Building Regulations one. A new hard surface of more than 5 m² between the principal elevation of a house and a highway needs planning permission unless it is laid in porous materials, or run-off is directed to a permeable or porous area within the curtilage.7 Part H applies separately, and sets the order of priority for getting rid of rainwater: an adequate soakaway or other infiltration system first, then a watercourse, then a sewer, each only where the one before it is not reasonably practicable.8 Rear gardens are less strictly controlled but should not drain onto a neighbour’s land.

Porcelain and natural stone laid solid onto a mortar bed are impermeable. Options:

  • Lay on a 10–15 mm open-jointed bed with fine gravel joints (some drainage)
  • Install a channel drain at the low point
  • Use permeable jointing compounds (available from specialist paving suppliers)

Pointing and Jointing

The joint compound between paving affects maintenance requirements significantly:

  • Kiln-dried sand (CBP), refill every few years as it washes out; weeds can colonise
  • Wet-applied mortar, solid and durable but can crack and look untidy after 10–15 years
  • Polymeric (resin) pointing, flexible, weed-resistant, bonds well; add £5–£10/m² to costs; the best choice for porcelain and premium natural stone

Choosing the Right Material

If you want…Best choice
Lowest total costConcrete block paving or concrete slabs
Minimum maintenancePorcelain (20 mm, R11 rated)
Natural, warm lookIndian sandstone or limestone
Best long-term durabilityGranite or quality porcelain
Easier DIY installationBlock paving or standard concrete slabs

How to Find a Good Paving Contractor

Get three written quotes specifying the exact material (size, thickness, finish), sub-base depth, and pointing type. Avoid anyone who does not excavate, existing hard surfaces rarely provide an adequate base. Check them against a body that actually vets installers, such as BALI, the British Association of Landscape Industries, which accredits members against its own quality standard and code of conduct and publishes a searchable directory. The Mineral Products Association gets named in the same breath surprisingly often, but it is the trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and industrial sand industries, so it speaks for the firms that make the materials rather than the ones who lay them.9 Failing that, ask for references on similar-scale work. Pay a small deposit only; avoid paying in full before work starts.

The rules in this note are those that apply in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own building standards and permitted development rights.

References (9)

Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 9 September 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.

  1. 1costsupplier figureB&Q (Kingfisher plc).RN-I41F99A price, true at 2026-09. the retailer's own statement that the prices it displays include VAT, which is why the figures taken from its product pages are recorded in the cost book as VAT-inclusive rather than adjusted
  2. 2costvery strongValuation Office Agency, a government page.RN-RSLGJ5A price, true at 2024-04, brought forward on the Construction Output Price Index. The Valuation Office Agency's Rating Cost Guide 2026: estimated replacement costs per square metre for building types, used by the VOA for contractor's basis rating valuations. Each code gives a construction description, the unit of measurement and an ERC at a UK mean location factor of 1.00. It is official, free and unusually comprehensive, and it is a replacement cost for rating rather than a market tender price, which is why the guidance notes matter as much as the table.
  3. 3costsupplier figureWickes Building Supplies Ltd.RN-9ATQ7HA price, true at 2026-09. the retail price Wickes Building Supplies Ltd publishes for Terms & Conditions, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
  4. 4costsupplier figureB&Q (Kingfisher plc).RN-WAOVV5A price, true at 2026-09. the retail price B&Q publishes for riven Indian sandstone paving, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
  5. 5costsupplier figureWickes.RN-IQGW1GA price, true at 2026-09. the retail price Wickes publishes for a 22 mm textured limestone paving slab, which is the supply figure the cost book records for this item
  6. 6technicalvery strongHealth and Safety Executive, guidance.RN-2IWEP7HSE's guidance note behind every slip-resistance figure a flooring or paving note quotes, and the source that separates the two tests people conflate. Table 1 classifies slip potential from pendulum test values (PTV): 0 to 24 high, 25 to 35 moderate, 36 and above low. Table 2 gives the parallel Rz microroughness classification. It describes the HSL/UKSRG ramp CoF test, then deals with the German ramp tests separately: DIN 51097 uses barefoot operators with a soap solution and DIN 51130 uses heavily cleated EN ISO 20345 safety boots with motor oil, and HSE states it has reservations about both because neither uses contaminants representative of real workplaces and the way results are reported is a cause for concern. Table 3 sets the DIN 51130 R scale by slip angle: R9 6 to 10 degrees, R10 10 to 19, R11 19 to 27, R12 27 to 35, R13 above 35. It warns that R9 and sometimes R10 surfaces will be slippery when wet and that a single class covers a wide CoF range, R10 alone spanning 0.18 to 0.34, so an R number is not a substitute for a PTV. Note that BS 7976-2, the pendulum method, was withdrawn in February 2022, which makes this HSE page the right citation for the thresholds.
  7. 7technicalvery strongPlanning Portal, guidance.RN-N6PTOIThe 5 square metre driveway rule stated in the exact terms a note should use. Planning permission is not needed if a new or replacement driveway of any size uses permeable or porous surfacing that allows water to drain through, such as gravel, permeable concrete block paving or porous asphalt, or if the rainwater is directed to a lawn or border to drain naturally. If the surface to be covered is more than 5 square metres, planning permission will be needed for laying traditional impermeable driveways that do not provide for water to run to a permeable area. Driving over a pavement onto the property needs a dropped kerb, which is a lowered sloping access point applied for separately from the local authority and is not covered by the paving rules. The rules apply to houses only, not to flats, maisonettes or converted properties.
  8. 8technicalvery strongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.RN-SM6TRWThe statutory source for soakaway design and the discharge hierarchy every garden drainage note should state. Requirement H3(3) lists the order of priority for rainwater discharge: (a) an adequate soakaway or other adequate infiltration system, or where not reasonably practicable (b) a watercourse, or where not reasonably practicable (c) a sewer. Paragraph 3.25 bars infiltration devices within 5 metres of a building or road, in ground where the water table reaches the bottom of the device at any time of year, too close to other drainage fields or soakaways, or where contamination could pollute groundwater. Paragraph 3.26: soakaways serving less than 100 square metres are generally square or circular pits filled with rubble or lined with dry-jointed masonry or perforated ring units. Paragraph 3.27: design to a return period of once in ten years, and for small soakaways serving 25 square metres or less a design rainfall of 10mm in 5 minutes may be assumed as the worst case. Paragraph 3.28 requires percolation tests to derive the infiltration rate, and paragraph 3.30 sends larger soakaways to BS EN 752-4 or BRE Digest 365 Soakaway design. Paragraphs 2.10 to 2.12 cover pervious paving over a granular storage reservoir and warn against its use where sediment or oil spillage would block the pores. For foul drainage, paragraph 2.33 sets a minimum 75mm internal diameter, or 100mm for a WC, and Table 6 gives minimum gradients of 1 in 40 for 75mm and 100mm at peak flows under 1 litre per second.
  9. 9technicalgoodMineral Products Association.RN-JNBZUFThe MPA describes itself as the trade association for the aggregates, asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and industrial sand industries, and states it represents 100% of GB cement and lime production and around 90% of GB aggregates production. Its members are producers and manufacturers, not installation contractors, and it operates no vetting scheme or searchable directory of paving or groundwork contractors that a homeowner could check. Useful as the correction to any note that tells a reader to check a paving or driveway contractor is registered with the MPA: that is a category error, and the installer-side bodies are BALI and the block paving associations instead.

  1. Terms and conditions, B&Q (Kingfisher plc), accessed 16 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09, so no calibration is needed. diy.com

  2. Rating Cost Guide 2026, codes 33U1KA, 33U1KF and 33U1P5, Valuation Office Agency, accessed 21 September 2026. Priced at 2024-04; brought to 2026 on the Construction Output Price Index, housing repair and maintenance (Great Britain), published by Office for National Statistics, a factor of 1.0239. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  3. Terms & Conditions, Wickes Building Supplies Ltd, accessed 21 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09, so no calibration is needed. wickes.co.uk

  4. Stonewise Kandla Grey Riven Sandstone Paving Slabs 600x900mm, Pack of 10, Natural Stone Paving for Garden Spaces and Outdoor, B&Q (Kingfisher plc), accessed 16 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09, so no calibration is needed. diy.com

  5. Marshalls Limestone Textured Black Multi Paving Slab 600 x 600 x 22mm, Wickes Building Supplies Ltd, accessed 16 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09, so no calibration is needed. wickes.co.uk

  6. Assessing the slip resistance of flooring, Health and Safety Executive, accessed 9 September 2026. hse.gov.uk

  7. Paving your front garden: planning permission, Planning Portal, accessed 9 September 2026. planningportal.co.uk

  8. Approved Document H, Drainage and waste disposal, 2015 edition, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, accessed 9 September 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  9. Mineral Products Association, Mineral Products Association, accessed 9 September 2026. mineralproducts.org