Patios Cost Calculator
A new patio in the UK typically costs £70–£180 per m² installed depending on the paving you choose. A standard 20m² patio runs £2,400–£4,600 fully laid — concrete slabs at the budget end, porcelain and natural stone at the top. Groundworks,…
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2 steps, using the figures from our cost guide.
How this calculator works
Every figure in this calculator is the one published in the cost table on our patios guide. Pick the option that matches your job and the calculator returns that published range, adjusted for your region - it does not model anything the guide does not already say.
That is deliberate. A calculator whose rates drift from the page it sits under is worse than no calculator, because two numbers on the same site disagree.
What it cannot know: access, the condition of what is already there, and anything structural. Those are what separate three real quotes from each other.
Published patios costs (2026)
| Option | Typical 2026 cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete slabs (riven / smooth) | £20–£40 | |
| Block paving (concrete / clay) | £25–£50 | |
| Natural sandstone (Indian) | £28–£55 | |
| Limestone | £35–£60 | |
| Porcelain (20mm outdoor) | £40–£75 | |
| Granite | £45–£80 | |
| Reclaimed / Yorkstone | £50–£120 |
These are the figures from our patios cost guide.
Patios calculator — FAQs
A 20m² patio typically costs £2,400–£4,600 fully installed. Concrete slabs land at roughly £1,400–£2,200, natural sandstone £1,900–£2,900, and porcelain £2,500–£3,800. Those figures include excavation, a compacted sub-base, laying, jointing and waste removal. Extra excavation, a soakaway, steps or poor access can add £600–£1,500.
Sandstone is cheaper to buy and lay (£90–£140/m² installed) and gives a warm, natural riven finish, but it needs sealing every 2–3 years and can stain or grow algae. Porcelain costs more (£120–£180/m²) but is virtually stain-proof, frost-proof, colour-stable and needs only soapy water — so over 10–15 years many owners find porcelain the better value. Porcelain does demand a full wet mortar bed and a primer/slurry, so professional laying is strongly advised.
A rear-garden patio is almost always Permitted Development and needs no permission. A front garden is different: if you lay more than 5m² of non-permeable surface that drains onto the road, you need planning permission — unless you use permeable paving or drain to a soakaway/border within your own boundary. Listed buildings and conservation areas may have extra rules, so check with your local planning authority first.
A two-person team lays a standard 20m² patio in 3–5 days: roughly a day for excavation and muck-away, a day building and compacting the sub-base, one to two days laying and cutting, and time for jointing and curing. Allow 7–10 days for 40m² or where drainage, steps or a retaining wall are involved. Wet weather can extend curing times for mortar and jointing.
Related cost guides
- Patios cost guide — The full price guide
- All driveways services — Browse the hub
- All BestBuilders services — Every trade we cover
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