Retaining wall Cost Calculator
A retaining wall costs £150–£400 per square metre of face: railway sleepers at £100–£250, rendered concrete block at £200–£400, gabion baskets between. The number that matters more than any price: past about a metre of retained height, you…
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3 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 retaining wall 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 retaining wall costs (2026)
| Option | Typical 2026 cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Timber sleeper | £100–£250 | |
| Gabion baskets | £150–£300 | |
| Concrete block (rendered) | £200–£400 | |
| Natural stone faced | £250–£450 | |
| Brick (matching house) | £250–£450 | |
| Engineer's design (over ~1m) | £400–£1,200 |
These are the figures from our retaining wall cost guide.
Retaining wall calculator — FAQs
£150–£400 per square metre of face for most builds: sleepers £100–£250, gabions £150–£300, engineered rendered block £200–£400 - foundations and drainage included.
Above roughly a metre of retained height, or any height with a driveway, structure or neighbour's land above it - yes. The design fee is £400–£1,200 and it is the cheapest part of a wall that stays up.
Water, almost always: saturated soil behind an undrained wall doubles the load. Gravel backfill, a land drain and weep holes are the fix - designed in, not added later.
Often not, but the usual limits apply: over 1m beside a highway or 2m elsewhere needs consent, and party-boundary walls bring the Party Wall Act into play. Check before digging.
Related cost guides
- Retaining wall cost guide — The full price guide
- All landscaping services — Browse the hub
- All BestBuilders services — Every trade we cover
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