Security · Updated September 2026
Security Gates & Barriers Cost UK 2026
A manual metal gate runs £700–£2,000 fitted. Automate it and you are at £2,500–£6,000 for a swing pair or £3,500–£8,000 sliding. Automation is where the cost sits, because a powered gate is legally a machine and has to be safe by design.
Security gate and barrier cost — 2026
Prices are supply and fit for a standard domestic or light commercial entrance. Groundworks and getting power to the gate are the two lines that vary most.
| Type | Typical fitted cost | What it suits | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual pedestrian gate | £400–£1,200 | Side access | Match it to the fence line |
| Manual vehicle gate (pair) | £700–£2,000 | Driveways | Steel or timber |
| Automated swing gate (pair) | £2,500–£6,000 | Most driveways | Needs space for the leaf to swing |
| Automated sliding gate | £3,500–£8,000 | Short or sloping drives | Needs a run-back and a level track |
| Rising arm barrier | £2,500–£6,000 | Car parks, yards | Controls vehicles, not people |
| Automatic bollards | £1,200–£4,000 each | Pedestrian areas, entrances | Hydraulic or electromechanical |
| Intercom and access control | +£600–£1,500 | Anything you answer from the house | See our door entry page |
| Annual service | £120–£350 / year | Any automated gate | Includes a force test |
Indicative 2026 UK installed prices, compiled from published installer pricing. BestBuilders has no quote history in this category yet, so treat these as a budgeting guide and confirm against three written quotes.
What changes the cost
| Cost factor | Typical impact | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Automation | +£1,800–£4,500 | Motors, control panel, safety edges, photocells and commissioning |
| Getting power to the gate | +£300–£1,500 | A trenched armoured cable from the house is often the single biggest surprise |
| Groundworks and posts | +£400–£2,000 | Automated gates need substantial foundations; sliding gates need a level track |
| Safety devices | +£250–£800 | Photocells, safety edges and force limitation - legally required, not an upsell |
| Gate material and infill | +£300–£2,500 | Galvanised and powder-coated steel, hardwood or composite all price differently |
| Slope and swing room | +£200–£1,200 | A rising drive can rule out swing gates entirely and force the sliding option |
Security gate cost by UK region — 2026
Modelled from regional labour rates rather than measured in this category - the hardware costs the same everywhere, the fitting does not.
| Region | Automated swing pair | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|
| London | £3,200–£7,680 | +25–30% |
| South East | £2,950–£7,080 | +15–20% |
| South West & East | £2,680–£6,420 | +5–10% |
| Midlands | £2,500–£6,000 | Baseline |
| North of England | £2,380–£5,700 | −5% |
| Wales & Scotland | £2,400–£5,760 | −5% to baseline |
Getting it priced properly
1. Check the geometry before the budget
A rising drive, a short run-back or a gate that would swing over a pavement each rule options out. That decides the price bracket, not the finish.
2. Ask how power is getting there
If there is no supply at the gate, someone has to trench armoured cable to it. Get that in the quote rather than as a variation.
3. Insist on a force test and a handover file
A powered gate is machinery under UK law. It must be risk assessed, force tested and handed over with documentation - this is the part cheap quotes leave out.
Gate automation brands compared: Nice, CAME, BFT, FAAC, Hörmann and Roger Technology
You are buying two things: the gate, which is usually fabricated locally, and the automation, which is one of a handful of European names. The automation brand decides spares, safety features and who can service it later.
| Brand | Known for | Ranges you will be quoted | Typical motor kit price | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BFT | Heavy-duty; popular commercially | Deimos, Phobos, Icaro | £600–£2,000 | Suited to heavier gates and higher cycle counts |
| CAME | Italian; strong on both swing and sliding | Ax, Ati, BX sliding | £550–£1,800 | BX sliding units are a common choice on shorter drives |
| FAAC | Hydraulic operators, long service life | 390, 391, 844 sliding | £700–£2,200 | Hydraulics handle large, heavy gates well |
| Hörmann | German; integrates with their garage door controls | RotaMatic, LineaMatic | £700–£2,000 | Convenient if you already have Hörmann elsewhere on the property |
| Nice | Very widely installed in the UK; broad range | Wingo, Toona, Robus | £500–£1,600 | Easy to get parts and find an engineer who knows it |
| Roger Technology | Well regarded, quiet operation | BRUSHLESS R23, BE20 | £600–£1,800 | Brushless motors run quietly and cope with frequent use |
Prices above are for the automation kit only — fitting is separate and is priced in the table further up this page. Brands are listed alphabetically, not ranked: BestBuilders does not sell or endorse any of them.
Gates and barriers compared
Automation is where the cost sits. A manual gate and an automated one are barely the same purchase.
Security gates & barriers — frequently asked questions
£2,500–£6,000 fitted for a swing pair and £3,500–£8,000 for a sliding gate, including motors, safety devices and commissioning. The gate leaves themselves are only part of it — underground or ram motors, a control panel, photocells, safety edges and an intercom all add up, and getting mains power out to the gate can be £300–£1,500 depending on the trench length. If you're fencing the boundary at the same time, pricing the security fencing and the gate together usually saves a second mobilisation.
Swing, usually, because the hardware is simpler. Sliding wins where the drive rises away from the gate or there is no room for leaves to open, and on those sites it is the only workable answer rather than the expensive one.
Yes, and it's the part people underestimate. A powered gate is classed as machinery under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations, so a compliant installation has to be risk assessed, fitted with force limitation plus safety edges and photocells, force tested to BS EN 12453 and handed over with a declaration of conformity and a manual. Children have been killed by automatic gates in the UK, which is why the HSE treats powered-gate safety seriously and why a cheap quote that skips the safety devices is a false economy. Ask to see the force-test results at handover.
The threshold is 1m where the gate fronts a highway used by vehicles and 2m elsewhere, so most driveway gates on the boundary are fine unless they're unusually tall. Where it catches people out is a new or widened vehicle crossing over the footpath: dropping the kerb needs the council's highways team, and forming a new access onto a classified road can need planning permission in its own right. Listed buildings and conservation areas remove some rights too. Check the current position on the Planning Portal and your local highways pages before ordering.
Annually as a minimum, including a repeat force test. Springs, hinges and safety edges wear, and a gate that has drifted out of adjustment is the one that traps something.
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When a camera or bell box needs consent.
Security gates & barriers — guides and detail
The detail behind the number: what changes the price, the planning position, and how to check a quote before you accept it.
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Reviewed by the BestBuilders editorial team · Last updated: 2 September 2026 · Next scheduled review: December 2026 · See our editorial standards.