Front garden to tarmac driveway in Greater Manchester

How much does a front garden driveway conversion cost in Greater Manchester?

Rates in Greater Manchester follow the North West, about 3% below our UK midpoint.

Item	Guide price (inc VAT)
New black tarmac drive, full dig-out and new sub-base	£58–£92 per m²
Example: 20 m² drive	£1,300–£2,050
Example: 30 m² drive	£1,900–£3,050
Example: 45 m² drive	£2,600–£4,150

Towns we cover in Greater Manchester

Postcode areas: BL, M, OL, SK, WA, WN.

What is included?

A front garden conversion turns lawn or planting into a parking space: the ground is excavated, a stone sub-base laid, tarmac surfaced on top, and a lowered kerb arranged so a car can cross the pavement legally.

Check the space: length, width and gate posts for a car
Highway authority dropped kerb application guided or handled for you
Lawn, hedge roots and topsoil removed
Sub-base and two tarmac courses, or porous asphalt
Kerbs or blocks as edge restraint
Water directed to a border, soakaway or channel

Rules in Greater Manchester

In England, householder permitted development (Class F of the 2015 General Permitted Development Order) lets you lay a hard surface in front of a house without planning permission if it is porous, or if the rainwater is directed to a permeable area within the property. If the area is more than 5 m² and neither applies, you need permission. Standard dense tarmac is not porous, so a dense tarmac drive needs a lawn, border, channel to a soakaway or other permeable route for its water. If the job needs a dropped kerb, the highway authority (the county or unitary council) approves it before any work on the footway.