How much does a French drain cost in the UK?
A French drain costs £45 to £90 per metre in the UK, typically around £60. What moves the price most is the length of the run, so a simpler job sits near the bottom of that range and a larger or higher-spec one near the top. Prices reviewed September 2026.
A French drain costs around £60 per metre installed, with most quotes between £45 and £90 per metre including VAT. A 15 metre run through a waterlogged lawn is £675 to £1,350 on its own, and a soakaway at the end of it adds £1,000 to £2,500.
French drain cost calculator
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French drain cost breakdown
Typical French drain costs, by the unit:
| What | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Per metre, supplied and fitted | £45 to £90 per metre |
| + Soakaway at the outfall | add £1,000 to £2,500 |
| + Connection into an existing surface-water drain | add £200 to £500 |
| + Hard dig or poor access: clay, roots, breaking out slabs, hand digging | add £300 to £800 |
| 8 metres | £360 to £720 |
| 15 metres (typical) | £675 to £1,350 |
| 30 metres | £1,350 to £2,700 |
What's included in the price?
Typical French drain prices include:
- Marking out the run and checking where existing drains, water, gas and electricity services cross it before anyone digs
- Excavating the trench to a fall towards the outfall, typically 200 to 600 mm deep for a drain that dries a lawn
- Lining the trench with a geotextile membrane so silt from the surrounding soil cannot wash into the gravel and block it
- Perforated land drain pipe bedded in and covered with clean gravel, which is the part that actually carries the water away
- Backfilling and reinstating the surface, either with topsoil and turf or leaving a strip of gravel showing
- Taking the spoil away, because a 15 metre trench produces around three cubic metres of soil that will not go back in the hole
What changes the price?
The things that move French drain prices most:
The length of the run, since the job is priced by the metre and a 30 metre run costs roughly twice a 15 metre one
Where the water goes, because a soakaway adds £1,000 to £2,500 and a connection into an existing surface-water drain adds £200 to £500
Depth, as a drain protecting a wall goes deeper than one drying a lawn and needs more digging and more gravel for every metre
The ground, since clay, tree roots and buried rubble slow the dig, and a trench through a patio or concrete has to be broken out and made good
Access for a mini digger, because a trench hand dug in a terraced back garden can take two or three times as long
Your region, with labour, tipping and skip permit charges all higher in London and the larger cities
How the price is built up
The run is priced by the metre, at £45 to £90 installed and around £60 typical, so a 15 metre lawn drain builds up to £675 to £1,350 before the outfall. The outfall is the big extra. A soakaway is £1,000 to £2,500 and a connection into an existing surface-water drain £200 to £500, and a run with neither is not a finished job. Hard ground or poor access adds £300 to £800 for the extra days of digging and the extra spoil to remove. Digger hire at £70 to £250 a day and a skip at £70 to £450 a week are already inside the per metre rate on a normal job, which is why a short run of five or six metres often costs more per metre than a long one: the plant and the skip cost the same whatever the length. Labour and plant are most of the bill. The pipe, membrane and gravel come to about £10 to £20 per metre, so on a £60 per metre job roughly a quarter to a third is materials and the rest is two people, a mini digger for a day or two and getting the spoil off site. That is why the same materials cost more per metre in a garden the digger cannot reach: the hand digging doubles the labour and nothing else changes. All the figures on this page are installed prices including VAT, not materials only.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Measure the run yourself and get the price per metre in writing, so a quote for 15 metres cannot quietly become one for 20
- Ask where the water is going before you accept a price, because a quote with no soakaway or connection in it is not a complete job
- Let the digger in, since clearing a route through a side gate or taking a fence panel down for a day saves a day of hand digging
- Insist on a geotextile membrane around the gravel, because a drain that silts up is the one you pay for twice
- If your roof water currently runs to the public sewer, moving it to a soakaway can earn a surface water drainage rebate, so ask your water company before the trench is dug
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, a French drain typically costs around £70 per metre, about 20% above the UK average of £60. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £60.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £45 | £60 | £90 |
| London | £55 | £70 | £110 |
| South East / South West | £45 | £65 | £95 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £45 | £60 | £85 |
Guide prices per metre, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
French drain cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Birmingham | £45 | £60 | £90 |
| Bristol | £45 | £65 | £95 |
| Cardiff | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Edinburgh | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Glasgow | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Leeds | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Liverpool | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| London | £55 | £70 | £110 |
| Manchester | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Newcastle | £45 | £60 | £85 |
| Sheffield | £45 | £60 | £85 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for French drain, not quotes.
London and the South East cost more because labour is dearer, tipping charges are higher and a skip on the road needs a council permit. The ground matters as much as the map. Heavy clay, which is common across London, the South East and much of the Midlands, is slow to dig and drains badly, and that is exactly where a French drain is most often wanted. Sandy or chalky ground in parts of the East and South is quicker to dig but often does not need one. Rural jobs may carry a travel charge but rarely a parking or permit cost.
Common questions
How much does a French drain cost in the UK?
A French drain costs £45 to £90 per metre installed, typically around £60, including VAT. That covers the trench, the membrane, the perforated pipe, the gravel and taking the spoil away. A 15 metre run through a lawn is £675 to £1,350 on its own, and with a soakaway at the outfall the whole job is £1,675 to £3,850, which is where most whole-garden quotes land. Materials alone are about £10 to £20 per metre if you dig it yourself.
How much does a soakaway cost?
A soakaway costs £1,000 to £2,500 installed. A small crate soakaway in a garden with easy access is about £1,000, while a larger or deeper one that takes two days to build is nearer £2,500. Inside that, labour is £150 to £300 a day, the crate, membrane, pipe, gully and gravel are £250 to £500, and removing the spoil is £100 to £300. Approved Document H says an infiltration device, which is what a soakaway is, should not be built within 5 metres of a building or a road, so the position is not a free choice. If your roof water currently runs to the public sewer, moving it to a soakaway can also earn a surface water drainage rebate on your water bill, so ask your water company.
Do I need planning permission or building regulations for a French drain?
Planning permission is not usually needed. Planning Portal's own page on drains and sewers says you do not usually need to apply for repairs, maintenance and very minor works, and a land drain drying a garden sits in that category. Building regulations are a different matter. Part H of the Building Regulations covers rainwater from a roof or from paved areas around a building, and requirement H3 says that water must go, in order of priority, to a soakaway or other infiltration system first, then a watercourse, then a sewer. So a drain that only dries a lawn is not controlled work, but one that takes roof or patio water, or connects into an existing drain, has to follow Part H, including the rule that a soakaway sits at least 5 metres from a building. Never connect surface water into the foul drain: requirement H5 says the two systems must be separate. If the outfall is a public sewer, the water company owns it and you need their agreement before anyone cuts into it. Front gardens have one more rule: in England, more than five square metres of impermeable paving needs planning permission unless the water runs to a lawn, border or soakaway, and a French drain is one way of meeting that.
Can I dig a French drain myself?
Yes, on a lawn, and the saving is smaller than it looks. Materials for 15 metres are £150 to £300: perforated pipe is £30 to £50 for a 25 metre coil, a 25 metre roll of geotextile membrane about £25 and the gravel £8 to £17 per metre. Add a day or two of mini digger hire at around £120 a day and a skip for the spoil at around £220 and you are at roughly £500 to £750, against £675 to £1,350 installed. What you are buying from a contractor is the fall, the membrane wrapped properly and someone who checks for services before the bucket goes in. Two jobs are not sensible to do yourself: a deep drain against a house wall, where you are digging beside the foundations, and any connection into an existing drain.
How long does a French drain last?
30 to 40 years is the figure the trade directories give, and the same pages also warn that a French drain can silt up and need replacing, so treat 30 to 40 years as the life of a drain that was wrapped in geotextile membrane and laid to a proper fall, not a promise. Silt is what kills one. Approved Document H's guidance for drainage fields uses a layer of geotextile precisely to stop silt getting into the gravel, and that is the same job the membrane does here. Without it, on clay or silty ground, the gravel can clog long before the pipe fails. Upkeep is cheap by comparison: clearing debris from the outlet is around £50 a visit, a camera inspection £100 to £250, and topping up the gravel £8 to £17 per metre.
French drain or land drain, what is the difference?
In the UK trade they are the same job and the same price, and suppliers list them as one product. Strictly, a French drain is a gravel filled trench that lets water soak down and run along it, with or without a pipe, while a land drain is the perforated pipe itself, which is sold in coils and laid in the bottom of that trench. Almost every French drain fitted in a British garden today has a land drain pipe in it, because the pipe moves water far faster than gravel alone. The pipe adds about £1 to £2 per metre to the materials, so do not pay extra for the name on the quote, only for the depth, the membrane and where the water ends up.
How deep should a French drain be?
200 to 600 mm is the usual range for a drain that dries a lawn or a boggy patch, with the shallower end for surface water and the deeper end where the ground stays saturated. A drain protecting a wall or a basement has to go lower than the problem it is solving, which means digging below the internal floor level, and that is why those runs cost more per metre. Whatever the depth, the trench needs a steady fall along its length and an outfall, a soakaway, a ditch or a surface-water drain, that sits lower than the bottom of the trench. A drain with nowhere lower to send the water is a gravel filled bath.
Why is one quote £200 per metre when the guide says £45 to £90?
£200 per metre is a figure some trade directories quote, and it usually describes a different job from a lawn drain. It fits a deep drain dug along a house wall, a run that includes the soakaway in the per metre price, a trench through a patio or driveway that has to be cut out and relaid, or a garden where everything is dug and barrowed by hand. Ask for the quote split into the run per metre, the outfall and any making good. If a plain lawn run still comes back at £200 per metre with no soakaway, that quote is high, and a second one will show it.
Will a French drain fix damp in my walls?
Sometimes, and only for one kind of damp. Where the ground outside sits higher than the floor inside, or rainwater pools against the wall, a drain that takes that water away can dry the wall over a few months. It does nothing for rising damp through a failed damp proof course, condensation, a leaking gutter or a bridged cavity, which are the usual causes. A perimeter drain beside a house is also the expensive version of this job, deeper and often hand dug, and its soakaway still has to be at least 5 metres from the building. Have the cause of the damp identified first, because a £1,500 drain that does not touch the cause is money spent on the wrong wall.
Official guidance and sources
The rules and schemes referenced on this page come from these official UK sources. The price figures are Costwise's own; see how we price.
- Drainage and waste disposal: Approved Document H GOV.UK · Paragraph 3.25 says infiltration devices, which include soakaways and filter drains, should not be built within 5m of a building or road, in areas of unstable land, or in ground where the water table reaches the bottom of the device at any time of the year.
- The Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 1, Part H legislation.gov.uk · Requirement H3 says rainwater from a roof or a paved area around a building shall discharge, in order of priority, to an adequate soakaway or other infiltration system, then a watercourse, then a sewer, and H5 says any surface water system going to a sewer shall be separate from the foul drainage.
- Drains and sewers: planning permission Planning Portal · You do not usually need to apply for planning permission for repairs, maintenance and very minor works, and drains, sewers and manholes may be shared with neighbours or owned by the sewerage undertaker, so ownership should be clarified before modifying them.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.