Tarmac driveway cost calculator
A tarmac driveway costs £40 to £65 per m², so 50m² works out at £2,000 to £3,250. Enter your own size below.
Work out what a tarmac driveway costs. Enter the size, say whether the ground underneath needs digging out and rebuilding, and this calculator gives you a price range for your region. Guide prices from our own research, not quotes.
Tarmac driveway cost calculator
Set it up to match your job. Everything updates as you change it, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Built from the same figures as our tarmac driveway guide: £40 to £65 per square metre supplied and laid, plus £25 to £45 per square metre where the ground needs a new sub-base. Regional figures use the same multipliers as every other page here. Not priced, because it varies far too much to put a number on honestly: a dropped kerb, which is a council job with its own fee; drainage where the driveway slopes toward the house; and removing the spoil if there is nowhere on site to put it. If you want the QUANTITY of tarmac rather than the price, our tarmac calculator works out the tonnes.
Tarmac driveway cost by region
| Size | UK average | London | North / Scotland / Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 m² | £1,200 to £1,950 | £1,550 to £2,500 | £1,100 to £1,800 |
| 50 m² | £2,000 to £3,300 | £2,600 to £4,200 | £1,850 to £3,000 |
| 75 m² | £3,000 to £4,900 | £3,900 to £6,300 | £2,800 to £4,500 |
| 100 m² | £4,000 to £6,500 | £5,200 to £8,500 | £3,700 to £6,000 |
Worked totals at £40 to £65 per m², before any extras. UK guide prices reviewed June 2026, not quotes. Set the calculator above to your own job to add the extras.
Most of the price is under the surface
A tarmac driveway is two jobs. The visible one is laying and rolling the blacktop, and it is the cheaper half. The one that decides whether the driveway lasts fifteen years or three is the sub-base underneath: excavating to the right depth, laying and compacting crushed stone, and getting the levels and falls right.
That is why the same square metre can be £40 or £110. A driveway going over a sound existing base is at the bottom of the range. One on soft ground, or where an old base has to come out, adds £25 to £45 per square metre before any tarmac is laid.
How to tell whether you need a new sub-base
The honest answer is that a contractor cannot always tell until they dig. Signs that you probably do: ruts or dips where cars park, an existing surface that moves or cracks in a grid pattern, standing water after rain, or a driveway laid straight onto soil rather than stone.
Signs you may not: a sound concrete or well-laid tarmac base with no movement, being resurfaced rather than rebuilt. Be wary of a quote that is much cheaper than the others and does not mention the base at all, because that is usually what has been left out.
Drainage, and the rule most people have not heard of
Since 2008 a new or replacement driveway in England and Wales over five square metres has to deal with its own water, either by draining to a permeable surface or soakaway on your own land, or by having planning permission. Tarmac is not permeable, so a tarmac driveway needs somewhere for the water to go.
In practice that means a drainage channel to a soakaway, or falls set so water runs to a border or lawn rather than off the drive and down the road. It is not expensive to do properly and it is expensive to retrofit, so ask how the quote handles water before work starts.
Common questions
How much does a tarmac driveway cost in the UK?
About £40 to £65 per square metre supplied and laid, typically around £50, so a 50 square metre driveway is roughly £2,000 to £3,250. If the ground needs a new sub-base, add £25 to £45 per square metre. London runs about 30% above the UK average and the North, Scotland and Wales about 8% below.
How much is a tarmac driveway for a typical house?
A driveway of about 50 square metres, which fits two cars comfortably, costs roughly £2,000 to £3,250 laid over a sound base, or £3,250 to £5,500 if it needs excavating and a new sub-base. A single-car drive of around 25 square metres is £1,000 to £1,625 over a good base.
Is tarmac cheaper than block paving or resin?
Yes, tarmac is usually the cheapest of the three at £40 to £65 per square metre. Resin runs £40 to £70 and block paving £60 to £120. Tarmac is quick to lay and hard-wearing, but it is a single flat colour, it softens in very hot weather, and it does not have the kerb appeal of block or resin. On a long driveway the saving is significant; on a small front drive the difference is modest.
How long does a tarmac driveway last?
Fifteen to twenty years if the sub-base was done properly, considerably less if it was not. The usual failure is not the tarmac wearing out but the base moving underneath it, which shows as ruts where cars sit and cracking in a grid. Keeping the edges supported and clearing standing water helps; a driveway laid straight onto soil will fail whatever you do.
Do I need planning permission for a tarmac driveway?
Usually not for the driveway itself, but since 2008 a new or replacement driveway over five square metres in England and Wales must handle its own surface water, because tarmac is not permeable. That means draining to a soakaway or a permeable area on your own land, otherwise you do need permission. A dropped kerb to cross the pavement is a separate council application with its own fee.
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. These are independent Costwise guide prices, reviewed June 2026, not quotes and not a survey of real quotes. A real price depends on access, condition and what the job actually involves, so use this to sanity-check what you are told and always get three written quotes.