How to hire
Match the firm to the job first. A paving contractor lays block paving, flags, tarmac, resin and gravel drives, plus patios, paths, edging, repairs and cleaning. Landscaping-led firms suit a drive or patio inside a bigger garden job, while surfacing specialists suit large tarmac areas and commercial work. When you first enquire, say which surface you want, the rough size in metres, and whether the old surfacing must come up.
Know the drainage rule before you choose a surface. A new or replacement front drive of any size needs no planning permission if it uses permeable surfacing such as gravel, permeable block paving or porous asphalt, or if rainwater runs to a lawn or border to drain naturally [4]. Above five square metres, a traditional impermeable drive with nowhere for the water to go needs planning permission [4]. Where permission has been restricted, check with Telford and Wrekin planning before anyone digs.
Sort the dropped kerb before you book the drive. Driving over the pavement to reach your property needs a vehicle access approved by Telford and Wrekin Council, whether the access is new or an existing one widened [5]. Only the property owner can apply, with a tenant needing the landlord's written consent, and planning permission must be in place before any inspection [5]. The council looks for around six metres of hardstanding so no vehicle overhangs the footpath, and the application fee is £273 [5].
Check the heritage position if your home sits in one of the borough's older pockets. Telford and Wrekin has eight conservation areas, including Wellington, the Severn Gorge and Wrockwardine, with extra controls on demolition, walls, fences and trees [10]. The Gorge itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with an Article 4 Direction giving further control over minor changes [10] [11]. Households inside it can book a free half-hour planning surgery, and anyone unsure can use the pre-application advice route before inviting quotes [13].
The borough's housing shapes the practical side of the job. Older streets around Wellington, Dawley and Madeley and the lanes around Ironbridge often bring tight access, shared drives and boundary walls, while newer estates around Lawley tend to offer open frontages with easier runs for lorries. Sloping ground near the Gorge's steep valley sides complicates falls and drainage [11]. Describe your access, parking and where materials could sit before a firm prices, since shifting spoil by barrow takes far longer than loading at an open drive.
Check competence before you book. Paving has no Gas Safe-style licence, so look for voluntary proof instead. Type the business name into the Marshalls register of accredited garden and driveway installers, which lists vetted members you can search by area [1]. Run the same name through the TrustMark find-a-tradesperson search [2] and read its Checkatrade profile for how long it has been listed and what reviewers actually say [3]. Ask for public liability insurance details and one recent local job you could view from the pavement.
Agree where the spoil goes. Digging out an old drive produces soil, broken concrete and hardcore by the load, and whoever carries it away needs registered waste carrier status. Type the business name into the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers before work starts [6]. A proper quote names muck-away and skip hire as line items rather than burying them, and the finished job should leave your street, paths and drains clear.
A typical job runs enquiry, visit, written quote, booking, dig and base, laying, then sign-off. Expect the firm to visit or study photos and measurements before pricing, then to agree dates, hours and where plant and spoil will sit. Good crews explain the base build-up before covering it and keep the street clear. If heavy rain or hard frost lands mid-job, expect a pause rather than rushed laying, since both can spoil the bed beneath [12].
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same measured scope, separating labour, materials, muck-away and VAT so you compare like with like [9]. Each quote should state the excavation depth and sub-base build-up, the exact product and colour, how falls and drainage satisfy the permeable-surface rule, edging and making-good, start and finish dates, and payment stages. A deposit for materials is normal, while full payment before completion is not. Treat an outlier as a question rather than a bargain.
On the day, ask the crew to photograph the excavated base and the sub-base layers before the surface goes down. Those photos are your proof of the build-up if blocks settle or water ponds later. At the end, collect the itemised invoice, the written guarantee stating its length and exactly what it covers, and any product paperwork, then file them with your house papers. If the finish holds water or anything feels rushed, pause the job and ask for it put right before you pay the balance.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough ranges run like this: a new driveway typically costs between £60 and £120 per square metre including materials and labour, with gravel near £60, tarmac near £90, concrete near £95, block paving near £100 and resin-bound near £120 [7]. On a typical fifty-square-metre two-car drive that means around £5,000 in block paving or £6,000 in resin, against £3,000 in gravel [7]. Labour alone usually runs £30–£50 per square metre [7].
Patios price by the square metre too, from around £65 for plain concrete to £475 for high-end flagstone [8]. Budget paving slabs sit near £70–£100 per square metre laid and brick near £80–£140, while a new patio of any size usually starts around £1,700 before extras [8]. Labour runs near £280 a day for one tradesperson, and a typical twenty-square-metre patio takes three to four days to lay [8].
Groundwork moves the price most: digging out, a new sub-base, drainage to meet the permeable-surface rule, edging, steps and making-good all add labour and materials [7]. Access matters as well — a back garden with no side entry costs more in barrowing time than an open front drive. Extras such as gates, lighting and planting sit outside the paving quote unless the firm states otherwise. On patios, steps, retaining edges and changes of level add the most, while on drives it is the dig-out depth, drainage runs and making good around garages and gates that shift the total.
Smaller jobs price differently from full replacements. Repairs to a settled corner, a relay of lifted courses or a clean-and-reseal of blocks usually come as day-rate labour plus materials rather than a square-metre rate, so the firm's minimum charge matters more than any published range [8]. Ask whether sealing is included or extra and what preparation it covers, since jet-washing alone and a full clean, re-sand and seal are different jobs at different prices.
Ask whether VAT sits on top of the headline figure, since published ranges may exclude it [7] [8]. Firms in this round publish almost no example rates, so treat any single fixed price for a large job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer. Get the scope in writing before work starts — the exact area, product, base depth, drainage, guarantee, and what changes the price if the dig throws up worse ground than expected.
Red flags
Quotes a full driveway without visiting or asking for photos and measurements of the area.
Cannot give a waste carrier number you can check yourself on the Environment Agency register [6].
Starts digging before the dropped kerb approval is sorted where the drive meets the pavement [5].
Lays an impermeable front drive above five square metres with no drainage plan and no mention of planning permission [4].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [9].
Gives one fixed price for a large job with no breakdown of labour, materials and VAT [7].
Will not put the scope, base build-up and guarantee length in writing before lifting a tool.
Starts work with no agreed start and finish dates in writing.
Cannot name the exact product or supplier behind the quoted surface.