Tarmac Driveway Cost: UK Prices per m² and Resurfacing

Tarmac driveway cost per m²

A tarmac driveway costs around £90 per m² including materials and labour, and the tarmac materials alone come to around £50 per m², on Checkatrade’s figures.

Checkatrade’s tarmac driveway cost guide puts an average price on each part of the job, from the excavation to the skip.

Item	Unit	Average price
Excavation and disposal	Per m²	£28
Sub-base	Per m²	£23
Tarmac, materials and labour	Per m²	£90
Labour, team of 2	Day rate	£400
Skip hire	Weekend charge	£165
Mini digger	Daily hire	£250

On Checkatrade’s figures in its general driveway cost guide, tarmac costs £50 per m² for the material and £40 per m² for installation, £90 per m² in total.

For an asphalt driveway, Checkatrade’s driveway paving cost guide gives £70 to £110 per m², with an average of £90, excluding VAT.

Tarmac driveway cost by size

Checkatrade’s tarmac guide prices a tarmac driveway at three sizes, with a two-car drive of 50m² at around £4,500.

Drive size	Tarmac driveway cost
Single drive, 20m²	Around £2,200
Two-car drive, 50m²	Around £4,500
Large drive, 100m²	Around £7,000

Besides size, the price moves with the condition and existing material of the drive you have now, extras such as decorative edging, a dropped kerb, a gate or landscaping, and location, Checkatrade says, with prices higher in London and big cities and often lower in the north.

Laying foundations can add around £1,000, the same guide says, though they are not always needed when you resurface existing tarmac.

Tarmac driveway resurfacing cost

Resurfacing a solid tarmac drive costs around £50 per m² for materials plus around £150 to £200 per person per day, and most companies send two people, so budget around £400 a day in labour, on Checkatrade’s figures.

Resurfacing means rolling new layers over the existing tarmac, Checkatrade’s tarmac guide says, though a new drive lasts longer.

Tarmac vs other driveway surfaces

Tarmac costs less per m² than concrete, block paving or resin bound, while gravel is cheaper still, on Checkatrade’s figures.

Driveway surface	Price per m²
Gravel	£60
Tarmac	£90
Concrete	£95
Block paving	£100
Resin bound	£120

Gravel is slightly cheaper and easier to install, but tarmac is more hard-wearing, Checkatrade’s tarmac guide says. Against block paving, tarmac is less decorative but saves time on upkeep.

Drainage and planning for a tarmac driveway

Tarmac is not naturally permeable, Checkatrade’s tarmac guide says. The same guide says the ground should ideally slope away from the house, and where it cannot, drainage channels must direct surface water away from the home.

The Planning Portal names porous asphalt among the permeable surfaces a driveway can use without planning permission, while a traditional impermeable driveway covering more than five square metres needs permission unless the water can run to a permeable area. Porous asphalt should be provided and laid by a specialist company, the government’s guidance on permeable front gardens says.

How long a tarmac driveway takes to lay

Checkatrade’s tarmac guide gives these laying times, and a dropped kerb or landscaping adds to them.

Drive size	Time to lay
Single drive, 20m²	1 to 2 days
50m²	2 to 3 days to prepare and install, including excavation, drainage and foundations
Around 80m²	4 to 5 days

If your car will cross the pavement to reach the drive, you need a dropped kerb, arranged through Nottingham City Council or Nottinghamshire County Council depending on your address.

A new asphalt driveway can take as long as 12 months to fully cure, though you can generally use it after around five days, Checkatrade’s new driveway checklist says, so ask the contractor how long to leave it.

Tarmac driveway lifespan, pros and cons

A tarmac driveway lasts up to around 15 years, Checkatrade’s tarmac driveway cost guide says.

Checkatrade’s general driveway cost guide gives a tarmac driveway around 10 to 20 years. It calls tarmac good value, uniform in finish, fairly low maintenance and good on slopes, though its finish depends heavily on the installation, it offers fewer design choices and it can look plain on large areas.

Checkatrade’s tarmac guide lists these benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits	Drawbacks
Resilient to heavy traffic and weather	Can soften in extreme heat
Low maintenance	Fewer decorative options
Relatively cheap	Can look overly uniform in large areas
Uniform	Relies on good installation
Works on slopes and flat surfaces	Not naturally permeable

Getting a quote for a tarmac driveway

Equipment hire and the size of the drive both affect the price, Checkatrade’s tarmac guide says, and telling the company about the driveway’s condition in advance avoids additional fees. Think about any landscaping before you hire.

Ask for the excavation and disposal, the sub-base, the tarmac, the edging and any plant hire as separate lines on the quote, so you can see what the price covers and what it leaves out.

CP Driveways in Clifton, one of the Nottingham driveway companies we rank, has worked with tarmac and asphalt across Nottingham for 20 years and lays its tarmac driveways on a prepared sub-base with correct drainage falls, with all the work done by its own team. SG Landscaping in Gedling and Duffield Construction in West Bridgford also lay tarmac driveways, and Domestic Resin Paving in Kimberley lays tarmacadam driveways.