Driveway guide
How much does a resin driveway cost?
How much does a resin driveway cost in the UK?
Roughly £70–£120 per square metre laid over a sound existing tarmac or concrete base, so about £2,800–£4,800 for a typical 40m² two-car drive. Starting from bare ground the base has to be built first, which pushes it to about £110–£170 per square metre, or £4,400–£6,800. Ground conditions and access move both figures.
Resin bound is the one surface where the price of the drive has almost nothing to do with the price of the surface. What decides your quote is whether there is already something underneath capable of carrying a car.
What does resin cost per square metre?
| Situation | £/m² | Typical 40m² drive | Time on site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over sound tarmac | £70–£95 | £2,800–£3,800 | 1 day |
| Over sound concrete | £75–£100 | £3,000–£4,000 | 1–2 days |
| New permeable base + resin | £110–£170 | £4,400–£6,800 | 4–6 days |
| Over block paving | Not advised | — | — |
Why is resin so much dearer from scratch?
Because resin bound is a 15–18mm wearing course, not a structure. It carries almost no load itself. On a bare plot you are paying for a full driveway build — excavation, spoil disposal, membrane, sub-base, edging and a bound base course — and then paying for resin on top of it.
That is why an existing sound drive is worth so much. Skipping excavation and disposal alone typically saves £400–£900 on a domestic job, and it removes several days of labour.
Are resin driveways expensive compared with block paving?
Over an existing base, resin is usually the cheaper job. From bare ground, block paving is normally cheaper than resin and can be lifted and relaid later, which resin cannot.
So the honest comparison is not surface against surface, it is whole job against whole job. Our block paving versus resin comparison sets both out side by side.
How long does a resin driveway last?
Fifteen years and more on a properly prepared base, with a UV-stable resin holding its colour. The yellowing seen on some older resin drives comes from cheaper non-UV-stable systems, which are still on the market — worth asking which you are being quoted for.
It needs no jointing sand topping up and no resealing, so ongoing cost is close to nil. It does stain more readily than block paving, particularly on pale aggregate blends.
Are resin driveways permeable?
The surface is porous, but a driveway only drains if the layers beneath it drain too. Laid over solid concrete with no outlet, you have a permeable surface on an impermeable driveway, and the front-garden planning rules still apply.
Over an open-graded permeable base the whole build-up drains and no planning application is needed. On clay that base has to be designed to store water and release it slowly, which is a real cost line — see driveway drainage.
Can resin be laid in the rain?
No. Resin bound needs a dry base and a dry window above roughly 5°C and rising. Laying it damp traps moisture and causes blowing and delamination later.
In practice that makes November to February an unreliable installation window in the UK. An installer who moves your date because of the forecast is doing the right thing; one who lays regardless is creating a permanent problem to protect a booking.
What moves a quote up or down?
- The existing surface
The single biggest factor. Sound tarmac is the best case by a wide margin.
- Access
A plot a machine and a grab lorry can reach is cheaper than one where everything is barrowed through a side gate.
- Ground conditions
Only relevant if a new base is needed — on clay, expect a deeper dig and a designed drainage layer.
- Aggregate blend
A real but minor factor. Pale blends show marks more; very dark blends get hot in sun.
Written and reviewed by the PaveLocal team. We build and specify driveways across Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. Pricing and specification guidance on this page reflects what these jobs cost and involve in this region, not a national average.