Cheapest driveway options

JuzaMum

We are considering selling our house and want it to be as appealing as possible. We have a messy, overgrown front garden which would be more desirable as parking (parking is hard to find). We already have a drive for one car next to it and the drop kerb extends enough to not need enlarging. What would be the cheapest option to have it as a parking space? It is not level and will be on a slight slope due to living on a hill. tia

Albermarle

JuzaMum said:

We are considering selling our house and want it to be as appealing as possible. We have a messy, overgrown front garden which would be more desirable as parking (parking is hard to find). We already have a drive for one car next to it and the drop kerb extends enough to not need enlarging. What would be the cheapest option to have it as a parking space? It is not level and will be on a slight slope due to living on a hill. tia

Whatever top layer you choose, there will need to be substantial digging and then suitable sublayers laid down. Otherwise it will sink with the weight of a vehicle on it.
So the choice of the top finish will only be a part of the cost.
Presumably will have to anyway match your current drive, or it will look odd.  

FreeBear

Albermarle said:

JuzaMum said:

We are considering selling our house and want it to be as appealing as possible. We have a messy, overgrown front garden which would be more desirable as parking (parking is hard to find). We already have a drive for one car next to it and the drop kerb extends enough to not need enlarging. What would be the cheapest option to have it as a parking space? It is not level and will be on a slight slope due to living on a hill. tia

Whatever top layer you choose, there will need to be substantial digging and then suitable sublayers laid down. Otherwise it will sink with the weight of a vehicle on it.
So the choice of the top finish will only be a part of the cost.
Presumably will have to anyway match your current drive, or it will look odd.  

Dug down to a depth of ~250mm, then 150mm of hardcore put in and compacted. 50mm of compacted sharp sand on top to give a solid base. To finish, either gravel grids filled with a suitable aggregate, or paving blocks. If you were to go for concrete (including slabs) or tarmac, anything over 5m² would need planning permission. You also need to consider if a linear drain needs to be installed to prevent rain water running off in to the road. If one is needed, more expense to dig a suitably sized soakaway. None of this work is going to be cheap.

One last option is resin bound aggregate, but this requires even more preparation, and so cost.

A quick & cheap way to tart up is to spread a geotextile over the area and cover with ~25mm of gravel. Purely decorative, and no where near solid enough to park vehicles on. Local cats will also see it as a giant kitty litter tray.

TELLIT01

You may also need to check with your local council about (a) whether they will allow the parking area to be extended and (b) what material they will accept if the work is permitted.

Albermarle

Another point is that not everyone is in favour of paving over front gardens.
So although it will attract some buyers, some will prefer the garden left as it is, albeit tidied up a bit.
We had the same problem with our front garden, and we did what Freebear suggested.
Dug out all the old overgrown plants and weeds. Geo textile and gravel over it.
Centre feature and just some large pots.
Cost about a thousand quid all in ( paid for some help) and looks fine and very low maintenance.

TELLIT01

My thoughts pretty much match with those of @Albermarle.  The OP may think it would be better suited to additional parking but that doesn't mean potential purchasers will think the same.  I wouldn't even spend the money on textile and weed.  I would tidy it up as best I could and leave it at that.

Bookworm105

the cheapest option will, of course, be to put down a permeable surface covering 

will that add value?
very unlikely since it will look cheap 

theoretica

If you could easily do the work, couldn't the buyers do it equally easily?  So get the area tidied and call it potential parking.

Ksw3

I wish we only had one space, I'd love some garden back. I'd leave it to buyers to sort it to fit their needs. 

Cheslea2010

100mm of compacted Type 1 for the sub base followed by 50mm of gravel to finish. Cheap and functional and a very quick transformation.

Albermarle

TELLIT01 said:

My thoughts pretty much match with those of @Albermarle.  The OP may think it would be better suited to additional parking but that doesn't mean potential purchasers will think the same.  I wouldn't even spend the money on textile and weed.  I would tidy it up as best I could and leave it at that.

Another point that would put me off, is that I would not want to sit in my front room, and all I could see was a car parked right in front of the window.