Rough quote for new driveway

HeBelial

I am looking to buy a house but it’s on a busy road and will need a drive way putting in. A few of the neighbours have already done it. I have attached pictures so you can see and an AI photo of what it might look like once done - the front garden is elevated and would need excavating and a retaining wall put in. The stair case to the left is already there (although AI has changed it a bit). Before I agree to buy the house does anyone know what sort of price am I looking at? I’m in south wales if it makes a difference. I’m not super bothered about the paving that’s done. Any help much appreciated

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6662984/rough-quote-for-new-driveway

You need to check whether the depth of the parking spaces will be enough to meet the council's requirements - this property is closer to the road than the near neighbour which already has a driveway. The closer you get to the house with the rear retaining wall the more substantial the finished wall needs to be, and the more complicated the construction.

You'll probably need planning consent, as well as permission from the highway authority for a dropped kerb. The retaining walls will likely need a structural engineer to design them.

I doubt it would cost less than £50k, and I wouldn't be surprised if quotes came back in excess of £100k by the time you've finished.

Lorian

Is there already a dropped kerb.

What is between the proposed parking space and the road. Just the pavement?

Is it near a junction or any sort of street furniture?

Gonk1967

You'll also have to consider drainage. You're changing a large lawned area into a hardstanding area which will need draining. You will have to consider permeable paving. Also know that the highway authority will not allow water from a private driveway to be discharged onto the public highway.

HeBelial

I appreciate you guys taking the time to reply, thankyou

it’s a residential road, there’s not a drop curb yet but neighbours have done similar and dropped their curb.
There’s telephones poles nearby but not over any of this properties land - there’s one in the middle of the front garden of neighbour one side. Otherwise just houses and cars about. A school round the corner (hence the need for a driveway).

There’s a farmers field at the back and one of the other neighbours said when they built new houses at the end of the road, his garden began to flood with water off the farmers field. However this house and the others by it didn’t have this problem.

HeBelial

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952511#Comment_81952511

here is a photo from the top of the stairs, there’s a front patio that we would plan on keeping (sorry it’s not better they’re estate agent photos). It is quite set back from the road, just as much as the one a few doors down - I take you found it online?

HeBelial

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952767#Comment_81952767

WIAWSNB

S62's estimates are eye-watering, but he'll know what he's talking about.

If the estimated £50-100k cost is a deal-breaker for you and this house, then you've got now't to lose by knocking on a couple of neighbour's doors, and ask who did it for them, and ballpark costs.

Also no harm in calling up a couple of reputable local builders for their thoughts - should be a 5-minute 'ballpark' figure task.

You could even message a couple with your two photos. Try and provide an actual dimension for the height reduction - the height of that front wall, plus some? And depth and width of area.

soolin

Also check whether your council will allow any further dropped kerbs before you commit to anything. There's been quite a lot of discussion locally to me on various neighbourhood groups about our council (nowhere near Wales) not allowing further dropped curbs partly due to 'green' issues where car use is not seen as a priority any more. Even people with neighbours who have established dropped curbs are being refused for various reasons, including traffic flow, over concreting of local areas. aesthetics etc. The costs can vary just for the permissions and work for the curb as well, locally people who have been allowed to have one installed and paying around £3000 for the permissions and work.

We've always had a drive and a dropped curb, but 20 years ago we had to apply to further pave the rest of our front garden, we had to accept that a small part be left uncovered and that our builders set in proper and adequate drainage for the rest.

If the parking is a necessity for you it might be worth asking around, or even looking at various neighbourhood groups to see if dropped curbs are still generally being allowed.

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952767#Comment_81952767

The facade of the one a couple of doors down is set back about 2m more from the road than the one you are looking at, plus the curve of the road away from the house gives a bit more extra depth to the front garden. I'd say they have roughly 10m from the back of the footway to the front of the house.

A big difference is that those two are newbuilds - they were required to put the parking in as part of the consent, and providing a driveway as part of a newbuild is cheaper than doing so for an existing dwelling. In fact much of the excavation needed to build their driveways was necessary to be able to construct the houses.

In your case the distance from the back of the footway to the front face of the upper retaining wall looks less than 4.8m, so to meet the council's minimum parking space size requirements you'll probably need the rear wall to be closer to the house. Therefore the height of the retaining wall you'd need is from road level to the upper patio level - I'd guess in the 2 to 3m range, which if built close to the foundations of houses is not a minor building project.

There's also a possibility of a surface water sewer running through the front garden area. If so, then that may need diverting, which is unlikely to cost less than a five-figure sum on its own.