How Much Does a Dropped Kerb Cost?
Updated: Oct 9
A new dropped kerb in the UK costs around £1,800 on average for labour and materials, according to Checkatrade's cost guide, or around £1,100 to widen an existing one, and it says extras can take the final bill to around £2,500. On top of the building work you pay your council's fees, which in our area run from about £160 to several hundred pounds. Moving a lamp post, a tree or a utility box can add more than the kerb itself.
What you are actually paying for
A dropped kerb has two separate bills, and many quotes only show one of them.
The council's fees: an inspection or application fee, plus licences for working on the highway. These are set by each council and are usually non-refundable, even if the answer is no.
The construction: breaking out the existing kerbs and pavement, laying dropped and tapered kerbs on a concrete bed, and rebuilding the footway behind them to take vehicle loads, all to the council's specification.
Who builds it depends on the council. In Sandwell, the council inspects and then gives you a fixed quotation, and only the council or its appointed contractors do the work. In Wolverhampton, the council approves the crossing and you appoint an accredited contractor, who must apply to the council for a licence before starting. Either way, no one else can legally dig up the pavement, and our guide on how to get a dropped kerb walks through the application step by step. The drive behind the crossing is a private job, and that is the part we build for homeowners getting new driveways in Wolverhampton, driveways in West Bromwich and across the Black Country.
Council fees: Wolverhampton and Sandwell examples
Fees vary so much that a national average is not much use, so here are two neighbouring councils' published figures.
City of Wolverhampton Council lists:
£160 non-refundable inspection fee for a highway technician to assess the frontage
£415 (VAT free) for the section 171 licence to excavate, the "Permit to Dig" your contractor applies for once the crossing is approved. This is the figure in the council's fee list and its October 2026 application pack; a separate FAQ line further down the same page says £335, so confirm it on the council's dropped kerbs page when you apply
£52.50 for a licence to store materials on the highway, and £52.50 for a licence for tree works
£100 for a road safety audit if the crossing would be within 10m of a junction and there is no other option
extra charges if the technician has to come back
Sandwell Council charges a £250 non-refundable fee for the site visit and quotation, and says a typical standard crossing (two taper kerbs and three flat kerbs) on a 1.8m wide footpath is generally in the region of £1,600. It is clear that wider footpaths and verges, traffic management, weekend-only working, moving street furniture and adjusting utility boxes can all increase that significantly.
If planning permission is needed as well, for example because the house is on an A, B or C road, there is a planning application fee on top.
Typical construction prices by number of kerbs
Checkatrade's ballpark averages (tables last updated May 2024) for labour and materials are split into two lists. For a new access:
5 kerbs: around £1,400
6 kerbs: around £1,500
7 kerbs: around £1,600
8 kerbs: around £1,900
9 kerbs: around £2,100
For widening an existing access:
2 kerbs: around £900
3 kerbs: around £1,000
4 kerbs: around £1,200
A standard crossing in both Wolverhampton and Sandwell is five kerbs: three flat ones across the opening and a tapered kerb at each end. Wolverhampton will not usually approve a crossing longer than seven kerbs, so the bigger figures above may not be an option there whatever your budget. Checkatrade also quotes a typical installer day rate of around £300.
Treat these as rough guides from a national cost site, not quotes. Regional labour rates and each council's specification move them, and they date from 2024, so current prices may be higher.
What pushes the cost up
The kerbs themselves are often the cheaper part. These are the items that can double the bill.
Street furniture. In Wolverhampton, lamp posts and signs can only be moved by the council, at a fixed price. Checkatrade gives averages of about £1,200 to move a lamp post, £350 for an unlit sign and £1,000 for a lit one.
Utility apparatus. Kerbs cannot be dropped over telegraph poles, cabinets or inspection covers. You deal with and pay the utility company directly. Checkatrade's examples run from about £38 for a stop valve or meter box to about £2,100 for BT or cable TV box work.
Trees. Wolverhampton wants a gap of four times the trunk circumference between a highway tree and the crossing. If a healthy tree has to go, you pay for removal and a replacement where the council asks for one.
Wide footways and verges. More pavement or grass verge to rebuild means more digging, more concrete and more surfacing.
Traffic management. Busy roads may need signals or out-of-hours working.
Extra width. Each kerb added beyond the standard five adds cost, and widening an existing crossing still triggers the inspection fee.
The bit nobody includes: the driveway behind it
A dropped kerb is no use without a hard standing to park on, and that is usually the bigger number. The council will also expect the drive to be built so water does not run onto the pavement, and a front garden over 5 square metres has to be permeable or drain to a lawn or border unless you get planning permission.
So the real budget is three lines: council fees, the crossing, and the drive. Our guide to what a new driveway costs covers the third, including dig-out, sub-base, edging and drainage. A permeable finish such as the resin drives we lay can avoid the cost of a separate soakaway on the drive itself.
We do not build crossings on the public highway. We lay the drive behind them and set the levels so the drive meets the back of the new crossing cleanly. Councils generally prefer the drive to be laid before the crossing, so the new kerbs are not damaged by the works.
How to compare dropped kerb quotes
Ask each contractor to break the price into the same lines, so you are comparing like with like.
Are they accredited and insured to work on the highway with your council, and will they apply for the Permit to Dig?
Is the licence fee included or extra?
How many kerbs, including tapers, and to what specification?
Does the price include rebuilding the full footway depth, any verge, and making good to the existing pavement?
Is waste removal included?
Is anything excluded, such as utility work or traffic management?
A quote that is far below the others usually leaves one of these out. An unapproved crossing can be removed by the council at the occupier's expense, which is the most expensive outcome of all.
Dropped kerb cost questions, answered
Is the inspection fee refunded if I am refused?
Not in Wolverhampton or Sandwell. Both say their fees are non-refundable, so check the frontage criteria (depth, width, trees, visibility) before you apply.
Can the council make me pay for a crossing?
Under section 184 of the Highways Act 1980, if vehicles habitually cross a kerb with no crossing, the council can serve notice and build one, then recover its reasonable costs from the owner or occupier.
Is there financial help?
Some councils help disabled residents. Wolverhampton refers people to its Independent Living service about assistance with a footway crossing.
If you want the driveway priced alongside your crossing, we can visit, measure up and give you a free quote for the drive, so you have the full picture before applying.
