The UK's Most Popular Driveway Surface — Expertly Installed
Prices from £70/m²
100% FREE quote & AI garden designBlock paving is the a widely installed driveway surface across Leicester and Leicestershire — hard-wearing, fully repairable and available in a huge range of colours and patterns. Premium Landscapes installs block paving driveways across Leicester and the surrounding areas, using only quality block paving products on a properly engineered sub-base.
A widely used pattern for driveways — interlocking at 45° or 90°, herringbone distributes vehicle load evenly across the surface and is structurally stable. Classic look, suits all property types.
A traditional square pattern that suits period and cottage-style homes. Pairs of blocks alternate direction to create a woven effect. Slightly less structural than herringbone but visually distinctive.
A clean, contemporary running bond pattern — similar to brickwork — that suits modern properties. Ideal for combining with porcelain or resin bound sections for a premium finish.
Combining block sizes and colours for a more natural, textured appearance. Popular for larger driveways where visual interest is as important as function.
We supply block paving in a wide range of colours to complement your home:
We'll bring samples to your site survey so you can compare options against your property's brickwork and existing finishes before committing.
| Project Size | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Small (up to 30m²) | £2,100 – £3,900 |
| Medium (30–60m²) | £3,900 – £7,500 |
| Large (60m²+) | £7,500+ |
All prices include excavation, compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base, concrete haunching edging, block paving installation and kiln-dried sand jointing. Kerb drops, drainage channels and gates are quoted separately.
Step 1 — Excavation: Existing surface and topsoil removed to 200–250mm depth. All waste taken from site.
Step 2 — Sub-base: Compacted MOT Type 1 hardcore laid at 150mm depth — the most important part of any block paving job. Get this wrong and the surface will sink, spread or crack within a few years.
Step 3 — Edge Restraints: Concrete haunching is laid along all perimeter edges before any blocks go down. This stops the surface spreading over time, which is the most common cause of block paving failure.
Step 4 — Sand Bed: A 25–40mm screed of sharp sand is laid and levelled as a bed for the blocks.
Step 5 — Block Laying: Blocks are laid to your chosen pattern, cut precisely at edges and perimeters. Each row is checked for level as it progresses.
Step 6 — Compaction & Jointing: The surface is compacted with a plate compactor, kiln-dried sand is brushed into the joints and the surface is compacted again. All waste and surplus material removed before handover.
Leicestershire's clay-heavy ground conditions make proper sub-base preparation especially critical. Block paving installed over a compacted hardcore sub-base is one of the most resilient surfaces available in the UK climate — it handles vehicle loading, freeze-thaw cycles and the wet Midlands winters without cracking or lifting. And because individual blocks can be lifted and relaid, any future utility work under the driveway doesn't require a full surface replacement.
We've installed block paving driveways across Leicester — from compact single-car drives on terraced streets in Clarendon Park to wide multi-car driveways on detached properties in Oadby, Wigston and Birstall.
Leicester's housing stock creates specific block paving conditions that most contractors don't plan for. The city has a high proportion of Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, and new-build estates — all with different driveway challenges.
Typically have clay subsoils under original Tarmac or concrete. Excavation depth needs to be a minimum of 200mm to get below the frost line. Skimping on depth here causes settling within 2–3 years. We always excavate and install a proper MOT Type 1 sub-base.
Often have previous block paving that's sunk or shifted. We inspect the existing sub-base before quoting — if it's sound, we can relay on top; if it's failed, it's a full dig-out. We'll tell you upfront.
Builders compact topsoil that shrinks over 5–10 years. Block paving on builder-compacted ground sinks at the edges. We install edging restraints and use vibrating plate compaction on every job.
Since 2008, any front garden driveway over 5m² using an impermeable surface in England requires planning permission — unless you use a permeable alternative. Leicester City Council enforces this.
Block paving can be installed in a permeable style (with open-jointed setts and a free-draining sub-base) that meets SUDS requirements without planning. We design all block paving driveways to comply — your quote will specify whether your job needs permeable laying or not.
Leicestershire gets roughly 600mm of rain a year. This keeps block paving clean but does encourage moss and algae growth in shaded areas, particularly north-facing driveways. We recommend:
We offer annual maintenance cleans — ask when we quote.
Both are popular in Leicestershire. Block paving typically costs £70–£110/m² installed; resin bound typically £85–£130/m². The practical difference: block paving can be easily lifted and relaid if services need accessing underneath — useful for older Leicester terraces where drains and service pipes aren't always mapped accurately. Resin is monolithic and requires cutting to access anything underneath.
For period homes in conservation areas of Leicester (Stoneygate, Clarendon Park, Knighton), block paving in a traditional style is more likely to be accepted by the council than resin or tarmac.
Extending a drive or repairing a sunken section means matching what's already down. Marshalls and Brett blocks laid in the last ten years can usually be matched closely, but older blocks often fade with UV and weathering, so a brand-new block beside a fifteen-year-old one rarely looks identical. We bring physical samples to site before you commit and, where an exact match isn't possible, suggest a complementary border or contrasting course so the finished drive looks designed rather than patched.
A standard domestic driveway of 40–60m² typically takes 2–3 days from excavation through to final compaction and jointing. Drives that need a full sub-base replacement, extra drainage, or awkward access usually run to 4–5 days. We give you a realistic day count in your written quote rather than an optimistic guess, so you can plan vehicle access and deliveries around the work.
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