Padel Courts for Councils and Schools

Last updated October 2026

We design and build padel courts for councils, leisure trusts, schools, colleges and universities across the UK, including conversions of underused tennis courts, and our planning team handles the application, with noise and lighting reports from our consultants. A single outdoor floodlit court comes to about £71,000 ex VAT and fees on the LTA’s 2025 table. Once the base is ready, each court takes about a week to install, so most of the site work can fit a school holiday.

Public and school projects on record run from one court to six, and the LTA’s own figures give a reliable starting budget for each size.

Padel court costs for councils and schools, UK, £ ex VAT and fees, 2025 to 2026 (covered two-court figure is our sum of LTA lines)

Project	Cost	Source
1 outdoor floodlit court, court and base	£71,000	LTA 2025
2 outdoor floodlit courts	£148,000	LTA 2025
2 covered courts (courts plus canopy)	£318,000	LTA 2025 lines, our sum
4 outdoor floodlit courts	£268,000	LTA 2025
6 courts from tennis conversions at two leisure centres, Hounslow	£950,000 capital	London Borough of Hounslow, Jan 2026

Treat these as typical budgets. We confirm the cost for your site after a survey.

What does a council padel project cost?

Roughly £71,000 per outdoor floodlit court on the LTA’s 2025 figures, before canopies, fees and VAT. Hounslow Council approved £950,000 on 20 January 2026 for six courts at Hanworth and Isleworth leisure centres, projecting £1.4 million of extra income over four years, with Lampton Leisure running them from spring or summer 2027.

Should we convert underused tennis courts to padel?

Yes, where the tennis courts are underused, and a padel court needs only a third of the space of a tennis court, according to the LTA. Hounslow is turning two of its four tennis courts at each leisure centre into three padel courts, after tennis occupancy fell 27% against pre-pandemic levels. Sunderland City Council approved four covered padel courts on four tennis courts at Silksworth on 28 September 2026, run by Everyone Active, with daytime hours only.

The old tennis base still needs a survey, because padel needs a ring beam; see convert tennis court to padel for what can be reused.

Run it, lease it or tender it: which operator model suits a council?

Councils on record use four models, and each changes who pays for the build:

• Council builds, operator runs: Hounslow funds the capital and Lampton Leisure runs the courts. South Ribble Council has agreed investment for three courts at South Ribble Tennis Centre (April 2026).
• Council leases land, developer builds and runs: Coventry City Council is leasing land at War Memorial Park and Longford Park to a developer who will build and run the courts (October 2025).
• Council tenders for an operator: Sefton Council sought a developer and operator to convert tennis courts in Southport, Crosby and Formby (January 2025).
• Private funding on council land: Colchester’s five courts at Leisure World are funded privately by Padel United UK.

We build for whoever holds the contract: council, leisure trust or operator.

Does Sport England need to be consulted?

Yes, where playing fields are affected, Sport England is a statutory consultee. Applicants show local need and underuse, as Hounslow’s 27% figure does.

York refused two courts at Dunnington Sports Club over playing field loss and Green Belt (April 2026). At Henfield, Sport England raised no objection.

Can a school use padel courts for PE and community lettings?

Yes. Exeter School won planning permission in July 2026 for two open-air courts that pupils use in the day and the community can hire in the evenings and at weekends.

Evening lettings need floodlights at the LTA’s 300 lux level for school play, and lights need consent, so include them in the first application; see padel court lighting.

Can the build fit the school holidays?

Yes, if planning and ordering are done first. Installation takes about a week per court once the base is down, and groundworks take 3 to 5 weeks per phase, according to the UK Padel Guide, which also gives 8 to 14 weeks for court kit lead time. In England the council has 8 weeks to decide a non-major planning application, or 13 weeks for major development (gov.uk).

For a summer build, that puts the application and the court order in spring. We plan backwards from your term dates.

How should a council or school procure a padel build?

Get itemised quotes. The LTA recommends SAPCA-registered contractors where possible, with the asphalt base laid to clause 2.14 of the SAPCA Code of Practice, a 10-year court warranty and at least 5 years on component corrosion. Ask every bidder to price the same lines, including planning: the LTA notes it is usually excluded from contractor quotes, so a cheaper quote may simply be missing it.

Is there funding for council and school padel courts?

Some, mostly through the LTA. Its Facility Loan Scheme lends at 5% fixed interest to properly constituted not-for-profit bodies, prioritises covered courts, asks for at least three quotes, and offers a discretionary 50% reduction in IMD deciles 1 to 4 (LTA loan scheme page, read October 2026). That is a different arrangement from the one at Aberdeen Tennis Centre, where LTA news from May 2023 reports two padel courts built with an interest-free LTA loan to Sport Aberdeen. The LTA also reports £3 million of government money for covered courts in 2026/27; see padel court funding.

What planning conditions do councils attach?

Hours and lighting conditions are the usual ones. Sunderland limited Silksworth to daytime use. Horsham approved Henfield’s covered courts with play from 07:00 to 21:30 on weekdays and 08:00 to 17:00 at weekends, and lights only on when the courts are in use. The noise and lighting reports from our consultants are written to meet those tests; see padel court planning permission.

What’s included

• Site check, layout and tennis court survey
• Pre-app advice, the application and every report the council asks for, with noise and lighting from our noise and lighting consultants
• Groundworks to the LTA specification
• Courts, turf and floodlights to the LTA standard you choose
• An itemised quote with VAT shown separately, for your procurement file
• A programme planned around term dates or leisure centre bookings

What’s not included

• Council planning and building control fees
• Operator services, court booking systems or staffing
• Electrical supply upgrades by the network operator

Illustrative example

Uses only the LTA 2025 lines in our cost table. Not a real council or school.

A school builds two outdoor floodlit padel courts for about £148,000 ex VAT and fees. It then sets aside £3,000 a year, the LTA’s £1,500 per court sinking fund, for resurfacing and lamps.

Who does the work

Padel Court Build is a SustainPlan Ltd service. The bursar, head of PE and facilities manager all deal with one team. That team includes our planning consultants, our acoustic consultants and our installers.

Often needed alongside

• Convert tennis court to padel: reusing a tennis court footprint
• Padel court funding: LTA loans and public money
• Padel court cost: the full price breakdown
• For MUGA and tennis court surfacing on the same site, our sister surfacing site covers schools and councils

FAQs

Can the LTA Facility Loan Scheme pay for a council project?

It lends to properly constituted not-for-profit bodies, not to individuals or companies limited by shares. Check your own body’s status with the LTA.

Do you work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Yes. We build for councils and schools across the UK.

Sources

• Cost table, lighting standards, warranty, sinking fund: LTA Padel Court Construction Guidance Note 2025 and LTA Padel Court Data Sheet (read 17 Oct 2026)
• Planning excluded from most contractors’ quotations: LTA Padel Court Construction Guidance Note 2025 (read 17 Oct 2026)
• Hounslow: hounslow.gov.uk news 10159 (read 17 Oct 2026)
• Sunderland: Sunderland Echo, 28 Sep 2026; Exeter School: exeterschool.org.uk, 17 Jul 2026
• Sefton, Coventry, South Ribble, Colchester: council news pages (read 17 Oct 2026)
• York: YorkMix, 1 Apr 2026; Henfield: Horsham DC report DC/23/1177
• Sport England consultee role: NJL Consulting (secondary)
• Funding: LTA Facility Loan Scheme page, read 17 Oct 2026 (5% rate, eligibility); LTA news, 31 May 2023 (Aberdeen interest-free loan); LTA Padel news, 15 May 2026 (£3 million)
• Timings: UK Padel Guide, 13 Oct 2026 (secondary); gov.uk, Determining a planning application, updated 8 Apr 2026 (decision periods, England)