Garden Padel Courts: Private Home Courts, Designed, Approved and Built

Last updated October 2026

We build private padel courts in gardens and on country estates across the UK, and we handle the planning. Published figures put a fully installed home court at around £70,000, and the LTA’s 2025 figure for one floodlit court with its base is about £71,000 ex VAT and fees. You need a level space of about 22m by 12m. Expect several months from first visit to first game, most of it planning and kit lead time.

A garden court costs about the same as a club court: the base and the kit are the same build, whoever plays on it.

Garden padel court costs, one court, UK, £, published figures used for 2026

What you are paying for	Typical figure	Source
Court structure installed, with lights	£35,000	Installer quoted by Curchods Estate Agents, 2023
Court structure installed, without lights	About £33,500	Installer quoted by Curchods Estate Agents, 2023
Fully installed budget, base included	In the region of £70,000	Installer quoted by Curchods Estate Agents, 2023
One court with lights, base and drainage	About £71,000 ex VAT and fees	LTA guidance note, 2025
Outdoor standard court	£45,000 to £60,000	MyBuilder price guide, Aug 2026
Canopy over one court	About £95,000 ex VAT and fees	LTA guidance note, 2025

Typical published figures only. Your garden, access and ground decide the real price, which we confirm after a survey.

How much does a garden padel court cost?

Plan on about £70,000 for one outdoor court with a proper base and lights. That is the budget an installer gave Curchods Estate Agents for a fully installed home court, and it matches the LTA’s 2025 figure of about £71,000 for one floodlit court and base.

Lower figures you see online are usually for the court kit only. MyBuilder’s £45,000 to £60,000 for an outdoor standard court includes only £5,000 to £10,000 for foundations, far below the LTA’s £35,000 base line for one court. A home court needs the same concrete ring beam, drainage and porous asphalt as a club court, so the base costs much the same.

What moves a garden price most:

• Access. Narrow side gates mean smaller machines, more trips and sometimes a concrete pump, at £500 to £1,200 a day on published figures.
• Spoil. Soil dug out has to go somewhere. Carting it away is one of the costs an installer flags as hard to estimate.
• Slope. Sloping or soft ground adds £5,000 to £15,000, according to the UK Padel Guide.
• Glass. A panoramic padel court costs more than a semi-panoramic one with mesh sides.
• Planning reports. If a noise or lighting assessment is needed, we price it once we have seen the site.

How much space do I need for a padel court at home?

About 22m by 12m for one doubles court. The playing area is 20m by 10m, and the LTA’s enclosure for one court, including a 400mm ring beam, is 20.80m by 10.80m. The installer quoted by Curchods calls 22m by 12m “perfect”.

Planning lawyers at Nexa Law put the land needed at about 200 square metres, including run-off. Allow room for a path and machinery. If you want a canopy later, the LTA asks for at least 6m of clear height at the ends and 8m above the net, which matters if trees overhang the court.

Our padel court size and design page has layouts for one, two and more courts.

Do I need planning permission for a garden padel court?

Assume you do until your site has been checked. A garden court has glass and mesh walls 3 to 4 metres high, and lights normally need consent, so most need planning permission.

MyBuilder says outdoor courts “often need planning permission, especially in residential areas or where lighting is installed”. Nexa Law says outdoor padel courts “will almost always require full planning permission”. We have not found a primary source, such as the Planning Portal or the permitted development rules, that gives garden padel courts an allowance, so we never tell anyone their court is permitted development without checking.

Our planning team looks at your plot, the house, any conservation area or Green Belt designation, and how far the court sits from the neighbours, then tells you whether an application is needed and what the council is likely to ask for. Ask us about that first check, or read about our padel court planning permission service.

Will the neighbours hear a garden padel court?

They may, mainly from the open sides of the court. Planning officers look at how close homes are and which way the court faces.

MW Acoustics research, reported by The Padel Paper in September 2025, found padel about 12 dB louder at the side of the court than at the enclosed glass end. The LTA expects noise and light surveys if a home is within 50m, so measure the distance to the nearest neighbouring house first.

Distance decides a lot. Bath refused two club courts with homes 3.5m and 8.5m away; Alderley Edge approved two with a 3.2m acoustic barrier and the court 25m from the nearest home. In a garden, that means setting the court as far from neighbours as the plot allows, with a glass end, not an open side, facing the nearest house.

Our padel court noise assessment models this before the court position is fixed.

Can I have floodlights on a home padel court?

Yes, with planning permission. Floodlighting needs consent “regardless of height in most circumstances”, according to Nexa Law.

The LTA’s level for recreational play is an average of 300 lux, with fittings at least 6m above the court and tilt angles shown so glare can be judged. The UK Padel Guide puts LED lighting to LTA standard at £6,000 to £12,000 a court, and the LTA estimates LED running costs at about £1 an hour. Councils often attach conditions: at Henfield, Horsham District Council required lights to be on only when the court is in use. See our padel court lighting page.

Can I put a canopy over a garden padel court?

Yes, but it is a large structure and always needs planning approval, according to the LTA, and may need building control. The LTA’s 2025 figure for a one-court canopy, with its foundations and drainage, is about £95,000 ex VAT and fees.

Councils have refused canopies in the Green Belt, including a scheme in Barnet that was later approved once the canopies were removed. If you are in the Green Belt or a conservation area, an open court is the safer first application. Our padel court canopy page covers heights and designs.

How long does it take to build a padel court in a garden?

The court itself goes up in days once the base is ready, but the whole project takes months. An installer told The Spectator in 2023 that a basic court takes three or four days to erect on a finished base.

Stage	Typical time	Source
Planning decision (England, householder and other non-major applications)	8 weeks statutory period, longer if agreed	gov.uk
Court kit lead time	8 to 14 weeks	UK Padel Guide
Groundworks	3 to 5 weeks	UK Padel Guide
Court installation	About a week	UK Padel Guide

Your court is ordered after permission comes through, and the groundworks happen while it is being made. Our padel court base construction page explains the groundworks stage.

Single or doubles court: which suits a garden?

Choose doubles if the space allows: every LTA size and every price on this page is for a doubles court. A singles court is narrower, at 6m by 20m, according to FIP dimensions reported by Muckle LLP.

Singles saves about 4m of width on a long, narrow plot. No published source gives a reliable singles price, so we quote it from your site.

What’s included

• A planning check on your garden: whether permission is needed and what the council may ask for (ask us how this first check is priced)
• Survey of levels, access, ground and the route for machinery
• Planning application, with noise and lighting assessments from our consultants where needed
• Engineer-designed base, ring beam and drainage
• The court itself, its turf and LED lighting, supplied and fitted

What’s not included

• Landscaping around the court, paths and planting
• Upgrading your electricity supply, if the survey shows it is needed
• Canopy foundations and canopy, unless agreed in the scope
• A promise of approval: the council decides

Illustrative example

A worked illustration from the cost table on this page. Not a real customer.

A homeowner with a level lawn of 24m by 13m wants one floodlit doubles court. The budget starts from the LTA’s £71,000 for a court with lights and base, ex VAT and fees. Narrow side access adds a concrete pump for two days, at £1,000 to £2,400 on published day rates. The neighbouring house is within 50m, so a noise assessment goes in with the planning application. A canopy would add about £95,000 and is left for a later phase.

Who does the work

Padel Court Build is a SustainPlan Ltd service. From the first call we arrange the planning check and survey, then bring together our planning consultants, acoustic consultants, groundworks team and installers.

Often needed alongside

• Padel court size and design: will a court fit your garden
• Padel court cost: every build line priced
• Garden design around your court on our sister site: planting and paths that soften the court

FAQs

Can a padel court go on my existing patio or tennis court?

Only with a new concrete ring beam around it. A court weighs around 5 tonnes, according to one installer, and must be fixed into concrete rather than tarmac or paving.

Will a padel court add value to my house?

We do not make that claim. Estate agents have offered opinions, but there is no published evidence we would rely on.

Can I build the court first and apply for planning afterwards?

We advise against it. Courts built without permission have been stopped by enforcement and abatement notices in Harrogate and Sheffield.

Does a garden court need maintenance?

Yes: brushing, clearing leaves and checking drainage, following the LTA’s schedule. Turf on a lightly used home court lasts longer than on a busy club court.

Sources

• LTA Padel Court Construction Guidance Note 2025 and Data Sheet (read 17 Oct 2026)
• Curchods Estate Agents, 12 Oct 2023, quoting a padel court installer; The Spectator, 12 Apr 2023, quoting a padel court installer
• MyBuilder, 21 Aug 2026; UK Padel Guide, 13 Oct 2026; Nexa Law, 1 May 2026; Freeths LLP, 26 May 2026; Muckle LLP, 18 Feb 2026
• gov.uk “Determining a planning application”, updated 8 Apr 2026
• The Padel Paper, 11 Sep 2025 (MW Acoustics)
• BathNES minutes, ref 24/00607/FUL; alderleyedge.com, 27 Jun 2026; Horsham DC report DC/23/1177