Last updated October 2026
Councils are granting padel courts on temporary permissions: up to 10 years in Croydon, five in Sheffield and Liverpool, and to May 2028 in Newcastle. If you have a vacant plot, car park or empty warehouse waiting for redevelopment, we check the planning route, prepare the application and build the courts. One floodlit outdoor court with its base costs about £71,000 (LTA 2025).
Councils across England have granted padel for a fixed term on city sites that have other long-term plans.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Council | Site | Courts | Length of permission | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Croydon Council | 1-5 Addiscombe Road, East Croydon: former Royal Mail delivery office, unused since 2015 | 9 enclosed courts in six temporary structures | Up to 10 years | Not dated in source |
| Sheffield City Council | Parkway Close warehouse | 14 indoor courts | Five years | February 2026 |
| Liverpool City Council | Princes Dock, Liverpool Waters, ref 25F/0460 | 3 floating courts and a clubhouse pontoon | Five years | July 2025 |
| Newcastle City Council | Unused plot at Stephenson Quarter, near Central Station | 3 outdoor floodlit courts | To May 2028 | June 2025 |
Your site and lease decide what is possible; we confirm the route after a survey.
Can padel courts be built on a temporary planning permission?
Yes. All four councils in the table granted padel for a fixed period on sites with other long-term plans. Newcastle said its courts were “not considered suitable as a permanent option for the site” but would bring short-term public benefits for city centre leisure and wellbeing.
A temporary permission is still a full planning application. Noise, lighting, parking and the other usual tests apply: Sheffield’s five-year scheme still had to provide 96 parking spaces before opening. Our planning team prepares the padel court planning permission application with the same reports as a permanent scheme.
Which sites suit temporary padel courts?
Sites that are empty now but held for a future scheme: cleared plots, car parks, vacant warehouses and even water space. Croydon’s courts sit on the site of a demolished delivery office designated for a mixed-use development with a hotel, offices and housing. Liverpool’s float in a dock.
What makes a site work:
- a level area of about 20.80m by 10.80m per court, or 20.80m by 45.3m for four (LTA footprints)
- a power supply for floodlights
- distance from homes, or a layout that keeps the open sides of the courts away from them
- access for deliveries and players, and parking where the council asks for it
- a lease or licence that runs at least as long as the permission you are seeking
How it works
- 01Tell us where you are up toSite, drawings and any council letters.
- 02Planning routePre-app, the reports and the application.
- 03BuildBase, courts and lights to the approved layout.
What does a temporary padel court cost?
On LTA 2025 figures, one floodlit outdoor court costs about £71,000, made up of about £36,000 for the court with lights and £35,000 for the base, ring beam, ducting and drainage. Four courts come to about £268,000, all ex VAT and fees.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Courts | Courts with lights | Base, ring beam, ducting and drainage | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £36,000 | £35,000 | £71,000 |
| 2 | £70,000 | £78,000 | £148,000 |
| 4 | £128,000 | £140,000 | £268,000 |
On a fixed-term site, the base is the cost to watch: it is close to half the total, and it stays in the ground. Where an existing hard surface can be used, the UK Padel Guide puts groundworks at around £15,000 per court on level, free-draining ground, with lifting old tarmac adding £2,000 to £5,000. We look at what the site already has before pricing. The price for your plot is confirmed after we survey it.
Does Biodiversity Net Gain apply to a temporary permission?
In England, not if the permission is for five years or less. For applications submitted on or after 6 August 2026, development permitted for five years or less is exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain, and so is any site of 0.2 hectares (2,000 square metres) or less, according to the Planning Portal. Earlier temporary permissions for the same development count towards the five years, and neither exemption applies where priority habitats are affected.
Two points follow. A ten-year permission like Croydon’s would not fall under the temporary exemption. And a small scheme of up to four courts may fall under the size exemption anyway, since four enclosures take about 942 m2; the red line boundary is what counts, and we measure it at the site check.
What happens at the end of the permission?
The permission sets the end date, and your conditions say what must follow. Croydon’s runs for up to 10 years and Newcastle’s to May 2028; neither source says what happens to the courts afterwards, so the detail is in each decision notice. We read the conditions with you before you sign anything, so the lease, the payback period and the permission line up.
Staying on means going back to the council. Plan the business on the period you have been granted.
Why do councils say yes to temporary padel?
Because the courts bring use to a site that would otherwise sit empty, and councils have said so. Croydon Council’s announcement listed free sessions for local schools, taster sessions for youth groups and free community hours each year. Newcastle pointed to city centre leisure and health benefits.
An application that shows clear community benefit and a firm end date gives the council a reason to approve. We write both into the planning case.
Is a temporary padel site a good investment?
It can be, if the courts earn back their cost within the permission. That is why the base cost and the length of the permission matter so much more on a temporary site than a permanent one. We give you the build cost and the planning route; the business case is yours to test, and our padel club business plan guide sets out the published figures to start from.
What’s included
- A site check: footprint, ground, power, access and distance to homes
- Advice on the length of permission to ask for and how it fits your lease
- The planning application, with noise and lighting assessments from our consultants, and parking where needed
- Groundworks, court supply and installation, and floodlights
- Ask us about discharging the planning conditions once approved
What’s not included
- Lease, licence or landlord negotiations
- Electricity supply upgrades, quoted separately after survey
- Removal and site restoration at the end of the permission, quoted when the time comes or up front if you prefer
- Clubhouse, changing or food and drink units, unless added to your quote
Illustrative example
Built only from the price tables on this page. No real developer or plot.
A developer holds a cleared plot for three years before construction. Two floodlit courts cost about £148,000 on LTA figures, of which about £78,000 is the base. Because the plot already has a level hard surface, our team tests whether the existing ground can reduce that base cost before pricing. A three-year permission sits inside the five-year BNG exemption for temporary development in England, and the application asks for daytime and evening hours set against the distance to the nearest homes.
Who does the work
Padel Court Build is a SustainPlan Ltd service. On a temporary site our planning consultants secure the fixed-term permission and our installers handle the groundworks, courts and lights.
Often needed alongside
- Padel courts for hotels and developers: padel in development schemes and empty units
- Indoor padel court cost: temporary courts inside vacant warehouses
- Padel court cost: the full build price guide
FAQs
How long can a temporary padel permission last?
The permissions we have found run from about three years (Newcastle, to May 2028) to up to 10 years (Croydon).
Do temporary courts still need noise and lighting reports?
Yes, where homes are close. The LTA’s 50 metre trigger for noise and light surveys applies whatever the length of the permission.
Can courts go inside an empty warehouse on a temporary basis?
Yes. Sheffield approved 14 indoor courts in a Parkway Close warehouse for five years.
Can courts float?
Liverpool approved three floating courts with a clubhouse pontoon at Princes Dock in 2025, on a five-year permission. It is unusual, but it has been done.
Is a pop-up padel court cheaper than a permanent one?
The court itself costs the same; the saving, if any, comes from reusing an existing hard surface instead of building a full new base.
Can a temporary scheme include a clubhouse?
Yes. Croydon’s permission includes a building with changing rooms, toilets, a shop and a bar, plus four food and drink containers, and Liverpool’s includes a clubhouse pontoon.
Sources
- Croydon Council news: Addiscombe Road padel permission (checked 17 Oct 2026)
- Sheffield Star, 9 Feb 2026 (Parkway Close)
- Place North West, 30 July 2025 (Liverpool Princes Dock)
- Place North East, 3 June 2025 (Newcastle Stephenson Quarter)
- Planning Portal blog, Changes to Biodiversity Net Gain exemptions in 2026, 24 July 2026
- LTA Padel Court Construction Guidance Note 2025: costs, footprints, 50m survey trigger (checked 17 Oct 2026)
- UK Padel Guide, 13 Oct 2026: groundworks costs