Decking cost London homeowners pay typically runs from £80 to £280 per square metre installed, depending almost entirely on three decisions: the material you pick, whether the deck is raised or split into levels, and how much groundwork the site needs before a single board goes down. Softwood sits at the affordable end; composite and hardwood push the figure higher. Get those three decisions right early and the rest of your budget falls into place.
TL;DR:
- Labour costs in London are typically 15% to 25% higher than the UK average due to higher day rates and overheads, significantly impacting total project costs.
- Ground preparation and waste removal often constitute the largest additional expenses, especially in uneven or sloped gardens requiring more extensive groundwork.
- Proper site surveys and detailed, fixed-price quotes that specify all elements are essential to avoid hidden costs and budget overruns on a decking project.
- Overestimating the influence of material prices alone is common; groundworks, labour, and waste disposal usually account for the majority of the final bill in London.
- Budgeting an extra 15% to 20% above initial quotes and ensuring groundworks are itemized helps homeowners avoid costly surprises at project completion.
Table of Contents
- Decking cost London homeowners should expect by material
- What decking actually costs by garden size
- Labour rates and why London costs more than the rest of the country
- Hidden costs that catch London homeowners out
- How to get a decking quote you can trust
- Why a local, insured installer matters for a London decking project
- The real budgeting mistake Londoners keep making
- Get a fixed-price decking quote for your London garden
- Sources
- FAQ
Decking cost London homeowners should expect by material
Material choice drives the biggest swing in your final bill, more than any other single factor. Treated softwood decking installed typically costs £80 to £140 per square metre, making it the standard choice for straightforward, ground-level gardens. Hardwood decking, using timbers like balau or ipe, runs to £140 to £220 per square metre installed, reflecting both pricier boards and the extra care needed to work them. Composite decking sits at the top, typically £180 to £280 per square metre installed, and London projects tend to land at the upper end of every one of these bands.
It helps to separate the boards themselves from the labour that puts them down. Pressure-treated softwood boards alone cost roughly £20 to £35 per square metre, while composite boards run £35 to £90 per square metre depending on the brand and profile. Labour then adds a further £150 to £250 per square metre on a typical installation, which is why materials rarely tell the whole story when you're comparing decking quotes London wide. A supplier quoting "from £25/m² boards" and a fitted-price quote of £220/m² aren't contradicting each other. They're simply describing different parts of the job.
Softwood, hardwood or composite: which lasts longer for less?
- Softwood needs re-staining or oiling roughly once a year to hold its colour and resist rot, which adds a recurring cost most homeowners underestimate.
- Hardwood weathers more slowly and needs less frequent treatment, but replacement boards cost more if one gets damaged.
- Composite decking costs more upfront but needs no staining, and that absence of annual maintenance tends to close the price gap over a 10 to 20-year span.
Pro Tip: If you're planning to stay in the property for more than a decade, run the maths on composite even if the upfront figure makes you wince. The saved weekends spent sanding and oiling add up faster than most people expect.
What decking actually costs by garden size
Per-square-metre figures only become useful once you turn them into a total project figure, because that's the number you'll actually be signing off. A small deck of 10 to 15m², typical for a townhouse garden or a raised platform off a kitchen extension, generally costs £1,200 to £3,300 in softwood and £2,700 to £4,200 in composite, once you include the frame and fixings. A medium deck of 20 to 30m² typically costs several thousand pounds for softwood and more for composite materials. Larger decks of 40m² or more, common in wider suburban gardens, generally cost several thousand pounds for softwood and significantly more for composite builds including extra features.
Raised decks and multi-level designs add complexity that the per-m² figure doesn't capture on its own. A split-level deck stepping down towards a lawn, for instance, effectively means building two smaller decks joined by a staircase, and pricing should reflect that.
Labour rates and why London costs more than the rest of the country
Decking installers and general landscapers working in London typically charge £250 to £400 per day, sitting at the top of the national range. On a straightforward two-person job, that translates into roughly £500 to £800 of labour per working day, which is usually where the bulk of your installed price actually goes rather than the timber itself.
Regional variation is significant enough that quotes gathered from national comparison sites can mislead London homeowners. Decking projects in the capital typically run 15% to 25% higher than the UK average, largely because day rates, congestion charges, parking restrictions and van access all push up overheads for installers working across boroughs. Labour, more than material choice, is the main reason regional prices diverge so much across the country, so if you're comparing a quote against a figure you've seen quoted for the Midlands or the North, add that premium before assuming you've been overcharged.
As a rough rule of thumb: take the national average for your chosen material and size, then add a fifth again for a London postcode. It won't be exact, but it stops you rejecting a fair quote because it looks high against a UK-wide average.
Hidden costs that catch London homeowners out
The biggest gap between what people budget and what they actually pay almost always sits below the boards. One common pattern sees homeowners budget £3,000 only to find the real figure closer to £5,000 once groundworks, a proper subframe and waste removal are all accounted for. Here's where that gap usually comes from:
- Ground preparation and foundations. Excavation, levelling, and a sub-base for a ground-level deck, or concrete pads and screw pile foundations for a raised one, are often the single largest labour item on the job. Sloped or uneven London gardens, particularly in period properties, frequently need more groundwork than a flat plot ever would.
- Waste removal and site access. Old decking, excavated soil and offcuts all need collecting and disposing of correctly, and narrow London terraces without side access can add further cost simply because materials and waste have to be carried through the house.
- Tree and root work. Roots running under a proposed deck footprint sometimes need addressing before you can dig foundations, and this is easy to miss until a survey uncovers it.
- Extras that aren't always in the base price. Balustrades typically add £50 to £100 per linear metre, steps run £150 to £400 depending on width and material, and integrated deck lighting adds anywhere from £200 upwards depending on the number of fittings.
Pro Tip: Ask every quote whether groundworks and waste disposal are included in the headline figure or priced separately. This single question resolves more budget disputes than anything else on a decking project.
How to get a decking quote you can trust
A fixed-price decking quote should read like a specification, not a guess. It needs to state the board type and grade, the joist spacing and subframe material, the foundation method, whether waste removal is included, the number of working days, and the total price with no vague allowances left open. If a quote is missing any of these, ask for it in writing before agreeing anything.
Worth asking directly:
- Does the height or footprint of this deck trigger planning permission or Building Regulations, and has that been checked against local council guidance?
- Planning rules can apply once a deck rises above a certain height or sits close to a boundary, so this isn't a question to skip even on a modest garden project.
- What treatment grade and fixings are specified, and are the fixings stainless steel or simply coated?
- Is there a written warranty on workmanship, and does it differ from any manufacturer warranty on the boards themselves?
Treat a quote that's noticeably cheaper than the rest with some caution rather than relief. It usually means something has been left out, whether that's proper foundations, decent fixings, or waste disposal, and it tends to surface as an unexpected extra once work has already started.
Why a local, insured installer matters for a London decking project
Choosing an installer who actually works across London day to day, rather than one travelling in from further afield, tends to produce a more accurate quote from the outset, because they already understand borough-specific access restrictions, typical soil conditions and realistic day rates. Lookdevisservices provides decking installation across Greater London as part of a wider hard landscaping offering, with quotes built around a site visit rather than a desk-based estimate.
Typical decking quotes cover the following:
- A site survey assessing ground condition, access and any structural considerations before pricing is confirmed
- Teams working to a fixed, itemised price rather than an open-ended estimate
- Waste removal handled through licensed disposal, rather than left for the homeowner to arrange separately
- Availability across residential and commercial properties, with scheduling that fits around your garden's condition and the season
Every project is assessed individually, since access, existing ground conditions and the scope of work all shape the final figure and timetable — which is why getting a professional topographic survey can be essential for accurate planning.
The real budgeting mistake Londoners keep making
Most decking advice fixates on the wrong number. Homeowners fixate on the per-square-metre board price because it's the figure suppliers advertise, then feel blindsided when the installed total comes in far higher. The board price was never the number that mattered. Groundworks, labour and waste removal usually account for more of the final bill than the timber or composite itself, and no amount of shopping around for cheaper boards changes that.
The conventional advice to "get three quotes and pick the middle one" also falls short in London specifically, because day rates vary so much by borough and by installer overheads that a middle-of-the-road quote isn't automatically a fair one. A better approach is to build in a contingency of around 15% to 20% above whatever figure you're quoted, ask each installer to itemise groundworks and waste separately, and treat any quote that skips those line items as incomplete rather than generous. For a raised or sloped garden, involving a proper site survey before pricing, rather than after, saves more money than negotiating on the headline number ever will.
— Roman
Get a fixed-price decking quote for your London garden
If you've read this far, you already know that decking costs London wide hinge on your specific garden rather than a single average figure, and that's exactly what a proper site visit is for. Lookdevisservices provides insured teams and licensed waste disposal as standard on decking and wider hard landscaping projects across Greater London, working to fixed, itemised quotes rather than vague estimates that grow once work begins.
Every quote follows a site survey covering ground condition, access and any structural requirements, so the price you're given at the start is the price you pay at the end, barring anything genuinely unforeseen once work is underway. If your garden also needs patio work, retaining walls or wider landscaping alongside the deck, this can be scoped and quoted as one coordinated project rather than several separate jobs. Get in touch for a free, no-obligation survey and a written quote for your decking project, and see exactly what's included before you commit to anything.
Sources
- Composite decking vs wood cost guide | Checkatrade
- Get a garden deck cost guide (2026) | BookaBuilderUK
- Composite & Timber decking calculator | GardenCalc UK
- Decking cost calculator UK 2026 | Costwise
FAQ
What is the average cost of decking in the UK?
UK decking typically costs £80 to £280 per square metre installed depending on material, with softwood at the lower end and composite at the top. London projects generally sit toward the higher end of these ranges due to labour costs.
What is the 30cm rule for decking?
Ground clearance rules vary by design and drainage needs, and there isn't one single universal figure that applies to every deck. Check with your installer or local council guidance for the specific clearance and any planning implications for your garden before finalising a design.
How much would a 20x20 deck cost?
A deck of that size falls within the larger project band. Expect a total typically in the higher thousands for softwood and significantly more for composite, once groundwork and labour are included.
How much does a 20m² deck cost?
A 20m² deck typically costs several thousand pounds for softwood and more for composite once installed, based on standard per-square-metre pricing. The final figure depends heavily on ground preparation needs and whether the design is raised or split-level.
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- Decking Installation London | Timber & Composite
- Landscaping Services London | Garden Design, Patios & Fencing
Prices, timescales and information provided in this article are for general guidance and may vary depending on the property, site conditions, materials and scope of work. Please contact LookDeVis Services for an individual assessment and quotation. Where regulatory, planning or legal requirements apply, appropriate professional advice should be obtained.