New driveways in Stockton-on-Tees

What a new drive in Stockton usually involves

Stockton's housing tells you most of what a driveway job will involve. Around the older centre and in Oxbridge and Norton you find Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semis, many with small front yards and on-street parking. The inter-war semis that spread across Norton, Hartburn and Fairfield usually have a proper front garden and a strip down the side to a garage. The big post-war estates, from Roseworth and Hardwick in the 1950s to the private estates further west, were mostly built with a single drive that is now too narrow for a two-car household. Newer homes, including the rebuilt parts of Hardwick, often have block paving that has dipped where the bins and cars sit.

So a typical Stockton enquiry is one of four things:

• Turning a front lawn into parking, often with a new dropped kerb.
• Widening a single drive into a double so two cars fit side by side.
• Replacing a tired 1960s or 1970s concrete drive that has cracked or sunk.
• Lifting and re-laying settled block paving, or resurfacing over it.

Each of these needs a different amount of digging, a different base and, in some cases, a conversation with the council first. That is why a proper survey matters more than the brochure price per square metre.

What decides the price

We do not print a price per square metre, because national averages ignore what is under your drive. The surface sets part of the price: gravel is usually the lowest-cost, tarmac and block paving sit in the middle, and resin bound is usually the dearest. The rest comes from the area, the digging out, the sub-base depth on Stockton's clay, drainage and any dropped kerb. We measure up and give you a fixed quote, free and with no obligation.

What moves a Stockton price up or down is usually below the surface: breaking out old concrete, how much clay has to come out, whether a soakaway is needed, and whether the kerb has to be dropped. Our Stockton driveway cost guide goes through those extras one by one.

Choosing a surface

There is no single best surface. The right one depends on the look you want, the budget and how water will drain off the drive.

• Resin bound gives a smooth, modern finish and lets rain soak through, so it sits easily within the front-garden drainage rule.
• Block paving is the most common drive on Stockton's estates. It is easy to repair and extend, and permeable blocks are available.
• Tarmac is quick to lay and good value on larger or longer drives.
• Gravel is the cheapest per square metre and drains freely, but it needs edging and an apron at the pavement.

If you are torn between two, the cost guide compares them side by side, and our page on permeable driveways and the front-garden rule explains why drainage can decide it for you.

Council rules that catch people out

Two sets of rules apply, and both are run by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

Dropped kerbs. If your car has to cross the pavement, you need a proper driveway crossing. The council's own page sets out two routes: apply for the council to quote and build it, or use a private contractor who must first get an Opening Up licence. Putting ramps or materials in the street instead is not allowed. Our dropped kerbs page and the guide to council or private crossings explain both routes.

Planning. Since October 2008, more than five square metres of hard surface in a front garden that drains onto the road needs planning permission. Permeable surfaces, or a drive that drains into your own garden, avoid that. In parts of the Norton and Hartburn conservation areas, Article 4 directions go further, so new hard surfaces and changes to front walls need permission whatever they are made of. See the guide to driveways in conservation areas.

Common questions