Driveways and patios in Stevenage
Block paving, resin, tarmac and patios across Stevenage, from the Old Town and Bedwell to Broadwater, Chells and Great Ashby. Pick your job on the price card for a guide figure in 10 seconds.
What are you looking to have done?
Two quick questions and you'll see a guide price.
Which surface for your driveway?
Not sure? Pick the closest; Tom talks through the options on the survey.
Block paving: roughly what size?
A typical two-car drive is 40 to 50 m². A guess is fine; the free survey measures it properly.
Guide price
Pick a surface
Guide range. Larger areas come in lower per m²; the free survey fixes the price in writing.
Our typical rates per square metre
- Block paving: around £130
- Tumbled paving: around £150
- Resin bound: around £200
- Tarmac: around £130
- Imprinted concrete: around £130
- Gravel: priced on the phone
- Indian sandstone: around £180
- Porcelain: around £200
We lay driveways and patios across Stevenage: block paving, resin bound, tarmac, imprinted concrete and gravel drives, Indian sandstone and porcelain patios, and garden landscaping, from the Old Town, Bedwell and Broadwater to Shephall, Chells, Pin Green, Symonds Green and Great Ashby.
We're based in Colchester, about 60 miles away by the A120 and the A602, and we come out to Stevenage to measure up and quote in person. The price goes in writing before anything is dug up, and the guarantees are the same wherever we work: 10 years in writing on block paving, resin and patios, 5 years on tarmac and gravel.
Every drive goes down on a compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base with proper edges and drainage falls. See what's different about a drive in Stevenage further down, including the council-owned grass in front of many homes.
Driveways, patios and gardens across Stevenage
Eight services, one team. Every job in Stevenage starts with a free survey and a written quote, and every installation carries a written guarantee.
Block paving
10-year written guarantee
Herringbone, basketweave or stretcher bond on a compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base, with concrete-haunched edges and a soldier-course border. Standard or tumbled blocks.
Block paving
Resin driveways
10-year written guarantee
Resin bound only, never bonded. UV-stable resin and natural aggregate hand-trowelled to 18mm over a solid base. Walk on it after 24 hours, park on it after 48.
Resin driveways
Patios
10-year written guarantee
Indian sandstone, porcelain, tumbled block paving or granite setts on a compacted hardcore base and semi-dry mortar bed, with falls away from the house. Steps and raised beds too.
Patios
Tarmac driveways
5-year written guarantee
Hot-mix asphalt laid as a binder course then a wearing course over MOT Type 1, with drainage falls and a block paving border if you want one. Usually done in one to two days.
Tarmac driveways
Imprinted concrete
Written guarantee
Pattern-imprinted concrete driveways and paths, poured in one piece and stamped in your pattern and colour, then sealed. No joints for weeds to take hold in.
Imprinted concrete
Gravel driveways
5-year written guarantee
Gravel held in a cellular grid over a weed membrane, so it stays off the road and drains properly. Pea gravel, slate chips or Cotswold stone with timber, brick or granite edging.
Gravel driveways
Cleaning and resealing
Priced on the survey
Block paving and patios pressure cleaned, re-sanded and resealed. Tarmac drives recoloured and resealed. The cheap way to make an old drive look new again.
Cleaning and resealing
Landscaping
Project guarantee
Paths, walls, steps, drainage, turf, artificial grass, sleeper raised beds, planting, fencing and decking. One team from clearance to the finished garden.
Landscaping
What's different about a drive in Stevenage
A New Town planned when one family in ten had a car, with council land in front of many homes. Here's what's worth knowing before you plan a drive.
From our yard to yours
From Colchester to Stevenage on the A120: About 60 miles · about 80 minutes without traffic, by the A120, the A10 and the A602
Stevenage was the first New Town, designated in 1946, and the Development Corporation built more than 20,000 homes between 1951 and 1980 in neighbourhoods round the old hamlets: Bedwell first, then Broadwater, Shephall, Chells and Pin Green. The town's museum puts the parking problem plainly: when the planners drew Stevenage only one family in ten owned a car, today four in five do, and "parking and garages were always in short supply and still are today". In Broadwater the council notes cars parked on grass verges "causing considerable damage".
Under most of the town the chalk is capped with boulder clay, except for a strip of open chalk running south from Chesfield Park to the Fairlands Valley at Bedwell. The borough's flood study starts from a presumption in favour of drainage that soaks into the ground, and Hertfordshire County Council says water from a drive must not run onto the road, so we'd normally lay resin bound or permeable block paving, which let the rain through across the whole drive.
Good to know in Stevenage
- Council land in front of the house
- The grass between many Stevenage front gardens and the road belongs to the borough council. To park across it you need to buy that strip through the council's Land Sales team (there's a waiting list), get planning permission for a change of use, then the county's dropped kerb. Council tenants need the council's written permission for any drive.
- Dropped kerbs: the county council builds them
- Only Hertfordshire County Council's own contractor can lower a kerb: £139 to apply, a decision within 8 weeks, and the space must be at least 5 m deep and 2.7 m wide. It won't approve a crossing over a large area of amenity grass, and off the A602, A1072 or A1155 you'll normally need planning permission.
- Boulder clay over chalk
- Most estates sit on boulder clay over the chalk, which drains more slowly; the open chalk down the Fairlands Valley drains freely. The British Geological Survey maps much of the east of the town as probably suitable for soakage, but we'd test the ground first.
- No water onto the road
- Hertfordshire County Council says it is an offence to let water from a drive run onto the pavement or road. Its surface-water plan names hotspots including Matthews Close and Rectory Lane, Bragbury Lane, and Kymswell Road in Shephall, which flooded in 2014 and 2015.
Places we cover in and around Stevenage
Not listed? Call 01438 870485 and ask.
Old TownSG1 3
The coaching town on the Great North Road: the High Street, the late-Victorian villas of Orchard Road and the large houses round Rectory Lane.
- Three conservation areas: Old Town High Street (1969), St Nicholas and Rectory Lane (1982) and Orchard Road (2007).
- The Orchard Road plan notes boundary walls taken out for parking, especially along Julians Road.
BedwellSG1 1
The first New Town neighbourhood, built in 1952 and 1953; the first New Town house, off Sish Lane, was finished in 1951.
- No conservation area covers Bedwell's homes.
- The open chalk runs down the Fairlands Valley here, where the ground drains more freely.
BroadwaterSG2 8
Begun in 1953, in terraces of six to ten houses with long back gardens; some of the first were Wimpey no-fines homes.
- The Broadwater (Marymead) conservation area (2007) is the best surviving New Town neighbourhood, with Radburn housing and its original garages.
- Its plan notes front gardens turned into drives, most of all on Spring Drive, where the gardens slope.
ShephallSG2 9
Built from 1953 to 1955 round the old hamlet: Leaves Spring, Half Hyde and Bandley Hill.
- Shephall Green, with its 14th-century church, cottages and wide verges, has been a conservation area since 1973.
- Kymswell Road flooded on 19 September 2014, two homes inside, and again in July 2015.
ChellsSG2 0
Begun in 1958 at Peascott Spring; Chells Manor followed after the Development Corporation was wound up in 1980.
- No conservation area covers Chells.
Pin GreenSG1 5
Begun in 1962 and re-planned for 22,000 people, with short cul-de-sacs off the through roads.
- No conservation area covers Pin Green.
- Parts were laid out Radburn-style, with footpaths and green space at the front and cars reaching the houses from service roads and garage courts behind.
Symonds GreenSG1 2
Nursery land given over to housing in the 1966 Master Plan; the first houses were finished by 1974.
- The old hamlet round the common is a conservation area (1977).
- The council says most homes here have enough parking within their own boundaries.
Great AshbySG1 6
Newer housing on the north-east edge, named in the 1990s; about 2,200 homes.
- Planning is North Hertfordshire District Council; the kerb is still Hertfordshire County Council.
Recent work from our own team
Eight jobs from our own photos. Every one was laid by our team.
Block paving
Charcoal herringbone, buff chevron border
Resin driveways
Silver resin bound drive, charcoal edging
Patios
Grey block patio with steps
Block paving
Charcoal herringbone, curved border
Resin driveways
Golden resin, red brick border
Landscaping
Resin patio and artificial grass
Block paving
Interlocking diamond pattern in charcoal pavers
Block paving
Herringbone with drainage channel
Block paving, resin, tarmac, patios and landscaping, before and after.
What customers say
Verbatim from our Google listings. Names as they appear on the review.
4.9 from 30 Google reviews5.0 from 90 on Yell5.0 from 16 on Facebook
Scott
April 2025 · Driveway
Highly recommend First 4 Driveways. Done a fantastic job on my driveway. Site was left spotless and the guys on site were brilliant. Polite and punctual and worth every penny! Top work!
charlie willis-foreman
April 2025 · Porcelain patio
Just had these boys round to do my porcalin slabs in my garden and if I could I'd give these boys 6 stars , most friendly and hard working boys I've ever set eyes on. Also these boys smashed out breaking my concrete base for my shed and re concreted within the day.
Jake Talbot
March 2024 · Driveway
Tom came to quote for a new driveway, found him very friendly and approachable. We went ahead and the end result was superb. Hard working guys. Fully recommend.
Why Stevenage homeowners choose First4Driveways
What customers mention in their reviews, and what we put in writing.
Quoted in person
We come out to measure up and talk it through, and the price goes in writing before anything is dug up.
Guarantees in writing
10 years on block paving, resin and patios, 5 on tarmac and gravel, handed over with the job.
Built on a proper base
Compacted MOT Type 1, proper edges and drainage falls under every drive.
Insured, tidy, on time
Public liability cover on every job. Reviewers mention sites left spotless and work done when promised.
Stevenage questions
Straight answers for homeowners in Stevenage.
Do you cover all of Stevenage?
Yes: every neighbourhood, from the Old Town, Bedwell, Broadwater and Shephall to Chells, Pin Green, Symonds Green, St Nicholas, Poplars and Great Ashby, and out to Knebworth. Not listed? Call and ask.
Can I park on the grass in front of my house in Stevenage?
Only once it's yours. That strip is often council amenity land: you'd need to buy it through the borough council's Land Sales team, get planning permission for a change of use, then apply to the county for the kerb. In 2021 the council made one owner remove a parking space built partly on its land; it was only 3.1 m deep, and the council said a space must be at least 6 m deep by 3 m wide. If you rent from the council, you need its written permission for any drive.
Who lowers the kerb for a new drive in Stevenage?
Only Hertfordshire County Council, with its own approved contractor. You apply (£139 for the assessment), it decides within 8 weeks, and the works follow 12 to 14 weeks after you pay. The drive has to be built first, so we lay it to the county's rules before they come. If council land sits between your garden and the road, you need the landowner's approval first.
Do I need planning permission for a new drive in Stevenage?
Not usually for the drive itself: there's no Article 4 direction on homes in Stevenage, and paving more than 5 m² of a front garden needs permission only if the water runs onto the road. You do need it to turn council land into garden, for a new access onto a classified road such as the A602, A1072 or A1155, and for some work in the seven conservation areas.
How much does a new driveway cost in Stevenage?
The same as anywhere we work: around £130 per m² for block paving or tarmac, around £200 for resin bound, and larger areas come in lower per m². The price card gives you a guide in seconds.
Which driveway suits Stevenage best?
For most homes, resin bound or permeable block paving: both let the rain soak through, which suits the borough's preference for drainage into the ground and Hertfordshire's rule that water can't run onto the road. Tarmac and imprinted concrete need falls to a border or a drain.
Other areas we cover
Based in Colchester, working across Essex and Hertfordshire. These towns have their own pages.
Colchester
Our base. Every service, across the town and the villages around it.
Our base
Chelmsford
Block paving, resin driveways and patios across Chelmsford. Free survey and written quote.
Driveways in Chelmsford
Braintree
About 16 miles from our Colchester base. Driveways, patios and landscaping with the same written guarantee.
Driveways in Braintree
Harlow
Block paving, resin driveways and patios across Harlow and Old Harlow. Free survey and written quote.
Driveways in Harlow
Hertford
Driveways, patios and landscaping across Hertford, Ware and the Hertfordshire villages around them.
Driveways in Hertford
St Albans
Block paving, resin driveways and patios across St Albans, Harpenden and the villages. Free survey and written quote.
Driveways in St Albans
Bishop's Stortford
About 36 miles from our Colchester base along the A120. Driveways, patios and landscaping with the same written guarantee.
Driveways in Bishop's Stortford
Southend
Block paving, resin driveways and patios from Leigh-on-Sea to Shoeburyness. Free survey and written quote.
Driveways in Southend
Brentwood
About 37 miles down the A12. Driveways and patios across Brentwood, Shenfield, Hutton and Ingatestone.
Driveways in Brentwood
Cambridge
Driveways, patios and landscaping across Cambridge and its villages, with the same written guarantee.
Driveways in Cambridge
Also covering: Witham, Clacton-on-Sea, Maldon, Halstead, Basildon, Billericay, Wickford, Rayleigh, Saffron Walden, Burnham-on-Crouch and the villages between. Not listed? Call and ask.
Get a free quote
Let's talk about your drive or patio
First4Driveways is a family-run business based in Colchester. Tom comes out to quote every job in person, talks through the options and materials, and puts the price in writing before anything is dug up. Block paving, resin and patios carry a written 10-year workmanship guarantee; tarmac and gravel carry five years.
- Free survey and a written quote
- Written guarantee on every job
- Fully insured, public liability cover
- Family-run, based in Colchester
Need to talk now?
Call Tom directly
Start your free quote
Tell us about the drive or garden and we'll arrange a free survey.