A single padel court in Britain costs roughly £45,000 to £80,000 installed. The court structure itself is only about half of that — the rest is groundworks, drainage, lighting and the things nobody quotes for until the site survey.
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The headline ranges
| What | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Court structure only, delivered, no groundworks | £28,000–35,000 |
| Single outdoor court, fully installed | £45,000–80,000 |
| Single indoor court, excluding the building | £60,000–80,000 |
| Two courts, shared groundworks | £90,000–140,000 |
| A small club, 4 courts with a building | £500,000–1,500,000+ |
The spread inside each range is not vendor margin — it is site condition. A flat, drained, accessible car park at the back of an existing tennis club sits at the bottom. A sloping field with no power and no access sits at the top, and can exceed it.
Where the money actually goes
| Item | Share of a typical outdoor build | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Groundworks and base | 25–35% | Excavation, sub-base, reinforced concrete or porous macadam slab. The single biggest variable and the one that ruins budgets. |
| Court structure | 35–45% | Galvanised steel frame, 10 or 12 mm tempered glass, mesh panels, net and posts. |
| Surface | 8–12% | Artificial turf and silica sand infill, plus a shock pad if specified. |
| Lighting | 8–15% | LED columns, cabling and a supply. Minimum 300 lux for club play; more for competition. |
| Drainage | 5–10% | Non-negotiable in Britain. A court that ponds is a court nobody books. |
| Fees and permissions | 2–5% | Planning, surveys, structural sign-off. |
The four costs that get missed
- Planning permission. A padel court is a 4-metre-high structure with floodlights. In Britain that is a planning application, not permitted development, on almost any site — and noise is the objection that comes back. Budget time as well as money.
- Power supply. Floodlights need a supply the site may not have. A new connection from the network operator can add five figures on its own and takes months.
- Access. The frame arrives on an articulated lorry and the glass arrives on a crane’s schedule. Sites you cannot reach cost more before anything is built.
- The building, for indoor. The £60,000–80,000 indoor figure is the court, not the roof over it. A steel-frame or canopy structure over two courts is a separate project of comparable size.
None of that is a reason not to build. Britain went from a handful of courts to hundreds inside five years, and the demand is documented rather than speculative — the picture is in padel in the UK.
Indoor versus outdoor in a British climate
| Outdoor | Indoor | |
|---|---|---|
| Build cost | Lower | Higher, plus the structure |
| Usable hours | Weather-dependent | Year-round |
| Height needed | 6 m clearance | 8 m recommended |
| Maintenance | Sand top-ups, moss, drainage | Less surface wear, more lighting |
| Revenue per court | Lower in winter | Flat across the year |
British operators overwhelmingly build indoor or covered where the budget allows, for the obvious reason: a court that cannot be used from November to February earns nothing for a third of the year. The playing differences between the two are in indoor vs outdoor padel.
What a court earns
The arithmetic that no installer’s page includes, at British club prices:
| Assumption | Figure |
|---|---|
| Court hire, peak | £32–44/hour |
| Court hire, off-peak | £20–28/hour |
| Realistic utilisation, established club | 35–55% of available hours |
| Gross revenue per court, per year | £30,000–55,000 |
| Simple payback on a £65,000 court | 2–4 years, before operating costs |
Those are gross figures on an established site with existing members. A new venue takes one to two years to reach that utilisation, and the operating costs — staff, electricity for floodlights, resurfacing every five to eight years, insurance — are real. Treat the payback figure as an upper bound, not a plan.
Ongoing costs
- Sand top-up and brushing: a few hundred pounds a year, more if the court is under trees.
- Resurfacing the turf: every five to eight years at club usage. Budget £6,000–10,000 a court.
- Glass replacement: tempered panels break rarely but they do break. Keep one spare on site.
- Floodlighting: the running cost that surprises people. LED helps, but a court lit for six hours a day through a British winter is a meaningful electricity line.
Should a tennis club convert a court?
This is the decision most British clubs are actually making, and the numbers favour it. A doubles tennis court plus its run-off comfortably fits two padel courts, and two padel courts take a booking from eight players where the tennis court took two or four.
The measurements that make that work — 20 × 10 m of playing area, a minimum plot of about 25 × 15 m — are in padel court dimensions. What the two sports demand of a player, and therefore of a club’s membership, is in padel vs tennis.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to build a padel court in the UK?
Roughly £45,000 to £80,000 for a single outdoor court fully installed. The court structure alone, without groundworks, is about £28,000 to £35,000. Indoor courts run £60,000 to £80,000 before the building over them.
What is the most expensive part of building a padel court?
Either the groundworks or the structure, depending on the site. Groundworks are 25–35% of a typical outdoor build and vary the most; the steel-and-glass structure is 35–45% and varies the least.
Do you need planning permission for a padel court in the UK?
On almost any site, yes. A padel court is a four-metre structure with floodlighting, which takes it beyond permitted development, and noise is the objection most commonly raised.
How much space do you need for a padel court?
A minimum plot of about 25 × 15 m for a 20 × 10 m playing area, with 6 m of height outdoors and 8 m recommended indoors.
How long does a padel court take to build?
Two to four weeks on site once groundworks are complete. The programme is dominated by everything before that: planning, surveys, power and the base.
Can you put a padel court on an existing tennis court?
Usually yes, and it is the most common British project. The existing base often needs work, but the footprint of one doubles tennis court accommodates two padel courts.
Sources. Cost ranges compiled from published British installer and operator figures consulted on 30/08/2026, including MyBuilder’s price guide, LTA Padel’s venue construction guidance and quotes published by UK installers. Court and clearance specifications: Rules of Padel, International Padel Federation (FIP). These are market ranges, not a quotation: the only number that applies to your site comes from a survey of it.