Groundworks and finishing
Driveway drainage and soakaways
Driveway drainage collects surface water and takes it to somewhere it can soak away safely, usually with a linear channel drain across the drive and a soakaway crate or rubble pit in the garden. It is needed where a drive is impermeable or slopes towards the house or garage.
- Guide price
- £50–£110 per linear metre
- Time on site
- Usually 1–2 days, often alongside the drive
- Permeable
- Depends on build
How driveway drainage and soakaways work
Even permeable drives sometimes need a channel: at the bottom of a slope towards a garage, across the top of a drive that falls to the pavement, or where clay ground drains slowly.
Surface water should not be connected to a foul sewer, and on a front garden in England it should not run onto the road. Where a soakaway is used, it is sited away from buildings and sized for the area it serves.
Is it right for you?
- Your drive slopes towards the house or garage
- Water pools on your current drive
- You are laying an impermeable surface
- Your ground drains slowly
How we do it
- Check falls and where water goes now
- Plan channel runs and outfall
- Excavate and set channels to level
- Build soakaway away from buildings
- Connect and test
- Surface around channels
Specification
- Linear channel drains with grates rated for cars
- Soakaway crates or rubble pit sited away from foundations
- Silt trap where needed
- No connection to foul drains
Pros
- Stops water reaching the house or road
- Protects the drive base
- Helps with planning rules
Things to know
- Adds cost
- Soakaways need space and suitable ground
Planning and permissions
General information, not legal advice. Pick your nation:
England
Surface water from a drive should stay on your property or go to a suitable soakaway or surface water drain. It should not run onto the road or be connected to a foul sewer. Soakaways are sited away from buildings.
Wales
Surface water from a drive should stay on your property or go to a suitable soakaway or surface water drain. It should not run onto the road or be connected to a foul sewer. Soakaways are sited away from buildings.
Scotland
Surface water from a drive should stay on your property or go to a suitable soakaway or surface water drain. It should not run onto the road or be connected to a foul sewer. Soakaways are sited away from buildings.
Northern Ireland
Surface water from a drive should stay on your property or go to a suitable soakaway or surface water drain. It should not run onto the road or be connected to a foul sewer. Soakaways are sited away from buildings.
Driveway drainage and soakaways: common questions
Do I need a drain if my drive is permeable?
Not always. A fully permeable build usually needs no channel, but slopes towards a garage or house, or slow-draining clay, can still need one.
Driveway drainage and soakaways near you
- Aberdeenshire
- Angus and Dundee
- Argyll and Bute
- Ayrshire
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- Bristol
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Clwyd
- Cornwall
- County Antrim
- County Armagh
- County Down
- County Durham
- County Fermanagh
- County Londonderry
- County Tyrone
- Cumbria
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Dunbartonshire
- Dyfed
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Edinburgh
- Essex
- Fife
- Forth Valley
- Glasgow
- Gloucestershire
- Greater London
- Greater Manchester
- Gwent
- Gwynedd
- Hampshire
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Highlands and Islands
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Lanarkshire
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- Lothians
- Merseyside
- Mid Glamorgan
- Moray
- Norfolk
- North Yorkshire
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Perth and Kinross
- Powys
- Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
- Rutland
- Scottish Borders
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- South Glamorgan
- South Yorkshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Tyne and Wear
- Warwickshire
- West Glamorgan
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
Related services
Free survey · itemised quote
Get a quote for driveway drainage and soakaways
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- Base, edging and drainage priced line by line
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- Price fixed in writing once the spec is agreed
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