Guide
Land drainage cost: per metre prices and what moves them in 2026
Updated
Land drainage is priced per metre of drain in the ground, but the metre rate hides the real questions: what the soil is, how the digger gets in, and where the water is allowed to go. Here is how the price is actually built.
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Typical prices at a glance
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Garden land drain / French drain, installed | £50–£100 per metre |
| Small garden scheme, 20–30 m of runs | £1,000–£3,000 (derived from the per-metre range) |
| Herringbone system across a large lawn | Priced on total metres of runs plus the outfall |
| Field or farm drainage | Per scheme or per hectare, quoted after walking the land |
The per-metre price covers trenching, perforated pipe, clean gravel, usually a geotextile membrane, and carting spoil away. We deliberately don't quote machine or excavation day rates: they vary with the plant and the ground, and per-metre installed quotes are the honest way to compare like with like.
What pushes a job to the top of the range
- Clay soil: slow digging, heavy spoil, and the reason the garden floods in the first place; clay jobs sit toward £100/m. See land drains for gardens.
- Access: a rear garden with no side gate means barrowing gravel and spoil by hand, which is time, which is money.
- The outfall: water must go somewhere lawful, a soakaway, an existing surface water drain, or a watercourse (with the right consent, see the consent guide). No outfall, no working scheme, whatever was spent on pipe.
- Reinstatement: relaying turf, paving or planting after the trenching is part of some quotes and excluded from others; check before comparing.
Getting comparable quotes
- Ask each contractor to quote per metre installed, stating pipe size, gravel, membrane and reinstatement, so quotes match line for line.
- Ask where they propose sending the water and who obtains any consent needed.
- Ask what happens if they hit rock, roots or services: the honest answer is a stated contingency, not silence.