Artificial grass installation cost in the UK: a full 2026 breakdown
Artificial grass installation costs roughly £60–£90 per m² supplied and fitted in the UK in 2026. A typical 50 m² back garden lands around £3,000–£4,500: about £700 of grass, £700 of groundworks and disposal, £180 of edging, and £1,100 of day-rate labour, plus the installer’s markup.
What goes into the price
The headline “per m²” number hides five separate costs. Getting a quote right means pricing each one from the actual lawn, not guessing a rate.
- Artificial grass — around £14/m² for a mid-range 30–40mm pile, plus offcut waste from how the rolls are cut.
- Groundworks — excavation and disposal of the old surface (about 0.1 tonne per m² at a 60mm dig, ~£48/tonne to tip), MOT Type 1 sub-base (~£58/tonne) and a sharp-sand laying course (~£52/tonne).
- Edging — timber or composite around the perimeter, roughly £6 per linear metre.
- Consumables — weed membrane (~£0.90/m²), joining tape and adhesive on every seam (tape ~£1.80/m, glue ~£4/m).
- Labour — usually a day rate: about £190 per person per day, with a two- to four-person crew laying ~12 m² per person per day.
A worked example: a 50 m² back garden
Take a rectangular 50 m² lawn. Grass at £14/m² is £700 before waste; a real cutting plan usually adds 5–15% in offcuts. Excavation and disposal of ~5 tonnes is about £245, MOT Type 1 around £350, and the sand course about £120. Perimeter edging of ~30m adds £180. A compactor plate for the day is ~£42.
Labour is the biggest single line: a two-person crew laying 12 m² each per day finishes in about three days, so 2 × 3 × £190 ≈ £1,140. Add it up and the trade cost is roughly £2,800. With a typical 35% markup, the client quote comes to about £3,800 — near £76 per m² all-in.
Why quotes vary so much
Two installers can quote the same garden hundreds of pounds apart, honestly. The grass grade, how much digging the existing surface needs, access for a barrow or digger, the amount of edging already in place (a patio on two sides removes metres of it), and how efficiently the rolls are planned all move the number.
The roll plan matters more than people expect. Laying 5m-wide rolls across a 4.2m lawn buys the full 5m width and trims 0.8m off every strip as waste. Rotating the lay direction, or mixing a 4m and 2m roll, can cut that waste sharply — which is exactly what UltraQuote optimises when it plans a lawn.
Frequently asked questions
How much does artificial grass cost per square metre installed in the UK?
Supplied and fitted, most UK jobs land between £60 and £90 per m² in 2026, depending on the grass grade, how much groundwork the site needs, and access. The grass itself is only about £14/m² of that — groundworks and labour make up most of the total.
Is artificial grass cheaper than a new lawn or patio?
Artificial grass is usually dearer to install than reseeding a lawn but cheaper than a full patio. Its saving is over time: no mowing, watering or seasonal repair, and a typical 8–15 year lifespan.
What is the labour cost to lay artificial grass?
Most installers charge a day rate — around £190 per person per day — rather than per m². A two- to four-person crew lays roughly 12 m² per person per day, so a 50 m² garden is about three days for two people.
Sources
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