Service Areas

A new driveway in Greenwich isn’t quite the same job as one in most of London. Between conservation area rules around Maritime Greenwich and Blackheath, narrow Georgian and Victorian frontages, and the legal requirement to use permeable materials on most front gardens, there’s more to get right than picking a paving colour. JPD Landscaping & Building Services installs driveways as part of our hardscaping installation work across Greenwich and the wider SE10 area, and this page covers what actually goes into the job and what to check before you start. What makes a Greenwich driveway different Permeable paving is a legal requirement on most jobs. If you’re paving over more than 5m² of front garden with a hard, non-porous surface, national planning rules require either a permeable material (permeable block paving, resin bound gravel, or similar) or a drainage design that channels rainwater onto a permeable area like a lawn or border, otherwise you need planning permission first. This applies everywhere in England, but it matters more in Greenwich given how much of the borough sits close to the Thames and within areas the Environment Agency flags for surface water risk. We design every driveway to meet this from the outset, so it’s one less thing to worry about. Conservation areas add an extra layer. Parts of Greenwich, including around Maritime Greenwich (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Blackheath, fall within conservation areas, where the council can have tighter controls on things like dropped kerbs, boundary walls, and visible materials from the street. It’s always worth a quick check with Royal Borough of Greenwich’s planning team before work starts if your property is in one of these zones. We’re happy to help you figure out if yours is affected. Frontages are often narrow and period specific. A lot of Greenwich’s housing stock is Georgian or Victorian, with shallow front gardens and existing brick or stone boundary walls worth preserving rather than ripping out. We work around these where possible instead of defaulting to a full clear and rebuild. Our driveway installation process Timelines vary more with driveways than patios because of dropped kerb permissions and any conservation area sign-off, so factor that into your planning if you’re working to a deadline. You can see examples of finished hardscaping work on our projects page. Material options Driveways fall under what’s generally called hard landscaping, covered in more depth in our guide to what hard landscaping actually means. For a Greenwich driveway specifically, the main options are: If you’re doing a driveway now and thinking about a patio at the back of the same property, our guide to how much a patio costs in the UK is worth a read for planning the whole project together. What affects the cost of a driveway in Greenwich Cost depends on size, chosen material, if you need a new dropped kerb, and how much existing surface needs removing first. Permeable block paving and gravel tend to sit at the more affordable end. Resin bound and premium stone cost more but need less upkeep long term. Because dropped kerbs and conservation area checks can add time that isn’t obvious from measurements alone, a site visit is the only reliable way to quote a Greenwich driveway properly. Get in touch and we’ll arrange one. Areas we cover around Greenwich Alongside Greenwich itself, we regularly work in Blackheath, Charlton, Kidbrooke, Westcombe Park, and the wider SE10 area. If you’re just outside these, get in touch anyway, we cover South East London broadly. Frequently asked questions Do I need planning permission for a driveway in Greenwich? Not usually, provided you use a permeable material or drain rainwater onto a permeable area of the garden. If you’re in a conservation area, or you’re not using a permeable option, you may need permission. We’ll help you check before work starts. What is permeable paving, and why does it matter here? It’s paving that lets rainwater soak through into the ground instead of running off into the road drains. It’s a legal requirement for most front garden driveways over 5m² in England, and it’s particularly relevant in Greenwich given the borough’s proximity to the Thames and known surface water flood risk areas. Can you arrange a dropped kerb? We can advise and help manage the process, but the dropped kerb application itself goes through Royal Borough of Greenwich, since it involves the public highway. How long does a driveway installation take? A straightforward permeable block paving driveway typically takes 3 to 5 days. Add time if a dropped kerb application or conservation area sign-off is needed first. Do you also do patios, fencing, or garden walls? Yes, alongside driveways we handle patios, fencing, and retaining or garden walls. If you’re planning front and back garden work together, mention it when you enquire so we can quote the full job. Get a quote JPD Landscaping & Building Services is a family run team with 15+ years’ experience across South East London, based in nearby Peckham. Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote for your Greenwich driveway. Need a patio too? See our patio installation guide for Peckham for how we approach patios on similar London garden conditions.

If you’re after a new patio in Peckham, you want someone who won’t disappear halfway through the job, who understands the way local gardens are built, and who lays a base properly instead of just bedding slabs straight onto soil. That’s the short version of what JPD Landscaping & Building Services does. We’re based right here in Peckham, SE15, and patio installation is one of the jobs we’re asked to do most, from small courtyard gardens behind Victorian terraces to bigger rear plots near Peckham Rye. This page covers what a patio install actually involves, what tends to catch people out in Peckham gardens specifically, and the questions we get asked most often. Why local knowledge matters for a Peckham patio Peckham’s housing is mostly Victorian and Edwardian terraces, which means two things come up on almost every job: If your garden also has level changes or an old boundary wall, common on the sloped streets around Nunhead and Peckham Rye, that gets factored into the design too, rather than treated as an afterthought. Where a proper retaining wall is needed to hold a level change, we build that in as part of the same job. Our patio installation process We’ve written a full step by step walkthrough of how to lay a patio if you want the detail. In short, here’s what happens on a Peckham job: Most standard rear-garden patios in Peckham take 2 to 4 days depending on access and groundwork. Larger or more complex jobs, including retaining walls or steps, take longer. We’ll give you a realistic timeframe when we quote. You can see examples of finished work on our projects page. Choosing the right slabs for a Peckham garden Porcelain, Indian sandstone, and concrete are the three materials we get asked about most, and each suits a different kind of garden and budget. We’ve written a full breakdown in our guide to choosing the best patio slabs for a London garden, and a direct head to head in Indian sandstone vs porcelain paving if you’re torn between the two. As a rough steer for smaller Peckham gardens: porcelain suits low-maintenance, modern-look courtyards well since it doesn’t stain or need sealing. Indian sandstone tends to suit older terraces with more traditional brickwork. Concrete slabs are the budget option and still perform well if the sub-base underneath is done properly. What affects the cost of a patio in Peckham Cost depends on size, chosen material, access, and how much groundwork is needed. Clearing an old patio, fixing poor drainage, or dealing with level changes all add time to the job. We’ve laid out a full cost breakdown by material and size in our guide to how much a patio costs in the UK. The only way to get a figure you can actually rely on is a site visit, since access and existing groundwork make a real difference to labour time. Get in touch and we’ll arrange one. Areas we cover around Peckham As well as Peckham itself, we regularly work in Nunhead, Peckham Rye, East Dulwich, Bellenden, Queens Road, and the surrounding SE15 area. If you’re just outside these, get in touch anyway, we cover South East London more broadly. Frequently asked questions Do I need planning permission for a patio in Peckham? Generally no, if the patio is at ground level and part of your private garden. There are exceptions around raised patios, boundaries, and conservation areas, which we cover in full in our guide to patio planning permission. We’ll also flag if your job needs a check when we visit. How long does a patio take to install? Most standard rear-garden patios take 2 to 4 days. Larger jobs, or ones needing retaining walls, steps, or major drainage work, take longer. Can you fix a sunken or cracked existing patio, or do I need a full replacement? It depends on the cause. If the sub-base has failed (the usual reason on clay soil), a proper fix means lifting and relaying rather than a patch job. Patching over a failed base just delays the same problem. We’ll tell you honestly which one your garden needs. Do you deal with drainage as part of the job? Yes, correct falls and drainage are built into every patio we lay, which matters more in Peckham than in areas without clay soil underneath. Do you also do driveways, decking, or fencing? Yes, alongside patios we handle driveways as part of our hardscaping installation work, plus decking and fencing. If you’re planning a full garden overhaul rather than just a patio, mention it when you enquire and we can quote the whole job together. Get a quote JPD Landscaping & Building Services is a family run team based in Peckham, with 15+ years installing patios and hard landscaping across South East London. Contact us for a free, no-obligation quote. Need work done further out? See our driveway installation guide for Greenwich if you’re planning a project there too.