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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Dropped curb

16 replies

Peanutbutterjello · 05/08/2020 20:48

I found a house that potentially could be a great one for us. It has no off-road parking though only permit on street... The front garden could probably be suitable for a drive way, but tight but should be fine! Anyone here who has applied for a dropped curb here before? What were the costs? Waiting time ? And was it worth it ?

OP posts:

imissthesouth · 05/08/2020 21:02

You may need planning permission to convert your garden to a driveway. The dropped curb will most likely cost in the region of £600 once you add in labour. I'm not too sure on the planning permission costs though

user1471530109 · 05/08/2020 21:07

Wow, I was quoted double that! . I rang the council and was asked the road etc. It makes a huge difference the classification of the road (A, B etc).
I was told over the phone it was unlikely to be a problem. I then got a quote off one of their tradesmen on their list (at the time I had to use them but a neighbours says that's not the case anymore) and he quoted £1200 for just extending it by two more dropped bricks! I replied back and made h.aware I didn't want a whole new driveway length and just the two bricks. He said it was the same price regardless . I haven't had it done (I do have a dropped kerb and drive but it's very narrow and the rest of the driveway is about 15 meters in width .

Previous council did it for free. We had a letter through saying they were relaying and replacing the paving and road surface and offered it for free.

Charleyhorses · 05/08/2020 21:10

Read the local regulations carefully. I very nearly offered on a house with no parking but with a decent front garden. Others on the street had dropped pervs. However, the rules and changed and now you had to have something like 6 metres (could have been more) depth. Which explained why so many houses had cars on the street

Charleyhorses · 05/08/2020 21:11

Kerbs not pervs obvs.

Charleyhorses · 05/08/2020 21:11

Wouldn't want to live on a street with dropped pervs.

Vanannabananna · 05/08/2020 21:13

You’ll need to check your councils regulations to be sure they will allow it.

Ours did and we paid £1200 to get it dropped and £3000 ish for driveway to be put in. Worth every penny as parking is a bloody nightmare on our street!

nancybotwinbloom · 05/08/2020 21:14

I always get this mixed up but are you allowed to park across your own dripped kirb?

Daphnise · 05/08/2020 21:15

It really is best to check with the local authority, only they can tell you for sure.

And, if permitted, I've heard of costs up to £1,800.

Vanannabananna · 05/08/2020 21:16

@nancybotwinbloom

I always get this mixed up but are you allowed to park across your own dripped kirb?

I think officially you’re not allowed but we always do and never been ticketed

MadisonAvenue · 05/08/2020 21:16

We applied for extending a dropped kerb two years ago when we widened our drive but it was refused because a car parked correctly on the new part of the drive would’ve overhung onto the footpath by 4cm (which is ridiculous when we have neighbours who completely obstruct the footpath by parking with all four wheels on it).

Anyway, I’ve just looked up the current charges and our county council charge £123 (non-refundable) when you apply and if successful you then have to pay for a ‘permit to dig’ which is £240 on an unclassified road and £348 on a classified one, and IIRC you have to use a contractor which is approved by them to do the work. I can’t remember how much we were quoted for that though as widening the drive was included in the quote. It may have been £600.

Floralnomad · 05/08/2020 21:22

We had our dropped kerb extended last year and it was about £1600 including payment to the councils and that was using the cheapest quote we got . You have to use council approved companies not just any driveway firm .

sallyedmondson · 05/08/2020 21:26

Just paid a London council £2500. But yes , where we live worth every penny.

Thislittlelady · 05/08/2020 21:35

Check with your council. Ours say that other companies can do the work but have to pay for council to ‘approve’ it. It’s a complete cash cow for them. You’ll end up having to pay something. We were quoted £2500. Although, if they plan to be redoing the roads anytime soon , apparently there’s a little known rule that you can ask them to drop the kerb while they are doing that and they will do it no charge .... you’d need to look into this tho. There’s so many drives round our way that there’s no feckin place to park your car anymore unless you’ve got a tiny wee smart car or a fuckin Duplo one!

Original poster

Peanutbutterjello · 05/08/2020 21:41

Thanks everyone! I’ve looked on the council website and they quick quote thing on is said it would be between £1800-2300... obviously that’s a rough estimate but I think it’s worth it especially if you want to resell the house (which we would ina few years time )

OP posts:

OliviaBenson · 06/08/2020 06:34

You need to check out the planning situation. It's separate from the costs the Council charge for the highways works. There are all sorts of rules including how much area you can give over to hard standing etc.

AnakinPadme · 06/08/2020 14:49

We bought a property and has the kerb dropped. Seller's got the councils permission so not sure of the cost but I think it was pretty inexpensive. We paid just over £1500 to have the work done. We got cheaper quotes but the people doing it wouldn't go back to the council with their required paperwork afterwards to complete the job with them so we said no (and it wasn't something we were able to do). It was definitely worth the money.

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