AIBU to think that £2500 is ridiculous to get a single width drop kerb done?

[ohcarolina2001]

We have been quoted £2500 to get a single width drop kerb done. This seems ridiculous (we are getting the entire large driveway done for £10,000) and we think £800 is more like it just for a little drop kerb.

What have others paid for this and can anyone recommend someone charging a reasonable price in the south east? We are in Bucks / Hertfordshire / Berkshire border so anyone within an hour or so of here would be great.

Many thanks x

www.myjobquote.co.uk/costs/dropping-a-kerb

In Surrey it’s about £1,500 for a single and you have to use one of the council approved contractors. Not bad for a couple of hours work and a bit of tarmac.

That’s roughly what I was quoted in Cambridge. Ridiculous isn’t it.

We live fairly near you and paid 2k. It had to be done via the council though and we had no choice at all in who carried out the work

Mine was about £800 in London and that was a long, long time ago.

i got a quote a few months back and it was 1200 upwards and thats south yorks. the council were actually cheaper than contractors

I won't tell you how much we had to pay for ours in North Yorkshire! It did include a bit of driveway, but yes, it's INSANE!

We're Hampshire and were quoted £2k for a dropped kerb, this was with a council approved contractor.

Local council in Scotland charges £800 where we are

Should say it’s only the council that are allowed to do it here so even though they have the monopoly it’s still reasonable

I think we paid about 2k in Kent 2 years ago.

You have to go via the council don't you? So I don't think you get to pick the contractor.

@vanillandhoney in Kent the council give you a list of approved contractors for you to pick from . We had a drop extended from single to double last year ( 3 dropped 1 rising) and paid around £1350 .

It's not just what you see that you are paying for. They also have to put in reinforcements to support the weight of vehicles to prevent the utilities that run underneath from being damaged.

My grandparents have been quoted similar (same area) ....they were also surprised so asked for a breakdown...i think part of the cost was to do with utilities under the kerb and also the need for temp traffic lights due to being on a busy road ....may have got that slightly wrong but may be worth asking for a breakdown

I’m in Surrey & had mind done 2 months ago. Was about £1500 for double-width. Had to chose from a list of council-approved contractors, but it was a v long list & the quotes varied a lot.

Gosh I got a bargain about 30 years ago - the council were rebuilding and resurfacing our pavement and they put a flyer through the door saying that for £25 they would drop the kerb outside our house during the course of the work. At the time we did not have a drive (although garden was long enough to have one). When we sold the house 2 years later the new owners were very grateful for the dropped kerb and created a driveway.

Where I am it can only be done the council contractors. I had mine done around 20 years ago and it was over £1k for a single width (terraced house) dropped kerb then. I’d hate to think what it would be now.....

[quote Floralnomad]@vanillandhoney in Kent the council give you a list of approved contractors for you to pick from . We had a drop extended from single to double last year ( 3 dropped 1 rising) and paid around £1350 .[/quote]
Yes - what I mean is you can't just go and use your mate Joe Bloggs because he's offering you mates rates. You have to pick from an approved list.

Previous owners paid £2500 in 2017 for a single dropped kerb. We're on Beds/Herts border.

Thank you so much for all your responses. It's both depressing to learn that it is going to cost a chunk, but reassuring that we are not necessarily being taken for a ride. We will keep going on the quote search and see if we can get it down a bit, but it sounds like a bigger job than I was aware of anyway. Here we have to use council-approved contractors and there aren't enough of them.
Thanks again x