Garden Fence Cost London 2026: Honest Prices
Real 2026 London prices for replacing a garden fence, by fence type, with a worked example for a typical back garden.
Quick answer
A new garden fence in London costs from £145 per metre for overlap panels, £175 per metre for close board, £195–£195 per metre for slatted or hit-and-miss, and £320 per metre for composite — all supply and fit. A typical 18-metre back garden replacement lands between roughly £2,600 and £6,100 depending on the fence type chosen. Our minimum job is from £1,200.
Garden fence cost by type (London, 2026)
| Fence type | Cost per metre (supply and fit) | Typical finish |
|---|---|---|
| Overlap | from £145/m | Budget, panel-based, shortest lifespan |
| Closeboard | from £175/m | Solid, built board by board, no gaps |
| Hit-and-miss | from £195/m | Alternating boards, privacy from both sides |
| Slatted | from £195/m | Contemporary, airy, spaced boards |
| Composite | from £320/m | Low-maintenance, doesn't rot or need treating |
These are real London rates, not a marketing range designed to look cheap and then get revised upward. Use the fencing cost calculator to get a figure for your specific run, or get a free indicative estimate from three photos and your postcode.
What a typical 18m back garden replacement costs
Most London terraced and semi-detached back gardens have somewhere between 15 and 20 metres of boundary fence to replace. Using 18m as a typical figure:
| Fence type | Approx. cost (from) |
|---|---|
| Overlap | £2,610 |
| Closeboard | £3,150 |
| Hit-and-miss | £3,780 |
| Slatted | £3,780 |
| Composite | £6,030 |
If your garden is smaller than this, remember the minimum job is from £1,200 — very short runs are priced at the minimum because strip-out, disposal, setup and travel don't shrink in line with the fence length.
What drives the cost up or down
The per-metre figures above assume flat ground and reasonable access. In practice, several things move a job above the baseline:
- Access — no rear vehicle access, narrow side returns, or materials needing to be carried through the house
- Ground conditions — clay, roots, rubble or old foundations that slow down digging post holes
- Slopes — stepped or raked panels take longer to set out than a flat run
- Posts — concrete posts cost more upfront than timber but last significantly longer; see concrete vs wooden fence posts
- Old fence removal and disposal — tip access and fees vary by borough, which is part of why our survey fee is drive-time tiered from your nearest GoodFence base
- Boundary ownership — if it isn't clear whose fence you're actually replacing, that needs resolving first — see whose fence is it: UK boundary rules
Why cheap estimates come back higher
A low headline price is usually low because something's missing, not because the job is genuinely cheaper. The most common gaps we see in cut-price estimates:
- No gravel boards, so the main fence boards sit on or near the ground and rot early
- Timber posts priced as if the ground is perfect, with concrete posts or extra digging added as a "surprise" once work starts
- Disposal excluded, billed separately once the old fence is already in a skip or on a van
- Panel counts rounded down, so extra panels appear as a change order partway through
- No allowance for access difficulty, discovered on the day rather than priced in advance
The way to avoid this is a proper site visit before a fixed price is given — not a phone-quoted figure based on a rough description.
How our two-step estimate works
We don't give a binding number over the phone, because we can't see your ground, your access or your boundary from a description. Instead:
- Free indicative estimate — submit three photos and your postcode at /estimate. This gives you a realistic range within minutes, based on real London rates.
- Fixed-price survey, only if you want one — from £30, tiered by drive time from your nearest GoodFence base. We measure the run properly, check ground conditions, access and boundary ownership, and give you a fixed price on the spot. If you go ahead with the job, this fee is credited in full against the price — you don't pay it twice.
This means the number you agree to is the number you pay, whether the job is in Bromley, Croydon, Watford or anywhere else across London and the South East.
The bottom line
Garden fence costs in London in 2026 range from around £145/m for overlap panels to £320/m for composite, with closeboard at £175/m as the sensible mid-range option for most back gardens. A typical 18m replacement sits between roughly £2,600 and £6,100 depending on the material. Get a free estimate at /estimate, or run your own numbers through the fencing cost calculator first.
One company, our own fitters, start to finish — one contract, one team, one number.
