A tarmac drive for two cars in Christchurch runs from about £3,000 to £5,000. The word tarmac covers a few different black surfaces, and the one a firm actually lays changes both the price and how long it lasts. Ask which mix a firm is laying before you weigh its quote against the next.

The other surfaces are worth pricing too. Block paving, resin, concrete and gravel sit side by side on our driveways in Christchurch page.

What a tarmac drive costs in Christchurch

These prices are drawn from two UK cost guides, both updated through 2026. A single car space is about 20m² and a double about 50m². Work out your own and read across.

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

That is £60 to £110 a square metre laid. Stripping the old surface off first adds another £30 to £50 a square metre. The cost guides disagree more on tarmac than on any other surface, so a figure at the high end is worth a second quote rather than an automatic no.

Tarmac or asphalt

These names get used as if they mean the same thing. They do not, and the difference is what you are paying for.

• Tarmac is the everyday name. What most drives are actually laid in is bitumen macadam, small stones bound with bitumen and rolled hot. It is the lowest priced of the black surfaces and goes down fast.
• Asphalt is a denser mix. Hot rolled asphalt and stone mastic asphalt use more binder and a tighter blend of stone, so the surface is harder and holds up longer under traffic. It costs more than plain macadam.
• The words are used loosely on the ground. One firm’s tarmac is another firm’s asphalt, so the label alone tells you little. Ask what the mix is and what the top layer is made of.
• A red or coloured finish costs more. The colour comes from a pigmented binder or a coloured aggregate, both dearer than standard black, and a red surface can lighten over the years.

Tarmac and the drainage question

Standard tarmac is not permeable. Water runs off it rather than soaking through, so where that water goes decides whether the drive needs planning permission.

• Water sent to a lawn or border is allowed. If the tarmac falls onto ground that soaks it up, no permission is needed whatever the size.
• Shedding water to the road is what triggers permission. Once a sealed drive past 5m² drains that way, BCP has to approve it. The full rule is on the driveways in Christchurch page.
• Porous asphalt is the permeable version. It is an open mix that lets water pass through into the stone below, so it sidesteps the planning question. It costs more and needs a base built to drain, which suits the free draining gravel much of Christchurch sits on.

Resurfacing or a full new drive

Tarmac is the surface most often laid straight over an old one. Done on the right base it saves a lot of money. Done on the wrong base it fails early.

• An overlay needs a sound base. A stable old tarmac or concrete drive can take a fresh tarmac layer over the top, which skips the dig and the sub-base, the two biggest costs.
• The finished height still has to be right. Every overlay raises the level, so the drive has to stay clear of the damp course and the front door. The heights to keep to are on the driveways in Christchurch page.
• A moving base comes through. If the old surface has cracks where one side sits higher than the other, that movement will crack the new layer in the same place. There the base has to come out.

How a tarmac drive fails

Tarmac fails in a few predictable ways, and most of them start at the parts a cheap job skimps on.

• The edges go first. With nothing to hold them, tarmac edges break away under a turning wheel and the drive narrows year on year. A kerb or a solid edging fixed at laying is what prevents it.
• Potholes start with standing water. Water sitting in a low spot works into the surface, freezes, and lifts it. A proper fall that sheds water is what stops it, and a formed pothole is cut out square and filled rather than skimmed over.
• Fuel and oil soften it. Petrol, diesel and engine oil dissolve the bitumen that binds tarmac, so a drip under a parked car eats a soft patch. Clean spills off rather than leaving them.
• Roots push it up. A tree near the drive lifts and cracks tarmac as the roots spread. This is worth raising before the drive is laid, not after.

How long a tarmac drive lasts

Installers usually quote 10 to 20 years for a tarmac drive. Which end you land on is mostly down to the base under it and how it is looked after.

• The base decides most of it. A drive laid on a proper dug out and compacted sub-base outlasts one laid thin over soft ground by years.
• Keep the water moving and the edges held. Standing water and unsupported edges are the two things that shorten a tarmac drive most, and both are avoidable.
• A seal coat is upkeep, not a repair. It freshens the colour and slows surface wear, and it needs redoing periodically. It will not save a drive that is already breaking up.

Tarmac, block or resin

Tarmac is the right answer for a lot of Christchurch drives and the wrong one for some. A quick way to place it against the other two.

• Tarmac is cheapest and fastest. One or two days on site, the lowest price of the solid surfaces, and a plain black or red finish. Edges are its weak point.
• Block paving is repairable and dearer. Individual blocks lift and relay, and there is far more choice of colour and pattern. Costs and materials are on our block paving in Christchurch page.
• Resin is smooth and permeable. It needs a sound base under it, so it often goes over an old tarmac drive. The detail is on our resin driveways page.

Getting tarmac quotes in Christchurch

Send the postcode and the rough size, and say whether this is a brand new drive or a fresh surface over an old one. Flag anything awkward as well, like a slope down to the house or a tree close to the edge.

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What do you need Choose one New block paving driveway New tarmac driveway New resin driveway New gravel driveway Driveway repair or patch Patio or path Dropped kerb Not sure yet

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Where we cover

All of BH23, from Christchurch town out to Highcliffe, Mudeford, Stanpit, Purewell, Somerford, Jumpers Common, Burton, Winkton and Hurn.

• BournemouthCheck Now
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• ChristchurchAll Surfaces

Looking at a tarmac drive over in Bournemouth instead? It has its own page at tarmac driveways in Bournemouth. Poole has one too, at tarmac driveways in Poole.