Getting a dropped kerb

By Taylor Teasdale, Owner · 28 October 2026

A dropped kerb is the lowered section of pavement that lets you drive from the road onto your driveway. Without one, you have no legal right to cross the footway — and driving over a standing kerb is both an offence and a quick way to wreck your tyres and your sills.

It is also the part of a driveway project most likely to cause a delay, because it is the one part you do not control.

It is a separate application from the driveway

This is the thing that catches people out. Permission to build a driveway, or the fact that you need no permission at all, says nothing about permission to cross the pavement. They are handled by different departments under different rules.

The driveway is a planning matter. The crossing is a highways matter. You apply to whichever authority maintains the road outside your house — in most of England that is the county or unitary council, and in some areas highways responsibility has moved between authorities in recent reorganisations, so it is worth checking who yours actually is rather than assuming.

What it costs

Expect £1,000 to £2,500 all in for a standard domestic crossing. That breaks down roughly as:

• Council application fee, around £100 to £400, payable up front and usually non-refundable
• The crossing construction itself, which is the bulk of it
• Council inspection of the finished work
• Any utility work, if a service or street furniture has to be moved — this is the one that can get expensive

Moving a street light, a telegraph pole or a drainage gully is what turns a routine crossing into a costly one, because that work is done by the utility and charged at their rates. Check the line of your proposed crossing for anything fixed in it before you apply.

How long it takes

Six to twelve weeks is normal, and it can be longer. The council will usually inspect the site, check sight lines and confirm there is nothing in the way, and that takes as long as it takes.

The practical consequence is simple: apply before you book the driveway. A finished driveway with no approved way to reach it is a genuinely bad position, and the reverse — an approved crossing waiting for a driveway — costs you nothing.

Why applications get refused

Most refusals come down to safety or obstruction rather than anything about your house:

• Not enough depth — you generally need around five metres from kerb to house so a car stands clear of the footway
• Poor visibility pulling out, particularly on a bend or near a brow
• Too close to a junction, a pedestrian crossing or a bus stop
• A protected tree whose roots the crossing would damage
• Street furniture or a utility in the line of the crossing
• A classified or high-speed road. On an A, B or C road a brand new access also needs planning permission in its own right, separately from the dropped kerb

If you are unsure, most highways teams will give an informal view before you pay the fee. It is worth the phone call.

Who builds it

Councils normally require the crossing to be built by a contractor approved to work on the highway, and they will inspect it against their specification before signing it off. The specification covers the depth of construction, the materials and how the footway is reinstated, because the finished crossing has to take vehicle loads where the pavement previously only took feet.

We build to the local specification and time the driveway so the crossing and the drive meet properly, rather than leaving you with a new driveway and a step up to it.