How much does garden fencing cost?
6 min read · Reviewed 2026-08-21
The five things that move a fencing estimate, and why phone estimates are usually wrong.
Why fencing is priced per metre, not per panel
Almost every fencing estimate is built up from a rate per linear metre plus fixed extras. The per-metre rate covers posts, panels or boards, gravel boards and the labour to install them. The extras cover things that do not scale with length: removing the old fence, disposing of it, gates, and any concrete breaking.
That is why two 15-metre fences can differ by hundreds of pounds. The fence is the same; what is in the ground and how you get materials to it is not.
The five biggest cost drivers
In rough order of how much they move a estimate:
- Fence type — close board costs substantially more per metre than overlap panels because there is more timber and far more labour
- Post type and depth — concrete posts cost more up front and usually save money over the fence's life
- Removal and disposal — old fences with deep concrete footings are slow to dig out and expensive to tip
- Access — anything carried through a house or a narrow alley adds hours
- Ground conditions and levels — clay, rubble, tree roots and slopes all add time
Where people over- and under-spend
The most common overspend is an expensive decorative panel installed on timber posts with no gravel board. The panel outlives neither the post nor the base, so the money goes into the part that fails last rather than first.
The most common underspend is skipping gravel boards. Timber in contact with soil is the single most reliable way to shorten a fence's life.
Getting a estimate that will not move
Ask for the price to be itemised: labour, materials, waste removal, and anything conditional. Ask specifically what happens if unexpected concrete is found. A contractor who has looked at the ground can answer that; one quoting from a phone call cannot.
PLACEHOLDER: add No1 Fencing's genuine indicative price bands here (for example a per-metre range for overlap panel and close board installation). Real, honest ranges on this page would outperform every competitor guide that avoids numbers entirely.