How much does a carport cost?

An aluminium carport kit costs from £628 to around £5,768 in the UK, including VAT and delivery. A wall-fixed lean-to kit starts at £628, a freestanding arched carport from £1,483, and a heavy-duty double cantilever tops the range at £5,768. Timber carports typically cost around half as much again, and bespoke oak or steel structures run to £10,000 or more.

These are our live kit prices — every one includes VAT and delivery to most of the UK, so what you see is what you pay for the structure itself.

As a sanity check against the wider market: most aluminium carport kits in the UK sit between £1,000 and £4,000. Wooden carports usually cost about 50% more than the aluminium equivalent, and a bespoke oak-framed or fabricated-steel carport starts around £10,000 and climbs with size and specification.

A carport kit is a genuine DIY build if you're competent with basic tools — the instructions set out every step, so many customers pay nothing for installation. If you'd rather not build it yourself, a local tradesperson can assemble a kit in a day or two; trade platforms like Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Rated People make it easy to get two or three quotes for your postcode.

Budget separately for the base. A carport needs a solid, flat, level surface to bolt into — an existing concrete pad or sound asphalt drive may cost you nothing, while pouring new concrete footings or a slab adds materials and possibly a groundworker's day rate. Our guide to carport foundations covers what each surface needs.

Usually not, because in most UK cases a carport doesn't need planning permission at all — it falls under permitted development if you keep within the height and size limits. Where permission is needed (listed buildings, designated areas, or a carport in front of the house), factor in drawings, structural calculations and the application fee before you commit.

For most drivers, yes. A carport keeps frost off the windscreen, protects paintwork from sun and hail, and shelters you while you load the car — for a fraction of the price of a garage. Because a kit is made to standard sizes, it also costs less and arrives far sooner than anything built to order. If you have a narrow drive, a lean-to kit fixed to the house wall gives you cover where a freestanding structure wouldn't fit.

In short: an aluminium carport kit costs from £628 to around £5,768 in the UK including VAT and delivery. A wall-fixed lean-to kit starts at £628, a freestanding arched carport from £1,483, a heavy-duty cantilever from £2,691, and a double cantilever for two cars from £5,768. Timber carports typically cost around half as much again, and bespoke oak or steel structures run to £10,000 or more. The base is the cost people forget: sound existing concrete or asphalt may need nothing beyond the right anchors, new concrete piers are a modest materials cost if you dig them yourself, and a full new slab means concrete plus, usually, a groundworker's day rate — so get local quotes before ordering the kit. A carport is considerably cheaper than a garage, needing a simpler base and, in most cases, no planning permission, where a garage costs several times more once the base and construction are counted. Nucrete supplies these kits with VAT and delivery to most of the UK included in the price shown.