HOW TO HIRE · GARDEN & OUTDOOR · CHECKED OCTOBER 2026
How to hire a landscaper in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.
No register covers landscapers. Get a staged written contract, and check planning, party walls and the waste carrier number.
- Search and compare — no account needed
- Nearest to you first
- One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Hiring a landscaper in five steps
- Start from a planA drawing with levels, materials and quantities, so quotes compare.
- Get a staged contractPayments tied to finished stages, not dates.
- Check the planning pointsRaised decks, buildings near boundaries, front paving.
- Ask where the spoil goesA landscape dig moves tonnes. Registered carrier only.
- Agree who runs the siteOne principal contractor for a job with several trades.
BEFORE YOU BOOK
Check before you book
No register applies
Anyone may trade as one of the landscapers in any UK nation; no statutory register exists, and TrustMark registration is voluntary. The rules sit on the job instead: the structures and surfaces they build, the waste and site safety.
Look at two or three jobs they finished a year ago, and check any TrustMark claim on its website. trustmark.org.uk →
Planning limits for paving and garden buildings (England)
In England, Class F of the General Permitted Development (England) Order 2015 lets a landscaper pave more than 5 square metres between the house and the road without planning permission only if the surface is porous, or the water runs to a permeable area within your boundary. Class E of the General Permitted Development (England) Order 2015 lets a garden building go up without planning permission if it is behind the front of the house, single storey, eaves no higher than 2.5 metres, no more than 2.5 metres high within 2 metres of a boundary (otherwise 4 metres with a dual-pitched roof, 3 metres for any other), covers no more than half the garden, and is not at a listed building.
Ask the landscaper how the surface drains, in writing. Ask the landscaper for the ridge and eaves heights and plan the position against the boundary. legislation.gov.uk →
Waste carrier registration
Taking excavated soil, rubble and green waste off your property makes the landscaper a waste carrier, and every nation requires carriers to register — the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or the NIEA, depending on where you live.
Get the registration number in writing and look it up by number, name or postcode. environment.data.gov.uk →
Who holds the safety duties (CDM 2015)
HSE says that when you have construction work done on your own home, the client duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 normally pass to the contractor — or to the principal contractor where there is more than one.
On a job with several trades, ask which firm is acting as principal contractor. hse.gov.uk →
VAT
Landscaping is standard-rated, so VAT is 20%. A landscaper whose turnover runs above £90,000 a year must be registered, charge it and set the 20% out as its own line at every stage.
Ask for the landscaper's VAT number and check every stage invoice shows the 20% apart from the work. gov.uk →
A good answer: Addresses or photos, and a client to speak to.
A good answer: A schedule of stages with payments after each.
A good answer: Raised decks, buildings near the boundary and front paving checked.
A good answer: Reused on site or taken by a registered carrier.
A good answer: They act as principal contractor, or name who does.
A good answer: Falls away from the house, with soakaways or drains named.
A good answer: Workmanship for hard landscaping, a planting replacement policy.
Getting the quote right
- Itemised by element: paving, walls, decking, planting, lighting
- Quantities and materials named
- Stages and the payment for each
- Waste removal and the carrier number
- Guarantees for hard landscaping and planting
- Who actually attends each element of the build, and whether they are employed or subcontracted
- The VAT number, with 20% VAT shown separately on the quote and on each stage payment
Walk away if
- One lump sum with no breakdown
- Most of the money up front
- No mention of planning for a raised deck or tall building
- No idea where tonnes of spoil will go
- Start date "next week" on a big project with no plan
What a landscaper costs: £2,500–£25,000 per project
Landscaping is priced by the project; the hard landscaping, materials, earthworks and planting make up most of it, so an itemised quote is the only fair comparison. Landscaping price guide →
Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.
KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE
Landscapers near you, with the badges that matter shown
ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.
Or post the job free and let them come to you.
- Plan and approvalsDesign, levels and any planning or party wall matters settled.
- Clear and digSite cleared, levels cut, spoil removed by a registered carrier.
- Hard landscapingWalls, paving, steps and structures built.
- Soft landscapingSoil improved, planting and turf laid.
- Snag and hand overSnag list cleared, aftercare explained.
- Hard landscaping
- Paving, walls, steps and structures.
- Soft landscaping
- Planting, turf and soil.
- Snag list
- Unfinished or faulty items to put right before final payment.
- Principal contractor
- The contractor in charge where several trades work.
- Levels
- The heights across the garden that set drainage.
- Spoil
- Soil and rubble dug out.
AFTER
When the job is done
Hiring a landscaper: questions people ask
No licence or statutory register applies anywhere in the UK; TrustMark is voluntary.
Most planting and paving is not; in England raised decks, garden buildings near boundaries and non-permeable front paving can need it.
Roughly £2,500–£25,000 a project, typically £8,000. What you pay depends on the job; the landscaping price guide shows why, and the search above finds landscapers near you.
In stages after work is done, with a small final payment after the snag list.
On your home, HSE says the client duties under CDM 2015 pass to the contractor or principal contractor.
Up to the limit in each nation; a bigger claim goes to the ordinary courts, so the contract matters.
MORE GUIDES
More hiring guides in garden & outdoor
Landscapers near you
Sources — checked October 2026
- Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2 Part 1 — outbuildings and hard surfaces
- Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2 Part 2 — gates, fences and walls
- gov.uk — permeable surfacing of front gardens: guidance
- gov.uk — party walls and building work
- HSE — CDM 2015: domestic clients
- gov.uk — register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer (England)
- Environment Agency — public register of waste carriers
- TrustMark — the Government Endorsed Quality Scheme
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 54 — what you can ask for when a service falls short
- Civil Procedure Rules Part 26 — the small claims track (England and Wales)
- mygov.scot — make a court claim for money (simple procedure)
- nidirect — the small claims process (Northern Ireland)
- Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
- GOV.UK — VAT rates
- GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register