If you are pricing up a new fence for a garden in Leicester, you will find quotes vary more than you might expect. Most of that variation comes down to the fence type, the posts, the ground and access, not the postcode. Here is an honest breakdown of what you are likely to pay locally and why.
For a standard 6ft high panel fence supplied and fitted, most Leicester homeowners pay somewhere between £70 and £130 per metre, depending on the panel style and post type. As a rough per-bay figure, a fitted waney lap panel with timber posts often comes in around £90 to £130 per bay, while a heavier closeboard panel with concrete posts and gravel boards is typically £130 to £190 per bay.
A common job locally is replacing a run of eight to ten panels along one side of a semi. Budget roughly £900 to £1,400 for lap panels on timber posts, or £1,300 to £2,000 for closeboard on concrete posts with gravel boards. These are guide figures, not quotes, and the only way to get an accurate price is a proper site visit.
The biggest single factor is the post and base system. Timber posts concreted in are the cheapest option but typically last 10 to 15 years before rot sets in at ground level. Concrete posts with concrete gravel boards cost more up front, but the panels never touch wet soil and can simply be slotted out and replaced later, which is why most fencers recommend them for a long-term boundary.
Ground conditions matter more than people expect. Much of Leicester sits on heavy clay, which is slow to dig in summer when it bakes hard, and old gardens often hide buried concrete footings, tree roots or the remains of previous posts. Sloping gardens, common in areas like Evington and Birstall, need stepped or raked panels, which adds time. Access is the other one: if every bag of postcrete has to be carried through the house of a terraced property rather than down a side passage, labour goes up.
After a windy winter it is tempting to patch things up, and sometimes that is the right call. Replacing one or two blown-out panels in an otherwise sound fence usually costs £50 to £90 per panel fitted, and a single snapped timber post can often be repaired with a concrete spur for £60 to £100.
The maths changes when the posts themselves are rotten. If three or more posts in a run are moving, you are paying repair prices repeatedly for a fence that will keep failing. In that case a full replacement, ideally onto concrete posts, is nearly always cheaper over ten years than piecemeal fixes. A decent contractor should tell you honestly which situation you are in rather than defaulting to a full rebuild.
Ask for quotes that itemise the panel type and height, the post material, whether gravel boards are included, and who is removing the old fence and waste. Waste disposal is a genuine cost because contractors pay to tip commercially, so a quote that ignores it may grow later. Also confirm which side the rails will face if it is a closeboard fence, and check with your neighbour whose boundary it actually is before any work starts.
Be cautious of quotes far below the ranges above. The usual corners cut are thin dip-treated panels, posts set in shallow holes, or no gravel boards, all of which shorten the life of the fence considerably. A written quote, a realistic start date and photos of previous local work tell you far more than the headline price.
Usually not. You can build up to 2 metres high in a back garden, or 1 metre where the fence fronts a highway, without permission. Listed buildings and some conservation areas have extra rules, so check with Leicester City Council or your district council if unsure.
A straightforward run of eight to ten panels with reasonable access is normally done in one to two days, including removing the old fence. Difficult ground, poor access or bespoke closeboard work can stretch that to three days or more.
For most boundary fences, yes. Concrete posts and gravel boards keep the timber out of wet ground, so panels last longer and can be swapped individually in minutes. The extra cost up front is usually recovered the first time you avoid digging out rotten timber posts.
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