A cubic metre of ready-mix concrete costs £100 to £150 delivered in the UK, with most domestic jobs falling between £110 and £135. Grade matters, distance matters, but load size matters most — order a single cubic metre and you will pay well over the odds per unit.
Price by grade
| Grade | Also called | Typical use | Price per m³ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C10 | GEN1 | Blinding, mass fill | £95–£115 |
| C15 | GEN2 | Kerb bedding, haunching | £100–£120 |
| C20 | GEN3 | Shed bases, footings, paths | £105–£130 |
| C25 | ST2 / RC25 | Driveways, slabs | £112–£140 |
| C30 | ST3 / RC30 | Heavy driveways, garages | £120–£148 |
| C35 | RC35 | Structural, exposed | £130–£158 |
The step from C20 to C25 costs around £8 per cubic metre. On a 4m³ driveway that’s £32 for a meaningfully harder-wearing slab, which makes it the cheapest worthwhile upgrade on the entire job. Going the other way to save money almost never pays — the difference between grades is small against the cost of the groundwork underneath.
There’s a full explanation of what these designations mean in our guide to concrete grades, including how they map to US psi figures and EU EN 206 notation.
Why one cubic metre costs so much per unit
Suppliers charge a part-load fee of roughly £30 to £60 for every empty cubic metre on the truck. A standard 8-wheeler carries 6m³, so ordering 1m³ can mean paying for five metres of fresh air.
| Order | Concrete at £120 | Part-load fee | Total | Effective per m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 m³ | £120 | £175 | £295 | £295 |
| 2 m³ | £240 | £140 | £380 | £190 |
| 3 m³ | £360 | £105 | £465 | £155 |
| 4 m³ | £480 | £70 | £550 | £138 |
| 5 m³ | £600 | £35 | £635 | £127 |
| 6 m³ | £720 | £0 | £720 | £120 |
Rates vary between suppliers but the shape of that table does not. Read the last column: six cubic metres costs two and a half times what one cubic metre costs, and gives you six times the concrete. Below about 3m³ you should be getting a volumetric quote instead of a drum-mix one.
What the price includes, and what it doesn’t
The rate per cubic metre covers batching the concrete to your specified grade, delivering it, and discharging it down the chute. The driver positions the truck and extends the chute as far as it reaches — typically three to four metres from the back of the vehicle.
Everything past that point is yours. Barrowing, placing, levelling, tamping and finishing are not part of the delivery, and neither is any damage the truck does getting to you. A loaded 8-wheeler weighs over 30 tonnes; it will crack block paving, collapse a shallow drain run and leave ruts in a lawn that take a season to recover. Agree the standing position before the day, and if there’s any doubt, have it discharge from the road and barrow the difference.
Common extras that appear on the invoice rather than the quote: waiting time beyond the free allowance (usually 20 to 30 minutes), Saturday premiums of 10 to 15%, additives like fibres or air entrainment, and pump hire from around £350 for a line pump.
Regional differences
London and the South East sit at the top of the range, typically 10 to 20% above the national average, driven by higher labour and site costs. Scotland, Wales, the North East and the Midlands tend to sit at the bottom.
The more significant variable is distance from a batching plant. A rural site 15 miles out pays a delivery premium regardless of region, and past 20 miles the choice of suppliers narrows quickly. If you’re rural, ring everyone within range rather than assuming the nearest plant offers the best deal.
Ready-mix, mix-on-site and bags compared
| Method | Cost per m³ | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-mix (drum) | £100–£150 | 3m³ and above |
| Volumetric (mix on site) | £120–£160 | 1–4m³, pay only for what you use |
| Ballast and cement | £60–£80 in materials | Under 1m³, plus a day of your labour |
| Bagged premix | £180–£260 equivalent | Under 0.3m³ |
Site-mixing always looks cheapest on paper because your own time isn’t in the number. A cubic metre made from ballast and cement is roughly 2.3 tonnes of material to move, mix and place — a full day’s hard work for two people, and the batch-to-batch consistency will never match a plant.
Our ballast calculator gives exact quantities if you do go that route.
Getting a quote
Have the volume, grade, postcode, date and access details ready before you ring. Mention specifically if the truck cannot get within chute reach of the pour, because that changes the answer entirely — you may need a pump, or the supplier may decline the job.
Ask two things that are easy to forget: whether the price is inclusive of VAT, and what the part-load threshold is. Both vary between suppliers and both can change which quote is genuinely cheapest.
Use the cost calculator to fix your volume first. Suppliers quote against what you tell them, and under-ordering costs far more than over-ordering — a second delivery to finish a slab means a cold joint and another part-load fee.
What a cubic metre looks like on site
People routinely underestimate a cubic metre. It’s a cube a metre on each side, it weighs 2.4 tonnes, and it fills roughly forty builder’s barrows. Moving one cubic metre from a truck on the road to a base at the bottom of the garden is a genuine morning’s work for two people.
Some reference points that help when you’re planning:
| One cubic metre gives you | At this thickness |
|---|---|
| 10 m² of slab | 100 mm |
| 6.7 m² of slab | 150 mm |
| 5 m² of slab | 200 mm |
| 1.7 linear metres of trench | 600 × 1000 mm footing |
| 28 fence post holes | 300 mm dia × 600 mm deep |
| 40 barrow loads | Standard builder’s barrow |
That last row is the one worth remembering. If you’re barrowing rather than discharging straight into formwork, count the barrow loads before you count the money — it’s usually the labour that decides whether a job is realistic, not the cost of the concrete.
Common questions
How much does 1m³ of concrete cover?
10m² at 100mm thick, 6.7m² at 150mm, or 5m² at 200mm. For a shed base at 100mm, one cubic metre covers roughly a 3m × 3.3m area.
Is VAT included in concrete prices?
Trade quotes are usually ex-VAT and consumer quotes usually inc-VAT, but there’s no consistency. Always ask which you’re being given — 20% on a £700 order is £140, which is more than enough to change which supplier is cheapest.
What is the minimum concrete order?
Most drum-mix suppliers have a 1m³ minimum but apply a part-load charge below 5 or 6m³. Volumetric suppliers will often deliver 0.5m³ with only a small minimum charge, which is why they win comfortably on small jobs.
How much concrete for a typical shed base?
A 3m × 2.4m base at 100mm needs 0.72m³. Add 5% and order 0.76m³ — that’s squarely volumetric or bagged territory rather than a drum-mix delivery, where the part-load fee would more than double your cost.
Can I get concrete delivered on a Saturday?
Usually yes, with a premium of around 10 to 15%. Sunday is rarely available at any price because most plants don’t batch. Book weekend slots well ahead — they fill quickly in spring and summer.