What electric gates cost in Teesside in 2026
Budget £3,200 to £9,500 for a complete automated gate installation on Teesside, £1,300 to £2,600 to automate gates you already own, and £95 to £350 for most repairs. Width, ground condition, cable run and access control decide where in those ranges you land.
Electric gate quotes vary more than almost any other home improvement, and the reason is that they bundle five separate trades into one number. Here is how that number breaks down on Teesside in 2026, so you can read a quote properly instead of comparing headline figures.
The headline ranges
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Automation fitted to existing gates | £1,300 to £2,600 |
| New automated swing pair, aluminium | £3,200 to £6,000 |
| New automated swing pair, hardwood | £4,500 to £7,500 |
| Tracked sliding gate | £4,000 to £7,000 |
| Cantilever sliding gate | £5,500 to £9,500 |
| Repairs and call-outs | £95 to £350 |
| Annual service | £110 to £180 |
1. The gates themselves
Material and width do most of the work here. Powder-coated aluminium is the value option and the low-maintenance one, roughly £900 to £2,200 for a domestic pair. Galvanised and coated steel costs similar to slightly more and brings strength for wide spans. Hardwood is the premium, £1,800 to £4,000 for a pair, and it needs oiling or painting to stay right. Bespoke sizes cost more than standard ones, and lead times of three to six weeks are normal for made-to-measure.
2. The operators
Motors and control gear are typically £700 to £2,000 depending on type and duty. Ram or articulated arms sit at the affordable end. Underground operators cost more, both in kit and in the drained boxes and groundwork they need. Sliding gate motors with rack are in the middle, but the gate frame and foundation around them cost more. High duty cycle commercial units are a step up again.
3. Safety devices
Photocells, safety edges, warning signage and force testing add roughly £250 to £700 to a domestic installation. This is the section that separates cheap quotes from compliant ones. An automated gate is machinery, and force limitation plus obstacle detection are not optional extras. If a quote is £700 below the others, ask what safety kit it includes before assuming it is a bargain.
4. Power and electrical work
Expect £300 to £1,200. The variables are whether your consumer unit has a spare way, how far the entrance is from the house, and what the cable has to cross. Thirty metres of lawn is cheap. Thirty metres of block paving is a lift-and-relay job. A resin driveway is the expensive case, and sometimes the reason to go wireless on the controls.
5. Groundworks
Post foundations, motor boxes, track beds and duct runs add £250 to £1,500. Sliding gates sit at the top of that because the foundations carry concentrated loads. Where existing brick or stone piers can be used, this line shrinks. Where piers turn out to be hollow or the ground is soft, it grows, which is exactly why a survey beats a phone estimate.
What pushes a Teesside quote up
- Coastal specification: stainless fixings, marine-grade aluminium or galvanised-before-coating steel near Redcar, Saltburn, Seaton Carew and the Headland. Adds a little, saves a lot.
- Slope: a rising driveway can rule out swing gates entirely and push you to a slider, which is a different price bracket.
- Width: beyond five metres, weight and wind load climb sharply and motor specification follows.
- Access control: video entry or GSM adds £650 to £1,600, loops and free-exit sensors £250 to £550.
- Reinstatement: who relays the paving, and to what standard, should be in writing.
What should keep it down
Automating gates you already own is the single biggest saving, provided the leaves are square and the posts are sound. Narrower openings, an existing outdoor power supply, ram arms instead of underground motors, and a slatted aluminium infill instead of hardwood all reduce the total without compromising the installation. So does deciding on intercoms and loops before the trench is dug rather than after.
Reading three quotes properly
Line them up on six points: motor make and model, safety devices listed individually, electrical supply route and certification, groundworks described, gate material and finish specification, and what the handover includes. If one quote is silent on three of those, it is not cheaper, it is less complete. And any quote written without someone standing at your gateway with a tape measure is a guess dressed up as a price.