A new garage door is one of the more straightforward home-improvement decisions you’ll make, but the range of types, materials, and automation options means prices vary enormously. Expect to pay about £1,000–£3,500 fully installed for a standard single garage door, more for an insulated side-hinged or bespoke timber door, and more again for a double-width opening.

Security, insulation, space, and budget are the four factors that determine which door type suits you best. This guide covers every mainstream option with realistic 2026 UK costs.

Types of Garage Door

Up-and-Over

Long the most common type in UK homes, especially older ones. A single panel swings outward and up on a canopy or retractable track. They are affordable and straightforward to fit, but require clearance in front of the garage and inside the ceiling.

  • Canopy mechanism, panel protrudes by about a third when open; slightly cheaper.
  • Retractable mechanism, panel travels fully inside the garage; better for fitting a motor later.
  • Typical single-width price installed: £995–£1,500 for a manual steel door, or £1,500–£2,500 for an electric retractable door

Roller Doors

A curtain of insulated steel or aluminium slats rolls into a compact box above the opening. No swing-out required, ideal for drives where cars park close to the door.

  • Usually supplied with a motor as standard.
  • Foam-filled insulated slats offer better thermal performance than a traditional single-skin up-and-over.
  • Typical single-width price installed: £995–£1,800 for a manual door, from single-skin steel to insulated aluminium, or £1,700–£2,800 for an electric insulated aluminium door

Sectional Doors

Horizontal panels hinge together and rise vertically behind the ceiling on tracks, similar to a roller but with a flat-panel appearance and superior insulation values.

  • Insulated panels around 40 mm thick perform far better than a single skin; Hörmann quotes 1.0 W/m²K for a 5,000 × 2,125 mm door with its thicker 67 mm thermally broken sections.1
  • Flush with the opening when closed; no protrusion.
  • Typical single-width price installed: £1,895–£2,500 for an insulated door with manual operation, or £2,495–£3,500 with an electric operator.
  • Single-skin (non-insulated) sectional doors are now uncommon: Hörmann has discontinued its single-skin LTE 42 door in the UK, so the prices here are for insulated doors.2

Side-Hinged Doors

Traditional timber or steel doors that open outward like barn doors. Popular in older properties and workshop conversions where the garage is used as much for storage as for cars.

  • Simple mechanism, easy DIY maintenance.
  • Not suited to electric automation without specialist hardware.
  • Typical single-width price installed: £1,795–£2,500 for uninsulated steel, £2,800–£5,000 for insulated steel, and from about £4,800 for bespoke hardwood

Side-Sliding (Lateral)

Panels slide along a track to one side rather than upward. Useful when ceiling height is limited, but requires clear wall space beside the opening.

  • Less common; expect to pay a premium over a comparable sectional door.

Cost Comparison Table

Door type (single garage)Supplied and fittedElectric operation
Up-and-over, manual steel£995–£1,500Can be added to a retractable door
Up-and-over, electric retractable£1,500–£2,500Included
Roller, manual (single-skin steel to insulated aluminium)£995–£1,800Not included
Roller, electric insulated aluminium£1,700–£2,8003Included
Sectional, insulated, manual£1,895–£2,500Can be added
Sectional, insulated, electric£2,495–£3,500Included
Side-hinged, uninsulated steel£1,795–£2,500Rarely available
Side-hinged, insulated steel (20–40 mm)£2,800–£5,000Rarely available

Prices are for a single garage door on a standard opening of about 2,290 × 2,250 mm, including VAT, survey, removal of the old door and installation, taken from one installer’s 2025 price examples (The Garage Door Centre, which installs in the Midlands and Home Counties). A double-width door costs more. Structural lintel work, brickwork repairs or a new electrical supply add cost.

As a check on the sectional prices, Hörmann’s recommended retail price for its RenoMatic insulated sectional door with a ProMatic electric operator starts at £1,847, excluding VAT and fitting, in its campaign sizes.4 Bought supply-only, a Garador Carlton steel up-and-over door 7 ft wide and 6 ft 6 in high with retractable gear was listed at £1,077.60 including VAT, before fitting.5

Materials

Steel dominates the UK market. Powder-coated steel is durable, low maintenance, and available in any RAL colour. Skin thickness matters: heavier-gauge steel resists dents better than thin entry-level skins.

Timber offers character but demands regular painting or staining (every 3–5 years in UK weather). GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) can mimic timber convincingly without the maintenance burden.

Aluminium is lightweight, rust-proof, and suited to contemporary designs with large glazed panels. More expensive than steel.

GRP is lightweight, thermally stable, and increasingly popular for mid-range roller and sectional doors.

Insulation and Thermal Performance

An uninsulated garage loses heat rapidly. If the garage is integral to the house or converted to habitable space, insulation matters.

  • Non-insulated steel (single-skin): U-value ~6 W/m²K, fine for a detached outbuilding.
  • Insulated sectional: about 1.0 W/m²K for a large door with thick, thermally broken sections, and more with thinner panels; recommended wherever the garage connects to the house.1
  • Converted garages: once a garage becomes a heated room, a garage door kept in place is part of the thermal envelope. Building Regulations Approved Document L limits a new door in an existing home to 1.4 W/m²K, or 1.6 in a new dwelling, which only the better insulated sectional doors approach.6

Security Ratings

In a new home where the garage connects to the house, Approved Document Q asks for either the garage door or the door from the garage into the house to be a secure doorset, tested to PAS 24.7 For other garages, a door tested to PAS 24 or rated under LPS 1175 is a sensible choice rather than a requirement.7 Most roller and sectional doors with a decent motor incorporate anti-lift brackets and locking bars as standard. Side-hinged doors should have a multi-point lock.

Electric doors should be built and installed to BS EN 12453 (safety in use of power-operated doors), which covers force limits and obstruction detection such as auto-reverse.8 A powered door is also machinery under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, and HSE warns that meeting the standards alone may not be enough to satisfy those regulations.9

Electric Automation

Adding a motor to an existing manual retractable up-and-over or sectional door means buying an operator and having it fitted. Hörmann’s ProMatic Series 4 operator, for example, was listed at £387.60 including VAT on its own, so expect the fitted cost to run to several hundred pounds.10 Most current motors are WiFi-enabled and can be paired with a smartphone app or integrated with smart-home platforms.

Factor in a dedicated power circuit if there is no existing socket in the garage. A new circuit from the consumer unit typically costs a few hundred pounds for an attached garage, and more for a detached one that needs an armoured cable run, so ask for a fixed quote that includes the certificate. Connecting a door motor to an existing isolator switch is not notifiable, but a new circuit from the consumer unit is notifiable work under Part P, so use a registered electrician who can self-certify it, or notify building control.11

Planning Permission

Replacing a like-for-like garage door does not normally require planning permission in England.12 However:

  • If your home is listed, you need listed building consent for any alteration that would affect its character, and in a conservation area an Article 4 direction can bring a change of door under planning control.13
  • Widening the opening (e.g. for a double door) needs a new lintel, which is structural work under the Building Regulations, and may need planning consent on a listed building or where an Article 4 direction applies.
  • Check with your local planning authority before proceeding.

How to Choose

  1. Measure the opening accurately, width, height, and the depth of ceiling clearance available. Many installers offer a free survey.
  2. Decide on manual vs. electric before choosing a type; some doors suit motors better than others.
  3. Match the material to your maintenance appetite, steel or GRP for low effort; timber if character matters more.
  4. Check the security rating if the garage connects to the house interior.
  5. Get at least three quotes from installers who are members of the Door & Hardware Federation (DHF), the trade body for garage doors, or other vetted specialists.14

A mid-range roller or sectional door with an electric motor is the most practical upgrade for most UK households, it improves security, insulation, and convenience in a single purchase.

References (14)

Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 2 October 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.

  1. 1technicalsupplier figureHörmann UK, guidance.RN-YW85GLHörmann UK's sectional door page, giving a whole-door U-value of 1.0 W/m²K for a 5000 × 2125 mm door with its 67 mm thermally broken LPU 67 Thermo sections.
  2. 2technicalsupplier figureArridge Garage Doors, guidance.RN-MXFX2NA garage door supplier's product page for Hörmann's single-skin, non-insulated LTE 42 sectional door, stating that the door has been discontinued in the UK.
  3. 3costsupplier figureThe Garage Door Centre.RN-5HKU9HA price, true at 2025. A national garage door supplier and installer's own published price examples, by door type and by whether it is supplied only or installed. Its own selling prices rather than a survey, so it is a real market figure for what a garage door costs and not an independent view of whether that price is keen.
  4. 4costsupplier figureHörmann UK.RN-YT4PGVA price, true at 2026-09. Hörmann UK's campaign page for its RenoMatic insulated 42 mm sectional garage door. It gives a from-price of £1,847 with the ProMatic operator, stated as a recommended retail price excluding VAT and fitting, for listed campaign sizes.
  5. 5costsupplier figureSamson Doors.RN-V2SWRTA price, true at 2026-09. A door supplier's product page for the Garador Carlton steel up-and-over garage door, showing the supply-only web price for a 7 ft 0 by 6 ft 6 retractable door including and excluding VAT.
  6. 6technicalvery strongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.RN-L0FCJXThe in-force U-value tables a DIY insulation or door note must quote, with the exact numbers. Table 4.2, limiting U-values for new fabric elements in existing dwellings, sets roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, swimming pool basin 0.25, window 1.4 or Window Energy Rating Band B minimum, rooflight 2.2, doors with more than 60 per cent of the internal face glazed 1.4 or Doorset Energy Rating Band C minimum, and other doors 1.4 or Doorset Energy Rating Band B minimum. Table 4.3, for existing elements, gives a roof threshold of 0.35 and an improved value of 0.16, which is the figure a loft insulation note needs: paragraph 4.12 says a retained element whose U-value is higher than the column (a) threshold, for example through a loft or garage conversion, should be upgraded to the column (b) value. Paragraph 4.13 allows a lesser upgrade only where the improved value is not technically or functionally feasible or would not achieve a simple payback of 15 years or less. Paragraph 4.8 requires a replacement element to be no worse than the one it replaces as well as meeting Table 4.2. Paragraph 4.10 gives the heritage exception: where character must be maintained, a centre pane U-value of no more than 1.2 or low-emissivity secondary glazing. Note 9 records that the timber window concession of 1.6 or Band C ended on 14 June 2023. The 2021 edition came into force on 15 June 2022; a 2026 edition exists at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c122a6cfa346b9d4704a55/ADL1_2026.pdf.
  7. 7technicalvery strongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.RN-VGR6O6The security standard for doors and windows, ISBN 978 1 85946 601 8, in force from 5 March 2015 and last updated 22 November 2024. Requirement Q1 applies only to new dwellings, and to easily accessible doors and windows giving access into a dwelling from outside, into a building containing flats from outside, or into a flat from the common parts. Paragraph 1.2 requires secure doorsets tested to PAS 24:2012 or designed to Appendix B, with STS 201 Issue 5:2013, LPS 1175 Issue 7:2010 security rating 2, STS 202 Issue 3:2011 burglary rating 2 and LPS 2081 Issue 1:2015 security rating B accepted as equivalents. Paragraph 1.3 caps a letter plate aperture at 260mm x 40mm and points to DHF technical specification TS 008:2012. Paragraph 1.4 requires a door viewer on the main entrance door unless clear glass or an adjacent window serves the purpose, plus a door chain or limiter. Paragraph 2.2 requires ground floor, basement and other easily accessible windows and rooflights to be tested to PAS 24:2012, with STS 204 Issue 3:2012, LPS 1175 rating 1 and LPS 2081 rating A as equivalents, and paragraph 2.3 requires frames to be mechanically fixed to the structure. Appendix B specifies a doorset in solid or laminated timber to a minimum density.
  8. 8technicalvery strongHealth and Safety Executive, guidance.RN-JYU5Q9An HSE safety bulletin that reproduces BS EN 12453's safety measures for powered doors and gates, including force limitation on meeting an obstacle and sensitive protective equipment.
  9. 9technicalvery strongHealth and Safety Executive, guidance.RN-NW8D63An HSE safety bulletin on BS EN 12453:2017 explaining that powered doors and gates fall under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 and that meeting the standard alone is not enough.
  10. 10costsupplier figureGarage Doors Online.RN-ZB71NLA price, true at 2026-09. An online garage door supplier's product page for the Hörmann ProMatic Series 4 electric garage door operator, showing its supply-only price including and excluding VAT.
  11. 11technicalvery strongMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.RN-JYJ3I5The document that decides what electrical work a homeowner may legally do themselves, and the exact list of notifiable jobs. Regulation 12(6A), reproduced at paragraph 2.5, makes only three things notifiable: the installation of a new circuit, the replacement of a consumer unit, and any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location. Regulation 12(9) defines special location as, in a room containing a bath or shower, the zone extending vertically from finished floor level to 2.25 metres (or the shower head position if higher) and horizontally 600mm from the edge of the bath tub or shower tray. Paragraph 2.7 states that all other electrical installation work is not notifiable, namely additions and alterations to existing installations outside special locations, and replacements, repairs and maintenance anywhere. Paragraph 2.8 gives worked examples: a built-in cooker is not notifiable unless a new cooker circuit is needed, and connecting an electric gate or garage door to an existing isolator is not notifiable but running a new circuit from the consumer unit to that isolator is. Paragraph 2.2 confirms Part P reaches outdoor work including fixed garden lighting, pond pumps and outbuildings such as sheds, detached garages and domestic greenhouses. Notifiable work must be certified by self-certification by a registered competent person, third-party certification, or a building control body (paragraph 3.1), with the compliance certificate issued within 30 days (paragraph 3.4). Note that Approved Document P is a source of guidance rather than a ban: non-notifiable work still has to comply with BS 7671.
  12. 12technicalvery strongThe National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), legislation.RN-M6VJS2Section 55(1) defines development as the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land. Section 55(2)(a) excludes works to a building which affect only the interior of the building or which do not materially affect the external appearance of the building, which is why internal renovation does not need planning permission.
  13. 13technicalvery strongThe National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), legislation.RN-XN22L9The provision that decides when listed building consent is actually needed, and the answer to the common overstatement that any alteration to a listed building requires consent. Section 7(1): 'no person shall execute or cause to be executed any works for the demolition of a listed building or for its alteration or extension in any manner which would affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, unless the works are authorised under section 8.' The trigger is therefore effect on character as a building of special architectural or historic interest, not alteration as such, so work with no effect on that character falls outside the restriction. Section 7(2) makes subsection (1) subject to section 33(1) of the Planning Act 2008, which excludes the requirement for other consents where development consent is required. Authorisation itself comes from section 8.
  14. 14technicalgoodDoor and Hardware Federation, a page from the body itself.RN-U54701The DHF is the UK trade association for door, gate and hardware manufacturers and suppliers, under the strapline Raising Standards Advancing Safety. It covers five product areas: locks and building hardware including CE marked and security hardware; doorsets in metal and timber including fire-resisting types; industrial doors and shutters including sectional overhead doors and fire-resisting shutters; domestic garage doors from canopy to roller shutter; and automated gates and barriers including swing gates, sliding gates and access controls. It publishes best practice guides, technical specifications, safety and security resources, conformity marking information, consumer information and competency frameworks, and runs training on fire-resisting doors. Contact is +44 (0) 1827 52337.

  1. Sectional garage doors, Hörmann UK, accessed 30 September 2026. hormann.co.uk

  2. Hormann LTE 42 Sectional Doors, Steel Non-Insulated, Arridge Garage Doors, accessed 1 October 2026. arridgegaragedoors.co.uk

  3. Garage Door Price Examples, The Garage Door Centre, accessed 1 October 2026. Priced at 2025, so no calibration is needed. thegaragedoorcentre.co.uk

  4. Garage door offering at a campaign price, Hörmann UK, accessed 1 October 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. hormann.co.uk

  5. Garador Carlton steel up and over garage doors, Samson Doors, accessed 1 October 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. samsondoors.co.uk

  6. Approved Document L, Conservation of fuel and power, Volume 1: Dwellings, 2021 edition incorporating 2023 amendments, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, accessed 14 September 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  7. Approved Document Q, Security: Dwellings, 2015 edition, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, accessed 14 September 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  8. Risks to pedestrians from crushing zones on electrically powered gates, Health and Safety Executive, accessed 30 September 2026. hse.gov.uk

  9. Revision of standards for powered doors, gates and barriers, Health and Safety Executive, accessed 30 September 2026. hse.gov.uk

  10. Hormann Promatic Series 4 Operator, Garage Doors Online, accessed 1 October 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. garagedoorsonline.co.uk

  11. Approved Document P, Electrical safety: Dwellings, 2013 edition incorporating 2010 and 2013 amendments, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, accessed 30 September 2026. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

  12. Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 55: Meaning of development, legislation.gov.uk, accessed 30 September 2026. legislation.gov.uk

  13. Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, section 7: Restriction on works affecting listed buildings, legislation.gov.uk, accessed 30 September 2026. legislation.gov.uk

  14. Door & Hardware Federation, Door & Hardware Federation, accessed 30 September 2026. dhfonline.org.uk