How to open a padel club in the UK, step by step
The nine steps to start a padel club, in the order that saves you money: from demand and the building to quotes and opening. Each one links to the page that goes into it, with its sources.
- Check demand and the location
- Find a building or a site
- Work out how many courts fit
- Work out what it costs
- Check that it pays
- Sort out planning permission
- Design the club and get the plan
- Get quotes and choose a builder
- Build and open
Check demand and the location
Look at the clubs already near you, how full they are at peak and off-peak, and how people will get there.
Before any building, the question is who will play and when. Look at the clubs and courts already within reach, their prices and how hard it is to book at peak time and in the middle of the day. Then the practical side: parking, public transport and how far your players will travel.
The Playtomic Global Padel Report 2026 puts average peak-time occupancy in British clubs at 85 %; across all opening hours it is much lower. What makes the numbers work is how much you sell off-peak.
Source: Playtomic Global Padel Report 2026, as reported by Padel Addict, May 2026.
Find a building or a site
Clear height, columns and clear span indoors; size and orientation outdoors.
Indoors, three things decide whether a warehouse works: the clear height, the columns and the span. The FIP rules ask for at least 6 m clear throughout the court, with nothing such as lights in that space, and suggest 8 m for new facilities. Measure under the lowest thing over the court (truss, light, duct), not at the ridge. A column in the wrong place can cost a court, and a pitched roof can leave courts possible only in the middle of the building.
Outdoors, the FIP recommends the long axis of each court north–south. If you have a tennis court or a five-a-side pitch, there are worked layouts for both. Check the lease or purchase only once you know how many courts really fit.
Padel court calculator → · Padel court dimensions and clear height → · On a tennis court → · On a five-a-side pitch →
Work out how many courts fit
Not floor area divided by 200 m²: with the access zone, the clearances and a route to the exit.
A court is 20 × 10 m, but it needs an 8 × 2 m access zone at the side opening and 1.5 m to the next court (LTA guidance), and a 1.2 m route to the exit. In our layouts, buildings of 15,000 to 40,000 sq ft work out at about 3,300 to 5,000 sq ft per court. A 30,000 sq ft building fits 8.
Work out what it costs
The courts, the base outdoors, and everything that is not a court.
The LTA puts one outdoor court with lighting, ring beam, base and drainage at £71,000, and four at £268,000; a canopy over one court adds £75,000 with its foundation. Indoors there is no ring beam, but there is the fit-out of the building. On top: the building itself, reception and changing rooms, services, and design and consents.
Source: LTA Padel (2025 guidance). Market references, not quotes.
Check that it pays
The occupancy you need to break even, with the courts that fit in your building.
Profitability is the hours you sell against what it costs to stay open: rent, staff and running costs. The 2026 UK Padel Report puts the median peak-time price at £42 per court hour among the nine largest UK operators; off-peak is cheaper. Enter your own figures in the calculator and look first at the occupancy you need to break even.
Source: The Padel Paper, on the 2026 UK Padel Report by Oxygen Consulting, June 2026.
Sort out planning permission
Use class, noise, lighting and Building Regulations, before you commit.
Indoor padel generally falls within Use Class E(d) and outdoor courts within F2(c). Outdoor courts and canopies usually need permission, and councils often ask about noise and lighting. Building Regulations apply to the fit-out, separately from planning. Check all of this before you sign for the building.
Source: Freeths, “Planning for more padel” (May 2026). General guidance for England, not legal advice.
Design the club and get the plan
Your building with its roof, columns and entrances, and a dimensioned plan.
Draw the building in the planner, with its roof, columns and entrances, and the engine lays out the most courts that comply, in 2D and 3D. The dimensioned plan, with every court, access zone and route and coordinates from 0,0, is what the architect, the bank and the builder will ask for first. Designing is free, with no sign-up.
Get quotes and choose a builder
Quotes on the same plan, compared item by item.
If every builder quotes its own layout, the quotes cannot be compared. With the plan, they all quote the same courts. Compare the structure, glass, turf, lighting, base and drainage, installation, warranty, lead time and after-sales. If you want, we pass your plan to up to 3 installers or manufacturers in your area.
Build and open
Approval and funding in order, the courts checked against the rules, and insurance.
The LTA advises getting planning approved before funding is finalised, and the funder's written permission before work starts. Ask each builder for the delivery and installation dates in writing: they depend on the builder and on the site. Before opening, check the courts against the FIP dimensions and keep the final plan that matches what was approved, for the insurer and any later change.
Sources: LTA Padel (2025) on approval before funding; International Padel Federation (FIP), Rules of Padel, review in force from 1 January 2026.
Padel court dimensions → · Planning and Building Regulations →
Steps 2, 3 and 7 in one go.
Draw your building and see how many courts fit, with the plan at the end. Free, no sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start a padel club in the UK?
Check demand and the location, find a building or site with enough clear height, work out how many courts fit, cost it, check that it pays, sort out planning, design the club and get the plan, get quotes on that plan and build. This page goes through each step.
How much does it cost to open a padel club?
The courts are one part: the LTA puts one outdoor court with lighting, base and drainage at £71,000 and four at £268,000. On top come the building, its fit-out, reception and changing rooms, services, and design and consents.
How much space do you need for a padel club?
It depends on the shape of the building and its columns. With the LTA clearances, our layouts give about 3,300 to 5,000 sq ft per court in buildings of 15,000 to 40,000 sq ft, plus whatever you need for reception and changing rooms.
What height does a building need for padel?
At least 6 m clear throughout the court under the FIP rules, with no lights or other elements in that space; 8 m is suggested for new facilities.
Do you need planning permission to open a padel club?
Usually for outdoor courts and canopies. For indoor courts in an existing building it depends on its lawful use: indoor padel generally falls within Use Class E(d). Building Regulations apply to the fit-out either way.
How long does it take to open a padel club?
We do not publish a timeline, because it depends on planning, funding, the building and each builder’s lead times. Ask each builder for delivery and installation dates in writing.
Is a padel club profitable?
It can be, depending on the courts that fit and the hours you sell. The profitability calculator shows the occupancy you need to break even with your own figures.
Space per court from our layouts with the LTA clearances (clear-span buildings, 8 m clear height, one entrance), about 3,700 sq ft per court in 30,000 sq ft. General guidance, not a business plan or legal advice.