Converting a Tennis Court to Padel

Choosing to convert a tennis court to padel is one of the most efficient ways to add padel, because the hard, level slab a tennis court already sits on is exactly the kind of base a padel court needs. A standard tennis court is roughly 36 metres by 18, and a padel court is 20 metres by 10, so the question that decides the whole project is simple: how many padel courts fit on the footprint you have, and is the existing base sound enough to build on.

This guide covers the conversion maths, when the tennis base is genuinely reusable and when it is not, what physically changes, and how the cost of a conversion compares with a new build from bare ground.

How many padel courts fit on a tennis court

A single tennis court comfortably holds one padel court, with room to spare, and many sites can fit two padel courts side by side on the same footprint with careful layout. Three is occasionally possible on a generous court or where the surrounding run-off can be used, but it is the exception rather than the rule and depends on what sits around the slab.

The reason two is the usual answer is spacing. Padel courts are separate enclosed structures, not shared walls, so two courts need the gap between them plus access around the cluster. A specialist will draw the layout against your actual dimensions, including the fence line and any run-off, before committing to a count.

Can you reuse the existing base?

The single biggest saving in a tennis-to-padel conversion is the slab, and a sound, flat, well-drained tennis base can often carry a padel court with little more than checking and preparation. That is what makes conversions faster and cheaper than building from bare ground, where the groundworks and foundation are a large share of the cost.

The base is not automatically reusable, though, and this is where honesty matters. A cracked, heaved, or poorly drained slab, or one that is not flat to the tolerance a padel court needs, may have to be repaired, overlaid, or in the worst case removed and replaced. An asphalt tennis court behaves differently from a concrete one, and the surface the padel turf sits on has to be right. Treat the base as a question for a specialist, not an assumption.

What actually changes in a conversion

A tennis court and a padel court share almost nothing above the slab, so a conversion is closer to a new build than a resurfacing. The tennis net, posts, and line markings come out, and a complete padel enclosure goes in.

• The glass-and-mesh enclosure: toughened glass on the lower walls, mesh above, held in a steel frame
• The playing surface: padel turf with sand infill, laid over the prepared base, not a tennis hard court
• The fencing and perimeter: padel's tall walls and fence replace the lower tennis fence
• Lighting: repositioned or replaced for padel's smaller, taller court
• Access gates and run-off: set out for the new layout

The existing tennis fencing, lighting columns, and surface rarely transfer directly, so budget for the full padel enclosure rather than expecting to keep much of the tennis court beyond the base.

What it costs to convert a tennis court to padel

A conversion is usually cheaper than an equivalent new build, and the saving comes almost entirely from the groundworks you avoid when an existing base is reusable. Where a court on bare ground carries the full cost of excavation, foundation, and drainage, a conversion can skip or reduce that and spend mainly on the enclosure, surface, and lighting.

How large the saving is depends entirely on the base. If the slab is sound, the saving is real and worth pursuing; if it needs significant repair or replacement, the gap to a new build narrows quickly, and a conversion can end up costing close to one. Express the budget as a band, not a fixed figure, somewhere below the cost of a new court when the base holds up, and approaching it when the base does not. The number that matters is the one a specialist gives you after inspecting the slab.

Planning, neighbours, and noise

Converting an existing court does not exempt you from the same checks a new court faces. Padel's walls and fence are taller than a tennis surround, the floodlighting may differ, and the game is noticeably louder. The ball off the glass carries, and that change on a site that was previously a quieter tennis court can prompt objections from neighbours.

Depending on where you are, a change of this kind can need planning permission or sit under local rules, even on land already used for sport. Check before you commit, talk to neighbours early, and be realistic about lighting hours, because the conversion being quick to build does not make the permissions automatic.

Where to start with a tennis-to-padel conversion

The first move is to have a specialist assess the existing base and confirm how many padel courts the footprint genuinely holds, because both answers decide the budget. Start my project puts a structured brief in front of vetted specialist builders who inspect your slab, set out a realistic court count, and quote the actual scope: base preparation, enclosure, surface, and lighting.

Describe your project once, and we route it to specialists who convert and build these courts for a living, then stay close with light-touch progress checks as it moves from inspection to finished court, a point of contact if anything drifts, while the builder does the work.