Padel courts offers a sporting chance for work on new leisure projects

The spectacular growth in Padel as a popular sport is serving up a wave of leisure projects, which offer good potential for new construction work.

As well as creating significant opportunities for building new courts to play the game, Padel is emerging as the dominant activity, which is ‘anchoring’ many indoor leisure schemes that offer a wider range of pastimes.

As the UK’s fastest-growing sport, Padel is relatively easy to pick up and highly social. Some 860,000 Britons played padel in 2025 across more than 1,500 courts, and the global market is set to exceed 6 billion euros by 2026. Industry sources also note that whilst London is leading the growth in take-up, the North West, Greater Manchester, and Liverpool have seen some of the fastest per-capita growth in the activity. It is also proving popular in Birmingham, Bristol, and Leeds, with universities and private clubs emerging as the biggest drivers in the sport.

The spread of new developments linked to Padel chimes with data in the April Glenigan Construction Review. It shows that the value of indoor leisure projects started in the first quarter was £438 million, up 35% on the period a year earlier. Meanwhile, the total value of all new sports facilities project starts rose 15% in the first quarter to £188 million.

Dozens of new developments

Glenigan project data also details dozens of new Padel court developments underway or in the pipeline, which offer construction work opportunities around the country. Indeed, in the first 14 days of May alone, plans on 90 separate projects involving Padel courts were progressed to various stages around the country.

Many new Padel developments are valued at under £250,00 and are at the pre-tender stage. One typical project in this category is at Fenton Manor Sports Centre in Stoke-On-Trent, where planning permission has recently been granted for an extension scheme involving four padel courts: two enclosed and two open-air. Work on the scheme is set to start this September and run for three months (Project ID: 25630594).

Larger new Padel Courts schemes are also in the pipeline. At Total Fitness at West Strand in Preston, planning permission has recently been granted for a £4.8 million scheme to build new structures for Padel Courts. Work on the project involving almost 1,600 sq m of space is due to start this summer and run for 24 months (Project ID: 26018511).

At Castlecroft Caravan Centre in Manchester (pictured), work is due to start this summer on a £4.33 million project to create five covered padel courts and convert an existing building to a clubhouse. Work on the scheme, involving over 1,400 sq m of space, is due to run for seven months (Project ID: 25238663).

Conversions of existing buildings

Indeed, many schemes involve the conversion of existing buildings and facilities into Padel courts. At Bellway Industrial Estate in Newcastle, for example, plans have recently been submitted to convert a vacant warehouse into a facility with four padel courts, along with car parking. (Project ID: 26260025).

Padel also forms a leading role in new, broadly-based leisure developments. Plans for a £13.05 million fitness centre in Northampton have been submitted by David Lloyd Leisure for a scheme involving a club with three padel courts with canopies, three tennis courts, a multi-use games area, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, along with a sports hall, gym, and studio facilities, and food & drink facilities (Project ID: 26224808).

The spread of new padel developments also reflects changing trends in the popularity of various sports and leisure pastimes. At Woolfox Golf and Country Club in Stamford, Lincolnshire, a golf driving range is being demolished and a golf course redeveloped in a £5.6 million scheme. It will include padel courts, an expanded swimming pool, sauna, therapy & treatment rooms, along with a new restaurant and bar space, as well as holiday and hotel lodges. Detailed plans have been submitted, and work is due to start early next year (Project ID: 26190536).

Five-a-side football pitches are also being redeveloped to create Padel Courts. Powerleague Fives, the largest operator of ‘small-sided’ football venues, has recently arranged a £22.5m refinancing package to expand its padel court offering and upgrade its UK estate.

Glenigan data provides details on a Powerleague Fives scheme at Romford in Essex, where detailed plans have been approved for a project to replace two 5-a-side football pitches with four Padel tennis courts, along with fencing, floodlighting, and canopies (Project ID: 24303799).

Meanwhile, developers are also including Padel courts within new social and education-related housing projects. The £100 million University of Bath Claverton Down Campus Student Accommodation scheme, where work is set to start later this year, includes two Padel courts alongside some 962 bed spaces (Project ID: 25495063).