How-to · 6 min
How to find pay-and-play tennis courts near you
Where to look, what to book, and how to spot the best public courts in your area without joining a club.
Last updated: 28 April 2026
Key takeaways
- Most UK park tennis courts are bookable online via the LTA Rally app.
- Roughly half of the LTA's 3,000 park-court sites are now free to play; the rest charge £4–£10 per slot.
- Off-peak weekday slots are almost always available, even at popular sites.
You don't need a club membership to play tennis in the UK. There are over 27,000 park tennis courts in the country - many recently refurbished thanks to the LTA's Park Tennis programme - and the booking system has gone from chaotic to genuinely useful in the last few years.
Where to look
- Start with the LTA Rally app - it covers virtually every council-run court in the UK and shows live availability.
- Search our directory by postcode for nearby courts (and a sport filter to switch between tennis and padel).
- Check Better, Places Leisure and other big leisure operators if you're in a major city - they sometimes run separate booking platforms.
- Look at local university and school courts - many are bookable in the evenings and at weekends.
Free vs paid courts
About 50% of park courts in the UK are still free to use. The trade-off: they're often unmaintained, surfaces can be cracked, and nets sag. The paid courts (typically £4–£10) fund resurfacing, gates, lights and online booking, and tend to be in much better condition.
| Type | Typical cost | Condition | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free council court | £0 | Variable, often worn | Turn up - sometimes app |
| LTA-managed park court | £4–£10 / hour | Good, regularly maintained | LTA Rally app |
| Leisure-operator court | £6–£14 / hour | Good to excellent | Operator app or web |
How to spot a good public court
- Look for resurfaced acrylic or modern macadam rather than old tarmac - colour evenness is a good visual cue.
- Check the net height adjuster works and the centre strap is present.
- Floodlights are a huge plus - they extend your season by months.
- Reviews on the LTA Rally app are increasingly reliable; a court averaging 4+ stars usually delivers.
Etiquette and best practice
- Stick to your booked slot - overrunning a busy court annoys the next group.
- Bring your own balls; expect nothing from the venue.
- Wear flat-soled court shoes - running shoes shred public-court surfaces.
- Take your rubbish home, including ball tubes and tape.
Alternatives if your local courts are awful
If your local public courts genuinely aren't playable, you have a few options short of full club membership: pay-per-session at a leisure-operator venue, off-peak tennis at a private club (some offer reduced-rate 'flexible' membership for daytime players), or organising a small group to fund a court hire at a school or university.
Frequently asked questions
Are public tennis courts free in the UK?
About half of council-run park tennis courts are still free. The other half are part of the LTA's managed scheme, which charges £4–£10 per slot to fund maintenance.
How do I book a public tennis court?
Most UK park courts can be booked via the LTA Rally app, which shows live availability across thousands of sites. Some council courts still operate first-come, first-served.
What's the best app for finding tennis courts?
LTA Rally is the most comprehensive for booking park courts. For private club courts and padel, our directory and ClubSpark are more useful.