Last Updated on 5 August 2026 by Dave King
Tennis courts in Brighton run on a rule that is easy to miss: every council-run court is free to use before 10am. It sits in a table on the council’s tennis page, it applies to every ticket type, and it turns an early start into the cheapest game in the city.
The complication is who runs what. Some courts are managed directly by the council on a fixed price list. Others have been taken over by community interest companies or tennis alliances that maintain the courts themselves and set their own hourly rates. The difference matters because it changes what you pay, whether you can just turn up, and which website you need.
This guide covers seven places to play, what each charges, and the organisational quirk at Preston Park and Hove Park that trips people up before they have hit a ball.
Table of Contents
7 Tennis Courts in Brighton Featured in This Guide
| Venue | Where | Courts | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Park | Preston | 8 | Pay and play, check calendar |
| St Ann’s Tennis | Hove | 8 | Pay and play, no membership |
| Queen’s Park | Queen’s Park | 6, four floodlit | Pay and play, membership waitlisted |
| Dyke Park | Seven Dials | 6, three floodlit | Pay and play or membership |
| Hove Park | Hove | 7, five floodlit | Online booking, check membership |
| Badgers | Kemptown | 4 | Non-members book 3 days ahead |
| Saltdean | Saltdean | 4 | Pay and play, rate not published |
Prices last checked August 2026.
Preston Park
Eight newly renovated courts, though the published hours conflict: the LTA venue listing says 6am to 11pm while the operator’s own booking page says 7am to 8pm, so check the live calendar. Anyone can book consecutive half-hour slots for as long as they are free, and the group running the courts states plainly that it prioritises pay and play. Their published rate is £8.50 an hour. You get a gate code with your booking.
Here is the thing that confuses everyone. There are two organisations at Preston Park with almost identical web addresses. Preston Park Tennis Courts, on the .com, is the community interest company that manages and books the courts. Preston Park Tennis Club, on the .co.uk, is a members’ club for people who want to play competitive doubles in the Brighton & Hove Parks League. Club members get half price court hire, but the club says outright that membership is not offered solely for cheap courts.
So if you want a game, use the .com. If you want a team, use the .co.uk. Junior coaching runs through Tennis Tigers, starting from age four.
St Ann’s Tennis
Eight recently resurfaced tarmac courts in St Ann’s Well Gardens, about fifteen minutes on foot from Brighton station, and the least complicated of the seven. The homepage and the booking page both say £9.60 an hour with no membership required, though their own FAQ still shows £8.60, so budget for the higher one.
St Ann’s is a registered LTA venue run as a non-profit community interest company, which is why the money goes back into the surfaces rather than out of the city. It runs a busy programme: group and private coaching, LTA tournaments, weekly doubles sessions, a Parks League team, and singles box leagues for members. There is a weekly welcome session if you are sizing the place up.
The box leagues are the reason to join rather than just book. They give you a run of competitive singles against people at your level, which is hard to organise privately.
Queen’s Park
Six courts in the valley park, and a club that has been running since 1939, making it one of the older ones in the city. Non-members can book online at £9 an hour, or £15 for one of the four floodlit courts. Adult membership is £175 a year, but the club is currently operating a waiting list and asks applicants to email.
That membership number needs context. At £9 a booking it takes 20 hours before membership is cheaper, and only if you play other full members: bringing a guest carries a £5 court charge. Group sessions run for beginners, juniors and adults across standards, and no annual membership is required to use the courts at all.
The setting is the draw. The courts sit inside Queen’s Park itself, a sheltered valley in east Brighton just up from Kemptown.
Dyke Park
Six courts in Dyke Road Park, three of them floodlit, which is what makes weekday evening play possible through the darker months. Hove Park has five floodlit courts and Queen’s Park four, and Badgers runs its on tokens. Preston Park’s pages conflict: the court operator says floodlights are being added, while the members’ club and the Parks LTA refer to them as installed, so check before booking an evening slot.
Dyke Park Tennis Club is an LTA registered venue that competes in the Brighton & Hove Parks League, and the courts are available for pay and play by non-members. It has sea views from the courts, and the park cafe with its raised terrace is right there, which takes some of the sting out of losing.
Hove Park
Hove Park has seven courts, five floodlit artificial clay and two hard, and is run by the Hove Park Tennis Alliance, a non-profit that maintains them under authorisation from the council. It works differently from the rest. All bookings and payments go through their online system, hoveparkcourts.co.uk, or the ClubSpark Booker app. There is no turning up and paying someone.
Membership of the Alliance costs £100 a year for adults and £35 for under-18s, and it includes free court usage all year round. Their pages disagree on availability: the membership page says both tiers are at full capacity with a waiting list, while the homepage welcomes new members. Ask before you plan around it. Casual rates are shown online when you book.
Confusingly, Hove Park Tennis Club is a separate playing club, with adult membership at £125. The Alliance’s page lists it as closed to new members while the club’s own page invites enquiries to its captain, so ask rather than assume. The Alliance runs the courts. The club runs the teams.
Badgers, Kemptown
Four all-weather courts in Church Place, tied with Saltdean as the smallest here. Badgers has been part of the community for well over a century, in a walled setting off Church Place.
Non-members can book up to three days in advance, which is a shorter window than elsewhere, so it suits spontaneous games more than planned ones. If you need the floodlights you buy tokens from the clubhouse, and since it is not always staffed it is worth getting them in advance.
Saltdean
Four resurfaced hard courts in the Oval Park, tucked behind Saltdean Lido, and the only entry here east of the marina. There is a clubhouse shared with the bowls club.
Saltdean Tennis Club took the courts over from the council in 2023 via a Community Amateur Sport Company, and refurbished them with LTA funding that included gate access and online booking. Fees go back into maintaining them.
The courts are pay and play through ClubSpark like the rest, with one difference: the club publishes no hourly rate on its own pages, so you see the price at the booking stage. Membership runs from 1 April, and their pages mention weekly social sessions without naming fixed days, so ask before turning up for one.
Also Worth Knowing
Council courts are free before 10am. The council’s own price list puts every ticket type at zero before 10am. After that the approved 2026/27 rates are £9.60 an hour for adults and £5.90 for juniors, dropping to £2.90 for juniors on weekdays before 5pm including through the summer holidays. Concessions, covering Compass Card holders, over-65s and people receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance, are £8.60 an hour or £5 on weekdays before 5pm.
Club-run sites set their own fees. The council rate does not apply at Preston Park, St Ann’s, Hove Park, Queen’s Park, Dyke Park, Badgers or Saltdean, because those courts are managed by clubs, alliances or community interest companies. Published rates are £8.50 at Preston Park, £8.80 at Dyke Park with a £5 off-peak option, £9 at Queen’s Park and £9.60 at St Ann’s. Queen’s Park charges £15 for a floodlit court, and Hove Park shows its casual rates through the booking system.
Most of these courts are no longer run by the council. Saltdean’s club took its courts over in 2023, and St Ann’s, Preston Park, Hove Park, Dyke Park and Queen’s Park are all now managed by clubs, alliances or community interest companies that set their own fees and fund their own resurfacing. St Ann’s states on its own FAQ that the council no longer funds the upkeep of any parks tennis courts in the city. So check who runs the court you are heading to, because the council price list may not apply there.
Check whether membership is even open. Queen’s Park is operating a waiting list, and Hove Park’s own pages disagree over whether the Alliance is full. Queen’s Park at £175 beats twenty £9 bookings only when you play other members, since guests carry a £5 court charge. The Hove Park Alliance includes court time in its £100 fee.
The Brighton & Hove Parks League is one route into competitive tennis. Several of these clubs field teams in it, and there are box leagues, club tournaments and county competitions alongside. Joining is how you get a game against people at your standard rather than whoever you can talk into it.
Every court here is outdoors. When the weather closes in, padel courts are the nearest racquet substitute, and climbing in Brighton is the indoor fallback. Withdean’s three covered courts opened in April 2026 and Hove Beach Park has four outdoor ones.
FAQs
How much are tennis courts in Brighton?
Council-run courts are free before 10am, then £9.60 an hour for adults and £5.90 for juniors. Club-run sites set their own rates: £8.50 an hour at Preston Park, £9 at Queen’s Park and £9.60 at St Ann’s. Hove Park Alliance membership is £100 and includes court time, though its pages disagree over whether places are open.
Can you just turn up and play tennis in Brighton?
At council-run courts, yes, on a pay and play basis. At club-managed sites you book online first, and most send a PIN or gate code with the confirmation, so turning up unannounced can mean finding the courts locked or occupied. Badgers takes online non-member bookings too; its tokens are only for the floodlights. Booking windows vary: three days at Badgers, seven at Dyke Park and Queen’s Park, up to fourteen at Hove Park.
Do you need to join a club to play?
No. Preston Park, St Ann’s, Queen’s Park, Dyke Park, Hove Park, Badgers and Saltdean all take non-member bookings, and St Ann’s states outright that no membership is required. Membership buys discounted or free court time, club sessions and a route into the Brighton & Hove Parks League.
Which tennis courts in Brighton have floodlights?
Hove Park has five, Queen’s Park four, and Dyke Park and Badgers three each, with Badgers operating its on tokens bought from the clubhouse. Preston Park’s own pages disagree over whether its floodlights are in yet, so check before relying on an evening booking.
Where can juniors play and get coaching?
Preston Park runs the Tennis Tigers programme from age four, though their pages give different upper ages, so check with the coaching team. St Ann’s has junior coaching, holiday camps and junior tournaments. Queen’s Park runs group sessions for juniors. On council courts the junior rate is £2.90 on weekdays before 5pm including the summer holidays, and free before 10am like everyone else.
Final Thoughts
For a casual game with no commitment, St Ann’s is the cleanest answer. No membership, £9.60, eight resurfaced courts, and a walk from the station.
To pay nothing at all, get up early. Council courts are free before 10am, which is the fact worth knowing about tennis courts in Brighton and the one nobody puts in a headline.
For winter evenings you need floodlights, which means Dyke Park, Queen’s Park, Hove Park or Badgers. Preston Park’s pages disagree over whether its lights are in. The rest stay open in daylight all year. For value if you play regularly, the Hove Park Tennis Alliance includes court time in its £100 membership, though its pages disagree over whether places are open. And if you want match play rather than a knock-up, the clubs run the routes into it: the Parks League, box leagues, tournaments and county competitions.
