Roofers in London who actually turn up.

Roofing in London

Why London roofs fail, and what a repair should cost

London has more roof types per square mile than almost anywhere in Britain, and the age of the house usually tells you what's about to go wrong with it. Here's what we see across the enquiries that come through this site.

Roofs by era

• Georgian and early Victorian (pre-1860): Welsh slate on timber, often hidden behind a parapet. Failures are lead valleys, parapet gutters and slates whose iron nails have rusted away. Common in Islington, Westminster, Camden and Kensington.
• Victorian terraces (1860 to 1900): the bulk of inner London. Slate, later clay tile, with butterfly or "London" roofs draining to a central valley you can't see from the street. Chimney stacks on every party wall. Hackney, Lambeth, Southwark, Haringey, Lewisham.
• Edwardian and interwar semis (1900 to 1939): clay-tiled hipped roofs, bay windows with their own small flat or lean-to roofs, and the beginnings of the suburban flat garage roof. Barnet, Harrow, Bromley, Greenwich, Redbridge, Ealing.
• Post-war estates and 1960s to 1980s builds: felt and asphalt flat roofs, concrete tiles, and a lot of deferred maintenance. Repairs are cheaper per job but come round more often.
• Extensions of every age: the rear extension flat roof is the single most common thing London roofers replace, whatever the house it's attached to.

Why two quotes for the same job can be £1,000 apart

It's rarely the roofer's day rate. It's access. A terrace with no side path needs scaffold over the front or materials carried through the house. A parapet wall needs edge protection. A conservation area may need matching reclaimed slate rather than new. And a roof nobody has been on for twenty years has surprises the first quote can't see. This is why we send three roofers to inspect rather than one to guess over the phone.

Conservation areas and listed buildings

Around a fifth of London sits in a conservation area, and the inner boroughs are closer to half. Like-for-like repairs are fine. Changing the roof covering, adding rooflights to a street-facing slope, or altering the shape usually needs the council's consent, and listed buildings need it for almost any roof work. Ask the roofer whether your street is covered before you agree to concrete tiles on a slate roof; a good one will already know.

Typical London repair costs, 2026

Job	Typical range
Replace a few slipped slates or tiles	£150 to £350
Clear and re-line a valley or parapet gutter	£400 to £1,200
Chimney repointing and new lead flashing	£600 to £1,500 per stack
Replace a rear extension flat roof in GRP or EPDM	£1,800 to £4,000
Full re-roof, two-storey terrace or semi	£8,000 to £16,000

Ranges reflect what London homeowners have typically been quoted, including scaffolding where needed. Central and West London, parapets, rear-only access and conservation-area materials push toward the top. These are a guide, not a quote.

Local pages

Where we have enough enquiries, we've written up what's typical for the area: