Alkham · 5.4 road miles north-east
Roofers in Alkham
A Grade I church, listed cottages and a listed Marquis of Granby, all inside the Alkham conservation area and the Kent Downs. A roof here is read slowly, from the eaves to the ridge. We look at the covering, check what the address allows, and only then write down one total price.
- Parish church
- St Anthony the Martyr, Grade I, in use for Church of England worship
- Other listed buildings
- Forstal Cottage and the Marquis of Granby, both listed at Grade II in 1987
- Scaffold permits
- Kent County Council, £52 per week for 2026 to 2027
- Travel from Folkestone
- 5.4 road miles, around 10 minutes by road, heading north-east
Gutters, listings and extension roofs: three verdicts for roofs in Alkham
What we found
Gutter sagging between loose brackets
What it fairly needs
Reset the brackets to a steady fall.
What we found
Worn slope on a cottage with a listing
What it fairly needs
Consent route first, then pieces matched to the old.
What we found
Rear extension roof pooling after rain
What it fairly needs
New covering laid to a proper fall.
The fair ledger
A Grade I church, Dover's approval rule and a flat extension roof
Three entries for Alkham roofs: what the Grade I church shows about consent routes, how Dover District Council's like-for-like rule shapes a re-roof, and what a rear extension roof needs. Each entry ends in a verdict.
Entry 01Church and cottages
A Grade I church and two Grade II neighbours: two consent routes
A church in use and a listed cottage can look alike from the lane, yet the route to consent differs between them.
Faculty for the church, consent for the cottage
Historic England lists the Church of St Anthony the Martyr at Grade I (entry 1084358, first listed on 22 August 1962). It is in use for Church of England worship, and a church in that position is exempt from listed building consent: works go through the Church of England's faculty system. How the church plans its own repairs is a matter for that system, which we mention only so that you can see why a church and a cottage are treated differently.
Forstal Cottage (entry 1363352) and the Marquis of Granby (entry 1363350) were both listed at Grade II on 28 May 1987. Neither is a church, so for them the ordinary rule holds. Roof work keeps its permitted development rights, but a separate listed building consent, under section 7 of the 1990 Act, covers anything that would alter the building's special character.
None of this reaches a house without an entry of its own. If yours is another house in the village, we look it up before pricing and tell you what the national list shows for your address, which may be nothing at all. Where an entry does apply, the survey is photographic, and the aim is a repair that matches what is already on the roof.
Myth: A listed church and a listed cottage need the same consent.
Fact: A Church of England church in use goes through the faculty system. A listed cottage needs listed building consent.
Does the church's listing affect my roof next door?
No. A listing belongs to the building named in its entry, and a neighbouring house is judged on its own. We look your address up on the national list, then work out whether consent applies before we write the price, and the answer is included in the written report.
Entry 02Re-roofing
Re-roofing an Alkham house: the council's rule, then the fixings
Alkham lies in Dover District Council's area. That decides which building control rule governs a new covering before any roofing decision is made.
Approval first, then underlay and eaves
Dover District Council's building control pages count a roof covering swapped for a new one as work that needs approval, even if this is just like for like, and they say the same of installing roof lights. We therefore agree the route with the council's team or a registered building control approver before a re-roof starts. The Planning Portal's national test is the milder one, and for a Dover address it only supplies background.
Weight matters as well. Under Approved Document A, a roof whose loading rises by more than 15% has seen a significant change, and a covering that heavy needs approval and a structural check. A new covering is never assumed to weigh what the old one did, so the survey records exactly what sits on the roof today, and the specification names the covering that will replace it.
Beneath the covering, an HR underlay (high resistance) is not vapour-permeable, so it needs air at the eaves. For a cold roof, Marley's figures are 25 mm at the eaves for pitches of 15° or flatter, dropping to 10 mm for anything steeper. When we strip a slope, the battens, the underlay and that ventilation gap are chosen together, and the loft is checked for damp before the new covering goes on.
Under the covering
- Tile or slate
- Batten
- Underlay
- Rafter
Each layer is looked at separately before a slope is called worn out, so a sound batten is never replaced just because the tile above it has gone.
Will my Alkham re-roof need approval if I keep the same tiles?
Dover District Council lists a covering replaced like for like as work needing approval, so yes, the route still goes through its team or a registered approver. The survey decides how large the job is, and we ask the council before any scaffold is ordered.
What sets the price
- How much of the roof is renewed
- Weight of the new covering
- Scaffold and eaves access
One written total price
What the new covering is laid on
BS 6229:2025 sets a minimum finished fall of 1:80 for membrane flat roofs, so designers aim for something steeper, to cover tolerances. A covering laid dead level will hold water, and a patch over a split does nothing about the hollow that caused it.
When the covering has split in several places and the deck still collects water, a new covering on a deck laid to a proper fall is the fair verdict. Where the roof turns up against a wall, the upstand is renewed in the same visit, along with the drip trim at the edge. If the deck beneath is sound it stays, and if it is not, you see the photographs before we mention a price.
Flat roofs over extensions fail in different ways, and the survey reads the clues: where water stands, whether the seams have lifted, whether the edge trim still sheds water clear of the wall, and whether the outlet is blocked or set too high. Each answer points to a different repair, which is why we look before we quote. A sound flat roof with one failed joint is a smaller job, and the report calls it that. Our flat roofing page sets out the coverings we lay, and our roof inspections page describes the survey that decides between patching and renewing.
Entry 03Extension roof
A rear extension flat roof: laid to a fall, not level
A flat roof that still holds a puddle two days after rain has lost the fall that was meant to clear it.
1:80
the minimum finished fall under BS 6229:2025
membrane flat roofs only
Can a puddle on a flat roof be left alone?
A shallow stain that dries within a day or two is one thing. Water that sits for days means the fall is wrong, and it keeps loading the covering at its joints. We photograph where it collects and say whether a reseal or a new covering is the fairer verdict.
Flat roof findings
One lifted seam, deck dry
Reseal the seam
Splits in several places, standing water
New covering to a fall
Which Alkham roof are you wondering about?
Describe the problem, send a photograph or ask for a visit, and our reply says in writing whether the roof wants a repair, a replacement, or a check of the paperwork before anything else is decided.
Getting to Alkham from Folkestone
Alkham is 5.4 road miles north-east of Folkestone, about 10 minutes by road. The ladders and the scaffolder come together, and we settle where the scaffold will stand before the road outside your house is touched. If the work needs a permit, the application goes in ahead of the date, and you are told the dates it covers, so nothing surprises the neighbours or the people who pass the house each day.
Alkham roofs, the Downs and the Marquis of Granby
Straight answers for Alkham, with the reasons set out beside each one, so you can judge them yourself.
What does a survey of an Alkham house roof actually cover?
We start at the eaves and the gutter line, then work up the slope through battens, underlay and ridge, and finish at any stack or valley. In the loft we look for damp timber and daylight. Because the village has several listed buildings, we search the national list for your address before we price, and we write down what we found, whether the roof is sound or not. Photographs go with the report.
Is Alkham inside the Kent Downs National Landscape?
Yes, the village lies within it, and the area used to be called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The label is a designation, not a planning authority: Dover District Council decides applications and the Kent Downs team advises. A plain re-cover follows the normal rules, and our planning guide deals with dormers. Check the Kent Downs map for your own address, because a boundary can pass through a garden, and ask Dover District Council if a house sits near the line.
Do I need building control approval to re-roof in Alkham?
Dover District Council says a new roof covering needs approval even if this is just like for like, and installing roof lights is on the same list, so we agree the route with its building control team before a re-roof begins. The Planning Portal's percentages are a national test and do not replace Dover's wording, which is why a like-for-like job still starts with a call. A covering that is 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval too, so the survey notes what the present covering weighs.
Who arranges the scaffold licence for an Alkham roof?
Scaffolding that stands on the highway needs a licence from Kent County Council, which says the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application on the customer's behalf. Kent County Council's permit is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027. We arrange it with our scaffolder. And we plan the position of the poles at the survey so the road stays usable and the neighbours know what to expect, and for how long.
Which conservation area covers Alkham, and does it limit roof work?
The Alkham conservation area is the one that matters here, and Dover District Council holds the details. Dover has 57 conservation areas in all. Ordinary re-roofing is judged on the normal footing, but where an Article 4 direction applies, further rights can be taken away, and Dover District Council is the body to ask about your address. We put the same question at the survey, and the reply is passed to you in writing. Nothing is scheduled until it is back, and you are told what it says.
Can the Marquis of Granby's listing tell me anything about my own roof?
Only that listings are specific to a building. The Marquis of Granby and Forstal Cottage are listed Grade II, and the church is Grade I, but your house is covered only if it has an entry of its own. If it does, listed building consent applies to anything affecting its character, so we raise that before the roof is priced. A cottage with its own entry may also need matching materials, which affects the price and how long the work takes.
Alkham roof giving you trouble? Ask us to look.
You'll get one written total price.