Ashford · 17 road miles west
Roofers in Ashford
The borough's own town, with the Queens Road and Town Centre conservation areas near its middle, a Grade I parish church and Grade II* listings at The College and the Doctor Wilks Memorial Hall. Each roof gets a survey and a stamped verdict, and the council is asked first wherever a listing or a designation is involved.
- Conservation areas by name
- Ashford - Queens Road and Ashford - Town Centre, both designated
- Church in the town
- St Mary the Virgin, Grade I, handled by the Church of England's faculty system
- Grade II* listings
- The College and the Doctor Wilks Memorial Hall
- Article 4 in the area
- Directions are recorded near Ashford; Ashford Borough Council confirms each address
- Highway licence for scaffolding
- Kent County Council, £52 per week for 2026 to 2027
Ashford roofs and the verdicts they earned
What we found
Gutter joint dropped, water pooling
What it fairly needs
Remake the joint and reset the fall.
What we found
Roof in the Town Centre conservation area
What it fairly needs
Council view before the quote.
What we found
Battens soft along a whole slope
What it fairly needs
Strip and re-batten the slope.
The fair ledger
Conservation areas, listed landmarks and a gutter that overflows
Ashford has the Queens Road and Town Centre conservation areas, a Grade I church and Grade II* listings close to its centre. The entries below say what each protection asks of a roof, then turn to the humble gutter for a verdict of its own.
Entry 01Conservation areas
Queens Road and Town Centre: each conservation area raises its own question
Ashford - Queens Road and Ashford - Town Centre are both designated conservation areas. Ashford Borough Council holds the boundaries, and Article 4 directions are recorded nearby.
Where the boundaries and directions come in
Ashford Borough Council says there are 43 conservation areas in the borough, and the Queens Road and Town Centre areas lie close to the middle of Ashford. A conservation area does not stop a roof being re-covered. Fresh tiles or slates on a house are normally permitted development, and the rules on dormers are in our planning guide for roof work. The designation matters because the council holds the boundary, and only it can say which rules reach a given roof.
Directions under Article 4 are recorded near Ashford. Because Article 4 directions can remove further rights, Ashford Borough Council is the place to ask about your own address, since what each direction removes and where it applies is for the council to say. We put the address to the council before we quote, and its reply goes into your written findings.
Which Ashford streets lie inside the Queens Road conservation area?
Only the council's own map settles that, and a street name from memory is not enough. Type your address into the council's interactive map, or ask its team directly. We run the same check during the survey and write the result into your findings, so you know which rules to expect before any quote reaches you.
Terraces, shops and flats
In a town centre a roof can be shared. A terrace shares ridges and party walls, a shop may have a flat above it, and a flat has no permitted development rights of its own. For any roof that is shared, the survey opens by noting who else is affected, because permission, access and neighbours all need thinking through before work begins. Our roof inspections page explains how a shared roof is surveyed and how each owner receives a written verdict.
Same covering, sound battens beneath
Re-lay as found
Different material wanted on the street
Council view first
Battens rotten along the slope
Strip and re-batten
Entry 02Listed landmarks
The College, the Wilks Hall and St Mary the Virgin: different consents
The College and the Doctor Wilks Memorial Hall are listed Grade II*, and St Mary the Virgin is Grade I. Each is controlled in a slightly different way.
Listed building consent and the faculty route
The College carries list entry 1184332 and the Doctor Wilks Memorial Hall carries entry 1071118, both listed Grade II* on 24 September 1951. A listed building keeps its permitted development rights for roof work, but a separate listed building consent applies to anything touching its character, and section 7 of the 1990 Act on listed buildings and conservation areas is the law behind that.
The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, entry 1071114, is Grade I and still a place of Church of England worship. A church in that position works through the Church of England's faculty system, never through the district council. Whoever applies for a faculty needs an accurate account of the roof, and a written survey with photographs gives them one.
The three buildings share a first-listing date of 24 September 1951, but they are not alike in law. Two sit under listed building consent, which the district council administers. The church sits under the Church of England's faculty system. Getting the right route at the start saves weeks later, and it is the first thing we establish when a listed address is mentioned.
Myth: Every historic building in Ashford is handled by the council.
Fact: A church in Church of England use goes through the faculty system, and listed building consent applies to other listed buildings.
Grade II*
the listing of The College, Historic England entry 1184332
first listed in 1951
What we do for owners of listed property
- Survey the roof and describe each fault with a photograph.
- Propose the smallest repair that is sound and say why.
- Put the plan to Ashford Borough Council before a price is given.
- Keep the council's answer with your written findings.
If the building you look after is Grade II* or Grade I, that last step is not a formality, and nothing starts until the right body has agreed. The same care is sensible for an older house beside a listed one, where the setting of the neighbour can come into the discussion.
What makes a gutter drain properly
Brett Martin, a gutter manufacturer, advises installing guttering with a fall of 1 mm for every 600 mm towards the outlet. A run that has sagged between brackets, or a joint that has dropped, leaves a dip that holds water, and the water then spills over the front edge or soaks the fascia. Our gutters, soffits and fascias service covers the whole roofline.
The survey goes along the run in order. We check each bracket for a loose fixing, each joint for a drop, the outlet and downpipe for a blockage, and the fall itself against the 1 mm in 600 mm that Brett Martin advises. A repair means resetting brackets and remaking a joint, and a replacement is for a run that is cracked or has lost its shape.
A gutter run is quick to check from a ladder. Water that spills down a wall wets the brickwork, stains the render and, over time, can reach the roof timbers at the eaves. Finding the cause early keeps a small job small, and a gutter that drains well protects everything beneath it.
Entry 03Gutters
A gutter that overflows: falls, joints and outlets checked in turn
When a gutter spills over at one spot, the roof itself may be perfectly sound. The fall, a dropped joint or a blocked outlet is the first place to look.
What sets the price
- Length of gutter to refit
- Height of the eaves
- State of the fascia behind
One written total price
- Bracket holding the run
- Joint that has dropped
- Outlet taking the water off
Behind the gutter
The fascia board behind a gutter tells its own story. A soft board will not hold a bracket, and a gutter refitted to rotten timber will sag again. Staining on the soffit points to water getting where it should not, so we look there as well before giving a verdict.
- A board that gives under a screwdriver needs replacing before a gutter goes back on it.
- A damp patch on the soffit points to a leak from above or a gutter spilling behind.
- A gap where the gutter meets the wall is worth sealing or refixing at the same visit.
From Folkestone to Ashford by road
Ashford lies west of Folkestone, 17 road miles and about 23 minutes by road, with the town and its surrounding streets all within easy reach of one survey visit. Photographs sent with the form below begin the process. A survey is then fixed for a day of your choosing, and the one written total price comes after the survey, never ahead of it. For a shared roof or a listed address, we also tell you at that stage who needs to be asked before anything is ordered, whether that is a neighbour, the council or the faculty process. Asking early costs a phone call, and asking late can cost a wasted order.
Roof questions in Ashford
Why does a gutter on an Ashford house overflow in one place?
One overflow point can trace to a dropped joint, a sagging stretch between brackets or a blocked outlet. Brett Martin advises a fall of 1 mm for every 600 mm towards the outlet, and a run that has lost that fall holds water in the dip. We trace the cause along the run, then state in writing whether resetting the brackets will cure it or a section needs replacing. A soft board behind the gutter goes into the verdict too.
What can an Article 4 direction mean for an Ashford roof?
Article 4 directions can remove further rights from a house, and they are recorded near Ashford. Which rights each one withdraws, and from which streets, is for Ashford Borough Council to say, so ask it about your address. The same question goes from us to the council before the quote, and its reply is passed on in writing, so the plan matches what is allowed and nothing is ordered too early.
Who allows work on the roof of a Grade II* building in Ashford?
Listed building consent applies to work that changes the building's character, and the district council deals with it, while listed houses keep their permitted development rights for roof work. A church in Church of England use is the exception, going through the faculty system. In both cases we survey the roof, describe the fault in writing and let the right body decide. Nothing is ordered, and no scaffold goes up, until that decision has come back, and the written findings are yours to keep either way.
Does an Ashford re-roof need Building Regulations approval?
The Planning Portal gives a test: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof, within which an application is not normally needed. A covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. For a firm answer on your house, ring Ashford Borough Council's own Building Control team on 01233 330282, and we will happily describe the work for you. Bring any drawings you have, since they help the team answer more exactly.
Who arranges the scaffold licence on an Ashford job?
We arrange it with our scaffolder. Kent County Council charges £52 per week in 2026 to 2027 when scaffolding stands on the highway, and says the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application for you. A scaffold kept entirely on private land needs no highway licence. The survey shows which situation applies, and the written price includes the scaffold. If the job runs past a week, the permit is renewed in good time.
An Ashford roof needing a look? Send photos.
You'll get one written total price.