Blean · north of Folkestone
Roofers in Blean
A village with Grade II listed buildings near its centre and the Amery Court (Blean) and Blean conservation areas close by. Describe the roof as it looks from the ground, and we put what it needs, and the reasons, in writing before any price.
- Conservation areas
- Amery Court (Blean) and Blean, both on Canterbury City Council's list
- Listed buildings
- Badgers Farmhouse and Yew Lodge, both Grade II
- Road from Folkestone
- 21.9 road miles, about 34 minutes by road
- Scaffolding on Blean roads
- Kent County Council permit, £52 per week for 2026 to 2027
What a Blean survey turns up, and the verdict on each
What we found
Worn tiles on a Grade II farmhouse
What it fairly needs
Settle the consent route first.
What we found
Lead in a valley wearing thin
What it fairly needs
Re-line the valley, keep the slopes.
What we found
A covering failing across a whole slope
What it fairly needs
Re-cover it, weighed against the Portal test.
The fair ledger
Listed farmhouses, lead valleys and re-roof rules in Blean
Blean has Grade II listed buildings near its centre and the Amery Court and Blean conservation areas close by. Three entries follow, each ending in a verdict on what the roof fairly needs and what has to be settled first.
Entry 01Consent route
Badgers Farmhouse and Yew Lodge: a listed roof asks a different question
Badgers Farmhouse (list entry 1241593) and Yew Lodge (list entry 1085521) are both listed Grade II. On a listed roof the first job is finding out who has to say yes.
Listed means consent as well
Badgers Farmhouse was first listed on 27 January 1984 and Yew Lodge on 14 March 1980. Listing leaves permitted development rights for roof work in place, yet works that affect the building's special interest still need listed building consent under section 7 of the 1990 Act. Canterbury City Council puts it as consent for "any changes which affect the building's character".
A repair that puts back exactly what was there can still change how the roof reads from the lane, if the new covering differs in colour or the courses sit differently. So before a scaffold is booked we put the address and the proposed covering to Canterbury City Council, and pass its reply to you in writing. If your own house in Blean looks old but is not listed, that is worth confirming as well. The Historic England list settles it, and the look of the place does not.
Does a conservation area in Blean stop a re-roof?
Ordinary re-roofing is normally permitted development, even where a conservation area applies. Where an Article 4 direction has been made, more rights can be withdrawn, and directions are recorded around Blean. Amery Court (Blean) and Blean are both on Canterbury City Council's list, so the council is the body we ask about your address before we price.
What goes to the council
- The address, with a photograph of every slope the work will touch.
- What covers the roof now, and what we propose to lay in its place.
- Any lead, chimney or gutter work planned for the same visit.
- Eaves and flashing photographs, so the reply is about the whole roof and not one corner of it.
Whether a dormer can be added is a question for our planning guide for roof work, and we never assume it. For an older roof where the covering matters, our roof inspections start by recording what is on the roof before anyone proposes a change, so the council and you are looking at the same evidence. The reply is yours to keep with the deeds and the survey, and a later owner will want to see it.
A few cracked tiles on a listed roof
Consent route first
Sound battens, scattered cracked tiles
Replace the cracked ones
Entry 02Valleys
Where two slopes meet, the valley lining sets how long it lasts
A valley carries the rain from two slopes into one gutter, so a failing lining can leave a stain on a ceiling well away from the cause.
Lead in the valley bed
Royston Lead's cast-lead brochure lists codes 4 to 8 for a pitched valley gutter, code 4 being 1.80 mm thick and code 5 2.24 mm. The code comes from the specification for the detail, not from a guess on the day, and we write it into the survey so you can see what is proposed before anything is ordered.
On lifespan, MyJobQuote says correctly installed lead flashing can last for over 80 years. That is a figure for flashing, quoted by a cost guide, and it is no promise for a valley on your roof. What the survey records is the condition of the lead as it is now: whether it has cracked along a fold, lifted at the edges or worn thin where water runs hardest.
If the lining is sound and a few tiles beside it have moved, the verdict is a repair. Lead that has cracked, or a board beneath it gone soft, changes the verdict: the valley is re-lined and the tiles either side are lifted and laid again. That is a bigger job, and it is priced only after the survey. Because a valley is where two slopes drain, we also look at the nearest gutter outlet, since a valley that empties into a blocked gutter fails for a reason the lead never caused.
- Lining in the valley bed
- Board beneath it
- Tiles cut to the line
What the valley survey checks
- The lining along its full length, from the ladder and, where it can be reached, from the loft.
- The tiles cut to the valley, and whether their edges are chipped.
- The board under the lining, pressed for softness.
- Leaves or moss packed into the valley bed, which hold water against the lead.
- The foot of the valley, where it empties into the gutter, and whether the gutter there is clear.
Over 80 years
MyJobQuote: correctly installed lead flashing can last for over 80 years
A flashing figure, not a promise
The test in plain terms
The Planning Portal's interactive guide gives two conditions that keep a re-roof clear of an application: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope affected, and less than 50 per cent of the roof. The envelope is the walls, floor, roof, windows and doors together, which is why the roof alone is not the measure. Separately, a new covering that adds 15 per cent or more to the weight of the old one needs approval, and for weight the Portal suggests a word with a structural engineer or surveyor first.
Canterbury City Council sends building control applications to STG Building Control Partnership, which delivers local authority building control for Canterbury, Gravesham, Medway and Swale. Building control can also be carried out by a registered building control approver, so ask which body is checking the work and get the answer in writing.
Entry 03Re-roofing
Re-covering a whole slope: the Planning Portal test and STG
A re-covered roof can need Building Regulations approval, and a heavier new covering can trigger it by itself. For Blean addresses the building control route runs through STG.
Myth: Re-covering one slope never involves building control.
Fact: The Portal's test looks at the building envelope and the roof, and a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval.
What sets the price
- How many slopes are re-covered
- What covers the roof now
- Condition of the battens beneath
- How the roof is reached
One written total price
Where the guides take over
What is permitted development, and what a listing or conservation area changes, is set out in the planning guide for roof work. A full strip and re-cover is what our roof replacement service covers, while a few slipped courses are a job for pitched roofing.
At the survey we compare the old covering with the proposed one, so the Portal's 15 per cent question has an answer before the written price does. A lighter covering and a heavier one can sit on the same battens or need new ones, and that is also written down.
Not sure which of these three fits your Blean roof?
Send a photograph or ring the office. We look at the slopes, the lead and the gutters together, then say what the roof fairly needs.
The road north from Folkestone to Blean
Blean is 21.9 road miles north of Folkestone, about 34 minutes by road, and the 2021 Census counted 1,630 usual residents in the parish. Photographs sent from your phone, taken from the ground, the landing window and the loft hatch, tell us a great deal before we arrive, and they let us say whether the job sounds like a repair, a re-cover or a question for the council. We bring a ladder and a torch to the visit, and the photographs go in the file beside the survey. The survey follows, and the one written total price comes after it.
Two listed houses, a valley and a re-roof: Blean questions
Does a Grade II listed house in Blean need consent to be re-roofed?
Consent is needed for work that affects a listed building's character, and Canterbury City Council says so on its listed buildings page. Listed homes keep their permitted development rights for roof work, so the consent question stands apart from the planning one. Badgers Farmhouse and Yew Lodge are both Grade II. We ask the council before a scaffold goes up and pass on its answer for your address in writing.
Is my house in Blean inside a conservation area?
Amery Court (Blean) and Blean are both conservation areas near the village, and Canterbury City Council, whose district has 97 of them, publishes a map showing each edge. Ordinary re-roofing is normally permitted development in one, but Article 4 directions are recorded around Blean and a direction can take away more rights. For that reason we check your address with Canterbury City Council first.
Who arranges a scaffold licence on a Blean road?
Kent County Council is the highway authority, and its guidance says the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application for you. The fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, charged by Kent County Council, and one permit covers 7 calendar days. We arrange the licence with our scaffolder. Scaffolding that stays on your own land does not touch the highway at all, and the survey records which case yours is.
Does a re-roof in Blean need Building Regulations approval?
An application is not normally needed, on the Planning Portal's guide, where less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Separately, a new covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. Building control for Blean runs through STG Building Control Partnership on 01634 331133, which can confirm the route for your house before the work is priced or booked.
Can a worn lead valley in a Blean roof be repaired, or must it be renewed?
Either can be right. When the lead is intact and only the tiles beside it have moved, the valley is repaired. When the lead has split or the board beneath has softened, it is re-lined. MyJobQuote says correctly installed lead flashing can last for over 80 years, but that is a flashing figure and no promise for a valley, so the survey looks at the condition of yours before it names a verdict.
What does a roof survey in Blean look at besides the tiles?
It starts at the gutters and works up: the brackets and joints, the fascia behind them, then the slopes, valleys, ridge and any chimney flashings. From the loft hatch we look for daylight, damp timber and the underside of the covering. Every finding gets a photograph and one of three verdicts, repair, replace or check, and the price you receive is built from those alone.
Send us the Blean roof as it looks today
You'll get one written total price.