Scaffold costs
How much does scaffolding cost for roof work?
Scaffold hire has no dependable published price, but the council licence for putting it on the highway does. Below: those fees, plus what a quote should say about scaffold.
The short answer
No dependable price for scaffold hire on a house roof is published, so scaffold should be written into your quote rather than left as a surprise. What councils do publish is the licence for scaffolding on the highway. Kent County Council lists £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, and East Sussex Highways lists £127 for 28 days. Those fees cover different periods and do not compare directly.
4 min read · Part of Roofing in Folkestone
Why scaffold hire is hard to price
Scaffold is priced from the shape of the house, the height of the eaves, how many sides need access and how long the job runs. Two cost guides that did print a figure contradict themselves: one gives a different number in its text than in its table, and another quotes two figures for the same kind of house. So no hire price is repeated here.
What a homeowner can reasonably ask for is clarity. A written quote should say whether scaffold is included, and for how long it stays up. A roof job that runs past its planned dates can leave the scaffold standing longer, which is why the start window and the licence dates are worth settling together at the start.
Where a job needs scaffold, ours is part of the written total, so no separate bill turns up afterwards. Whoever you hire, ask for written confirmation that scaffold is not an extra added once the job is under way, and that the dates it stands for are stated. A figure given by word of mouth is easy to forget and hard to enforce.
Licence rules for scaffold on the highway
Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 says no one may erect or retain scaffolding that obstructs a highway without a licence. It is a scaffold licence, granted by the county highway authority, and a district council does not issue it. The licence is a separate matter from the planning or Building Regulations side of a job. The table lists what each authority publishes.
| Authority and area | Published fee |
|---|---|
| Kent County Council, Kent addresses | £52 per week in 2026 to 2027, for 7 calendar days |
| East Sussex Highways, Rye and Camber | £127 for 28 days, on its fee table |
Because the periods differ, the two fees are not like for like, and neither figure should be read against the other. East Sussex Highways says its fees rise from April 2026, but gives two different percentages in two places, so check the current fee before relying on the figure shown. We would rather you ask the authority than assume, because the fee table is the document that counts when a licence is applied for.
Who applies, and what else is charged
Kent County Council says that for scaffolding needed at a property, the skip or scaffolding company should submit the application for you, so the householder does not make it. East Sussex Highways is silent on who applies. In either county we arrange the licence with our scaffolder.
Other published charges are worth knowing about, because they can sit behind a quote.
- Kent: a £78 site inspection, charged where deemed necessary either side of the scaffold standing.
- Kent: £120 if a routine inspection finds a breach of the licence conditions.
- East Sussex: a one-off site inspection charge of £68, if deemed necessary.
- Renewals: Kent wants every application, renewals included, submitted 5 working days ahead; East Sussex wants an extension requested at least 5 working days before expiry.
Conditions differ too. For a walk-around scaffold, Kent requires a minimum distance of 1.2 metre between the scaffold and carriageway for pedestrian access. East Sussex asks for a clear 1.5 m passage and 450 mm clearance from the carriageway edge. Neither set of conditions is something to negotiate with a roofer; they come from the highway authority.
What to check in a quote
You do not need a scaffold price to judge a quote. You need to know that scaffold has been dealt with. Read yours for these points before signing.
- It says scaffold is included, and for how long it stays up.
- It says who arranges the highway licence, and that the fee is covered.
- It names a start window, so scaffold is not standing idle outside your house for weeks while the work waits on materials or weather.
- It states whether VAT is included.
- It tells you what happens if the job overruns, and who pays for the extra scaffold weeks.
Kent County Council also says every street works licence needs public liability insurance of a minimum of £5 million before an application is made, and East Sussex Highways sets not less than £10m in its terms. You can ask your roofer to confirm that this cover is in place before the scaffold goes up.
Two sibling pages follow on naturally: what roofers charge, and working in rain and winter, which covers delays and licence dates. The homepage sets out the roofing we do around Folkestone.
More questions
Do I need a licence for scaffold on my own drive?
Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 is about scaffolding that obstructs the highway, meaning the pavement or the road. Scaffold standing wholly on your own land is a different position. If any part will overhang or block the public way, a licence is needed, so check with your roofer or the highway authority.
Who pays for the council scaffold licence?
The licence fee is part of the cost of putting scaffold up, so your quote should say whether it is included. Kent County Council expects the scaffolding company to submit it. Ask to see the fee and the dates written into the quote, not agreed by word of mouth, because a delay can mean a renewal is due.
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