Conservatory roof costs
How much does a conservatory roof replacement cost?
MyJobQuote puts an average conservatory roof replacement at £3,200 to £6,000 in 2026. This guide shows what pushes a roof towards either end and what a written quote should cover.
Start with the published figure. MyJobQuote says the average conservatory roof replacement in 2026 comes to between £3,200 and £6,000. That is a wide band, and it is a third party's range for the whole UK. It is not a price for your conservatory, and it is not ours. A roof of the same size can sit at either end of it, depending on what lies under the old sheets and what you choose to put on top.
This guide takes the figure apart without pretending to quote. It sets out what a conservatory roof replacement has to include, what pushes a roof up or down the range, how glass, tile and polycarbonate compare over the years they are said to last, and what to check when quotes arrive. Our own price comes only after a survey, as one written total, because the frame, the gutters and the house wall can only be judged by looking at them.
01Key points
Reading the published range
A range this wide tells you the job varies, not that the price is loose. The MyJobQuote figure is an average for conservatory roof replacement across the UK, taken from a page last updated in October 2026. It gives no VAT basis, so do not read it as including or excluding VAT. HomeBuilding adds that labour rates are higher in London and the South East, so a local quote can sit above a UK average without anything being wrong with it.
Use a published range for three things only:
- judging whether a quote is in the right region, not whether it is right
- seeing how far a bigger or more complicated roof can drift from the average
- knowing what to ask when a figure arrives far from it
It is no use for working out your own total by adding or scaling numbers. The size of the roof matters, but so do the frame it sits on and the wall it meets, and neither is in the average. A quote that lands outside the range is not wrong for that reason alone; it is a prompt to ask what the figure takes in, and what it leaves for later.
The reverse also holds. A quote that lands comfortably inside the range can still leave out the gutters, the lead or the inside finish, so a number in the middle proves nothing until you know what it covers.
02Replacement
What a replacement has to cover
The sheets or panes are the visible part of a conservatory roof, but they may not be the whole job. A roof swap works from the frame upwards, and every part has to be dealt with, even when it ends up being left as it is.
A quote that names only the roof covering has left most of this out, and the gaps are where costs appear later. Ask for the written total to say what it takes in. We follow the same sequence on every conservatory: look at the frame, work out where the weight will travel, then price the roof, so the number you get has seen the whole structure and not just the top of it.
Where the survey finds soft or rotten timber at the top of the frame, that is work to price as well. It is far easier to deal with before a new ceiling or roof is closed over it than after, and an honest quote says so.
- Stripping the old roof, and taking the waste away.
- Checking the frame, the dwarf wall and the base, and strengthening where the new roof will bear more weight than glazing did.
- The new roof structure: bars for glass, or rafters, battens and tiles for a solid roof.
- The gutters, including any box gutter where the roof meets the house or a second roof, and the downpipe.
- Lead or another flashing at the join with the house wall, and making good where the old roof was fixed to the brickwork.
- Ventilation and a moisture design for a solid roof, designed to the moisture standard BS 5250 and not left to chance.
- Insulation, and the lining or plastered ceiling that finishes the room.
- Scaffold or access, and the clean-up afterwards.
Conservatory roof cost questions
Why do two conservatories of the same size cost differently?
Size is only one input. The shape of the roof, the covering, whether the frame must be strengthened, the gutters and wall lead, the finish inside and how the roof is reached all change the work, so a published average cannot say what yours needs until the roof has been seen.
03Price
What pushes the price up or down
Two conservatories with the same floor area can sit far apart in cost. The drivers below shift a figure more than anything else, and none of them can be read from a photograph of the room.
- Shape. A simple lean-to has few cuts. A faceted front, with hips and valleys, needs many more cut tiles or bars and more time at every junction.
- Covering. Glass, polycarbonate and tile differ in material, in weight and in the structure that has to sit under them.
- Frame work. If the frames are sound but built for glazing only, a beam and posts can carry the new load. If they have bowed, they are replaced first.
- Gutters and lead. A long box gutter and a wall that needs fresh lead add to the work, and so does a rendered wall.
- The inside. Bare rafters, a plastered ceiling and roof windows are three different finishes at three different prices.
- Neighbours. Where the conservatory wall is shared, the building owner serves the party wall notice at least two months before starting work on the party structure, and that affects the timetable more than the price.
- Access. A conservatory behind a tight side return is slower to work on, and scaffold may have to stand over the pavement.
None of these is padding. Each one is a decision about what the finished room will be like, and each can be made differently if you prefer, as long as the roof still does its job. That is for the survey to settle, with you.
04Tiles
Glass, polycarbonate and tile over the years
A roof that costs more can still be the cheaper one over the years it lasts, if the lifespans quoted for it hold. The figures below are published statements from named sources, not promises.
| Roof | Lifespan as published | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Polycarbonate | Typical lifespan of 10 years | HomeBuilding |
| Glass | Will likely last in excess of 30 years | Roofing Megastore MD, in HomeBuilding |
| Tiled | Typically in excess of 50 years with little maintenance | Roofing Megastore MD, in HomeBuilding |
Read these with care. The glass and tile lines come from a supplier's managing director, quoted by HomeBuilding, and the supplier sells the product. They show the order of magnitude, with polycarbonate far behind, and they say nothing about your roof. A conservatory that keeps polycarbonate meets this bill again within about the lifespan quoted for it, and each time the frame needs the same checks.
One more question suits every covering: what happens at the end of its life. Ask whether the same frame can take the next roof, and whether the gutters and lead will need redoing at that point too. Doing the gutters and the wall lead once, together with the roof, saves paying for access twice.
A tiled roof also adds weight to the frame and cuts the daylight in the room, which is a cost of a different kind. Roof windows bring light back. MyJobQuote gives an average of £1,100 for a standard mid-range Velux window, which gives a sense of scale if you plan to add one. Our guide on tiled, glass and polycarbonate conservatory roofs sets the three side by side.
Will a South East address make a roof dearer?
HomeBuilding reports higher labour rates across London and the South East, and both Kent and East Sussex lie in that region. A local quote can therefore sit above a UK average. The way to judge it is to ask what the total takes in, not to compare it with the national figure alone.
05Costs
Costs that sit beside the roof
Some items belong to the job without being part of the roof, and a quote should say whether they are in or out.
- Building control. The Planning Portal's guidance puts a new solid roof under the building regulations, so we ask building control before work starts. The council's team or a registered building control approver carries it out, and the route is settled before work begins.
- Structure. If the weight of the roof would rise by 15 per cent or more with the new covering, approval is needed under the Planning Portal's guidance, and an engineer or surveyor can look at the frame.
- Planning. On a house, the Planning Portal's view is that most work to a roof counts as permitted development if it keeps to the legislation's limits, though a change that significantly alters the structure or look of a conservatory roof may need planning permission, so the council is asked first. A listed home needs listed building consent for anything that affects its character, flats have no permitted development rights, and an Article 4 direction can remove rights where it applies. Our answer on planning permission for a conservatory roof gives the conditions.
- Scaffold. Putting scaffolding on the pavement or the road calls for a licence from the highway authority, and the fees differ by county. Kent County Council's fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, and East Sussex Highways shows £127 for 28 days for Rye and Camber (a fee worth confirming). The licence is one we arrange with our scaffolder.
VAT is another question to put to every quote. A written price should say whether VAT is included and whether the scaffold sits inside the total. If either is missing, ask before you sign.
06Quotes · Repairs
Comparing quotes, and when to repair instead
Put each quote beside the others and ask the same questions of all of them.
Can I cancel a conservatory roof order I signed at home?
Yes, within 14 days, if you signed at home after a survey, and work starts sooner only if you ask in writing. A visit you specifically requested for an urgent repair is different, because regulation 28(1)(e) of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 removes the right to cancel in that case.
- Does the total cover the frame check and any strengthening?
- Are gutters and lead at the wall included, or left as extras?
- Is the inside finish included, and what is it?
- Are VAT, scaffold, waste removal and building control stated?
- If the survey finds a worse frame than expected, how will the extra work be priced, and will you see it before it starts?
- Is the price one total in writing after a survey, or a guess given over the phone?
Ask how the quote handles surprises. A good quote says what happens if the frame or the boards underneath turn out worse than they looked, so that a change of price is agreed with you before the extra work is done, never added to the end.
A figure given before anyone has looked at the roof is a guess. Our quote is one written total price after the survey, so the quotes you hold are comparable.
Before any quote, ask whether the roof needs replacing at all. A failed gasket, a lifted flashing or a blocked outlet is a repair, and our guide to why conservatory roofs leak shows how to tell. A repair is the right answer while the sheets and bars are sound.
The law gives you 14 days to cancel a contract signed at home after our survey. We can begin sooner only if you ask us to, in writing. The conservatory roofs page sets out how the job runs from survey to clean-up.
More on conservatory roofs
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