Listed building roofs
What changes when you re-roof a listed building?
Consent has to come before the work on a listed roof, on top of the usual rules. Below: what consent covers, the church routes, Building Regulations and the survey.
The short answer
The big change is listed building consent, which has to be granted before work that changes the building's special character. Listed homes keep their permitted development rights for roof work, so that planning question is separate from consent. Building Regulations apply as well, and Dover district addresses follow that council's stricter wording.
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Consent comes before the first tile
The law behind this is section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: works that would affect a listed building's character as one of special interest need listed building consent. Canterbury City Council puts it directly, saying any change that affects the building's character needs consent.
Whether one covering in place of another touches that character is the council's call, not ours, so the order of events is:
- Survey the roof and record what is on it now.
- Ask the council whether your proposed covering and fixings need consent.
- Apply, and wait for the decision.
- Order materials and book the scaffold only after that.
Consent is not the same as planning permission. Under permitted development, Class C normally allows a house to be re-roofed, and neither Class B nor Class C excludes listed buildings, but permitted development never stands in for consent. Our planning guide sets out the conditions, and a listed building may also stand in a conservation area, which brings its own checks. Allow time for the decision before booking a start date, because the consent has to be in hand before work begins, and our timetable page covers the other notice periods.
Churches, chapels and ministers' houses
Places of worship follow a different route, set by who owns and uses the building.
| Building | Route |
|---|---|
| Church of England church in use | The faculty system |
| Roman Catholic, Methodist or United Reformed church in use | That denomination's own system |
| Baptist chapel in use | Exempt only if a Schedule 1 trust corporation holds it and the church belongs to the Baptist Union |
| Unitarian, Quaker or other faiths | Listed building consent |
| Redundant church or Churches Conservation Trust building | Listed building consent |
| Minister's house | Listed building consent |
The reason for the last row is that a building used by a minister mainly as a home is not counted as an ecclesiastical building. If the building is a church in use and its denomination is one of the exempt ones in the table, the faculty or that denomination's own system, not the district council, is the first call; a Unitarian or Quaker chapel in use still goes to the council. For any listed building that is not clearly on this list, ask the council which route applies before any scaffold goes up. Scheduled monuments, such as a churchyard cross, sit under separate law: the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 makes works an offence unless they are authorised.
Building Regulations still apply
Consent and Building Regulations are two separate sign-offs. For the second, the points below carry over from any re-roof.
- The Planning Portal test: no application is normally needed where under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is touched.
- Approval is needed for a new covering 15 per cent or more heavier, so ask for its weight early. Our page on changing to heavier roof tiles explains the structural check.
- Dover District Council: in its list, replacing roof coverings counts as approval-needing work even if it is like for like.
- Once more than half the roof is renovated, AD L looks for the whole roof to meet the improved Table 4.3 figure, where feasible.
How the energy rules apply to your particular listed building is a question for building control, so ask before you commit to a build-up. The council's team or a registered building control approver can answer it, and their reply is worth keeping with the consent paperwork. Keep the maker's name and product data for the new covering too, because the council may want to see them when it decides on consent.
Recording the roof before anything is proposed
On a listed building the survey has two jobs: to price the work, and to give the council something to judge. We record:
- the present covering, its size, laying pattern and fixings
- the ridge, hip and verge details
- the leadwork at chimneys, abutments and valleys
- the eaves, gutters and rainwater goods
- any roof windows or rooflights
- the roof structure from the loft, with its condition
- anything that looks like asbestos, bats or nests, which changes the plan
Measurements matter too: the roof area and the length of each ridge, hip and valley feed the price, and the notes give the council a clear description of what is proposed. Photographs are taken slope by slope, with a close view of each fixing and joint. A record made before work starts also protects you: if the council asks what was on the roof, the photographs show it. Our pages on the listed building roof survey and on leadwork on listed buildings go further on each. The written price follows the survey as one total, and the roof replacement page explains the job itself.
More questions
Do listed homes keep permitted development rights for roof work?
Yes, because neither Class B nor Class C excludes listed buildings. Listed building consent also applies whenever the work alters what gives the building its character, so permitted development never replaces asking the council first. Dormers and other larger changes need particular care on a listed home, where the consent question comes before any planning route.
Does a conservation area change a listed home's re-roof?
Ordinary re-roofing stays within permitted development even in a conservation area, but dormers do not, and a direction under Article 4 can withdraw further rights, which is why the council gets asked before work is planned. Listed status then adds consent on top of whichever of those rules applies to your address, so both answers are needed.
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