Do I need planning permission for a new roof?

Does a like-for-like new roof need planning permission?

For a house, usually not, if the new covering does not materially change how the roof looks. That is the Planning Portal’s starting point. A different colour, profile, or a switch from tile to slate can be a material change even when the shape stays the same. If you are unsure, ask the council before the old covering comes off.

Tradex quotes new roofs and repairs after a visit from Isleham. The quotation is the work Jamie can see. It is not a planning decision.

When is a roof alteration not permitted development?

Permitted development lets some work to a house proceed without a planning application. Roof alterations that do not enlarge the house sit in Class C of the 2015 Order. The technical guidance is the official explanation. The Planning Portal summary is shorter and uses different wording.

It is outside Class C if it sticks out more than 0.15 metres from the original roof plane, or rises above the highest part of that roof. A deeper tile or a roof window can be what crosses the line. The Planning Portal summary says “existing roof”. The Order measures Class C against the original roof. Do not treat those words as the same if the house has already been extended.

Some houses created under change-of-use rights, or built under the rights for new homes, are outside Class C, and a council can remove the rights. If the limits are missed, the Planning Portal says you need an application. Class C does not cover a chimney, flue, soil pipe or solar panels (solar rules are separate). A side roof window must be obscure-glazed, and any opening part at least 1.7 metres above the floor.

Repointing a stack is not automatically an application. Rebuilding or removing one is a question for the council as well as for the chimney repairs page.

What does “original roof” mean?

The technical guidance says “original” means the building on 1 July 1948, or as first built if later. A later extension is not part of it. Today’s ridge may not be the original ridge, which is how an unchanged-looking job can still need an application. The council reads that from the planning history. A ground-level photo is enough for Jamie.

Do flats, shops and extensions follow the same rules?

No. Class C is for a house. The Planning Portal says many householder rights do not apply to flats, and that a flat, a listed building or a conservation area should be checked with the council first. A shop is not a house either. Commercial work on this site is the same practical trades. The planning class is separate.

A dormer is a different class, on the Planning Portal loft page. An extension roof that joins the house may have to meet more than one class. Tradex’s loft page is deliberately short: ask whether that house is work Jamie can take on.

A new extension roof has its own building-regulations list: weather, fire, loads, heat loss, ventilation in most cases, and drainage, on the new roofs page. A flat roof is quoted after the deck has been seen. Do not assume Class C covers a detached garage.

What if the house is listed or in a conservation area?

Ask before anyone strips the roof. The Planning Portal says to check a flat, a listed building, or a conservation area with the council first. Listed building consent is separate from planning permission. This guide does not name conservation-area streets. The council’s register does.

The same note says bats can mean a wildlife licence even when planning permission is not required. Do not pull tiles off to look. If water is coming in, start with roof repairs. There is a 24 hour emergency call-out for leaks and storm damage.

Do I need building regulations approval as well?

Often, yes. Planning permission asks whether the work is allowed. Building regulations ask whether it is safe and meets standards such as fire and insulation.

The Planning Portal says a re-cover normally stays outside building control only if under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof are affected. Above that, or for structural work, a different fire performance, or a covering 15 per cent heavier, approval is needed.

A full new covering is the time to ask, because it may cross 50 per cent. This page cannot say that it does on a particular house. Heavier tiles are a structural question too. The Planning Portal warns that altering roof timbers can cause movement and, in the worst case, collapse.

Which council covers Ely, Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds?

Two districts cover the towns Tradex names. A postal town is not always the planning authority.

East Cambridgeshire’s ward table lists Ely, Isleham, Soham, Fordham and Burwell. Applications start on its planning page. Burwell Parish Council names East Cambridgeshire District Council as the authority whose work includes planning.

West Suffolk Council says it is the local planning authority, and names Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall and Newmarket among its market towns. The local plan names the same three. East Cambridgeshire’s table also lists “Newmarket: part” under Woodditton. Search the postcode.

The Met Office says much of eastern England has under 700 millimetres of rain a year, with heavy storms still on record. Houses and bungalows in Ely, Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds still come down to where the water gets in. The other towns are on the areas page.

What should I sort out before the tiles come off?

This site does not say Tradex submits planning or building control applications. Jamie quotes the work he can see. If work has to wait for a decision, say so when you book.

• Find the council from the postcode, using the links above.
• Say whether it is a house, flat, shop or garage, and whether it is listed.
• Say if the colour, material or shape will change, or if a roof window is going in.
• Ask building control if half the roof or more is being re-covered, or if the new tiles will be heavier.
• For the quotation, give the town, whether anyone sleeps under that slope, and what the access is like. Photograph from the ground. Stay off the roof.