Costs
What sits inside a new roof cost.
Two roof quotes can both be honest and still look far apart, because one has counted the scaffold, the strip-off and the VAT, and the other has left them for later. This page is a way to read that gap.
Checked 13 October 2026. Pounds, for homes in England. The Malta directory uses euro and is a different list.
The bands below are a reference before you phone. Local Trades UK does not price the job and does not pass the work on.
The published band, and the roof it describes
The Checkatrade roof replacement cost guide, table marked last updated October 2026, puts a UK average around £8,000 including VAT. Most of the jobs behind that guide sit between £4,000 and £19,000. The top of the range is a larger, more complicated slate hip roof, which is a different job from a small terrace.
The same table ties each shape to an area. A hip and a gable in the guide are about 64 square metres. A flat roof in the guide is about 32 square metres. A price per square metre only helps if you know which of those you are looking at.
| Shape | Guide total | Per square metre |
|---|---|---|
| Hip, about 64 m² | £9,250–£18,000 | £145–£285 |
| Gable, about 64 m² | £7,000–£16,250 | £110–£260 |
| Flat, about 32 m² | £2,800–£7,500 | £45–£120 |
| New roof structure | £6,500–£20,000+ | Not given per square metre |
That guide also says labour is often higher in London and the South East. It does not publish a separate band for Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or Bristol, so this page does not invent one. Ask the roofer who will actually visit.
The lines that move the total
Scaffold
The same guide treats scaffold as its own line. Setting it up, hiring it by the week and taking it down is put at £700–£1,300. A first figure that looks low is often the covering without that access. Ask which weeks of hire are included, and whether a pavement licence sits outside it.
What the covering price is for
A strip and re-cover is a different job from a repair of a few tiles, and a new structure is different again. Before you compare two quotes, ask whether each one includes the strip-off, the membrane and battens, the new covering, leadwork at chimneys and valleys, the waste, and VAT. Fascias, gutters and a roof window are easy to leave on a later invoice.
Consent
If the job renews the structure, or the house is listed, building control or planning consent can sit outside the roofer’s price. A phone number on this site is not that consent.
Who you phone
Open the roofing list and use the number on the record. Lists with enough businesses to read as a local set are London and Manchester. Get contact details only opens that kind of list. It does not take your name or a description of the roof.
Gas Safe, NICEIC and the other qualifications appear only when the record already has them. This site does not award them and does not guarantee the covering.
Source
- Checkatrade, roof replacement cost guide. Table marked last updated October 2026. Page checked 13 October 2026.
Questions on this figure
Does a roof price on this page include scaffolding?
Often it does not. Checkatrade’s roof replacement cost guide, checked 13 October 2026, puts scaffold set-up, weekly hire and removal at £700 to £1,300 and treats that as a separate line. Ask the roofer whether it is inside the figure.
Is the roof band a quote from Local Trades UK?
No. The bands are from a published cost guide. You phone a roofer on the list and the price for your house comes from that business.