Low-pitched High Street gables
The 1911 county history records many low-pitched gabled houses along the High Street.
Roofers in Haslemere
Roofs above tile-hanging, brick stacks and Shepherd's Hill timber
Haslemere's old houses are tile-hung, gabled and topped with brick chimney stacks. We survey the roof and the wall junctions beneath it, then price the work in writing.
Haslemere's roofs, from High Street gables to Shepherd's Hill
Half timber on Shepherd's Hill
Shepherd's Hill has old half-timbered houses with tile-hanging to the upper storey.
Fine brick chimney stacks
The same account notes fine brick chimney stacks on many Haslemere houses, each one a flashing to check.
Map of Haslemere with Hindhead, Grayshott, Fernhurst, Northchapel marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Haslemere, below Hindhead and Blackdown
Hindhead and Grayshott lie to the north-west, Chiddingfold to the north-east, Northchapel to the south-east, Fernhurst to the south and Liphook to the west, all within a few miles.
About 23.1 road miles south of Farnborough · Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
Pitched, flat and roofline work in Haslemere
Haslemere, the roof record
Haslemere's roofs under Waverley and the Surrey Hills
Which council inspects and licenses roof work in Haslemere, what the 1911 county history says about its houses, and how conservation areas, one Article 4 direction and the Surrey Hills shape a repair.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Waverley, Surrey and the change of 2027 | Waverley inspects, Surrey licenses scaffold |
| 02 | Tile-hanging, gables and chimney stacks | 17,282 residents in Haslemere parish |
| 03 | Two conservation areas and the Surrey Hills | 21 per cent inside the Surrey Hills |
Chapter 01 of 03
Waverley, Surrey and the change of 2027
| Role | Body for Haslemere addresses |
|---|---|
| Borough council and planning authority | Waverley Borough Council |
| County council and highway authority | Surrey County Council, until 31 March 2027 |
| Building control | Waverley Building Control, its own service |
| Scaffold licence on the highway | Surrey County Council, Highways Act 1980 s169 |
| Planned from April 2027 | A new West Surrey Council, under a 2026 Order |
Haslemere is in the far south-west corner of Surrey, 23.1 road miles from our Farnborough base. Two councils answer for a roof job here today. Waverley Borough Council holds planning and runs a building control service of its own, while Surrey County Council is the highway authority. Surrey County Council's pages describe the government's plan for two unitary authorities to take over from the county and the boroughs in April 2027, with Haslemere falling in a new West Surrey Council alongside Guildford, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath and Woking. Until then the county's own pages state that services carry on as before. Our letters name the council that holds your job at the time, and you receive a copy of each.
Booking a building control inspection
Waverley's building control checks plans and inspects on site, and it takes next-day inspection bookings made by 4pm the day before. That matters on a Haslemere roof job that does need an inspector, for example a new roof window or a re-roof large enough to pass the Planning Portal's limits. The inspector can look at the structure only while it is open, so the visit is booked before the covering goes back on, not after. A registered building control approver is the private route, registered since 6 April 2024.
Scaffold lead times on a Haslemere road
Poles that block a road or footway need the highway authority's licence, and Surrey County Council charges £208 per 28 day period, with the same fee to renew. It asks for applications at least 10 working days before the poles go up, and its application fee is non-refundable. The council's page does not say who applies, so ask the scaffolder before a date is accepted. We plan the roof dates around the licence rather than the other way round, and poles on a private drive need none.
The aim is a plan you can read before anything is booked. You know which council holds your job, which inspection if any is needed, and how many weeks the scaffold paperwork adds before a start date can be fixed. The survey also gives you the photographs and measurements that any of those bodies would ask to see, so nothing has to be gathered twice.
Chapter 02 of 03
Tile-hanging, gables and chimney stacks
Haslemere's figures from the public record
- 23.1 road milessouth of Farnborough, from the A325
- 17,282residents, ONS Census 2021, Haslemere parish
- 92listed buildings within 900 m of the centre
- 1911year of the county history's tile-hanging account
The Victoria County History describes Haslemere as a market town and small parish on Lower Green Sand soil, reaching also over Atherfield Clay and Wealden Clay. The 2021 Census counted 17,282 usual residents in the civil parish. For a roofer the more useful passage is its description of the houses: it calls tile-hanging "the characteristic feature" of them, and notes in many cases "fine brick chimney stacks".
Where tile-hanging meets the roof
Tile-hanging is the covering of a wall, laid in tiles from the eaves down. The roof and that wall meet at a junction, and the junction is sealed with lead or metal flashings or with soakers, which are small bent pieces of lead or metal laid under each course of tiles. A leak that shows on a Haslemere ceiling can start there rather than in the slope. On the High Street the same record notes many low-pitched gabled houses, and on Shepherd's Hill old half-timbered houses with tile-hanging to the upper storey. We photograph each junction from above and from the loft before naming a cause.
The brick stacks
A fine brick stack is a heavy structure on top of a house, and it carries its own flashings, flaunching and pots. Flaunching is the mortar crown that holds the pots in place. We look at all three, and at the pointing of the stack above the roofline, which is why chimney repairs sit beside the roof work on this page. A stack that is sound needs no more than a tidy reseal. One that is loose needs a scaffold and a mason before any roof tile is touched.
If a Haslemere roof carries clay tile, HomeBuilding gives 60-80 years as a typical life, which describes a range and is no promise. Tiles, battens and underlay are each examined, so the choice between a repair and a re-roof comes from what your own roof shows.
Roof and records
17,282residents in Haslemere parish, ONS Census 2021
1911the county history's record of tile-hanging
Before we price anything we also check whether the house is listed. Historic England's record shows 92 listed buildings within 900 m of the centre, and a listed house changes the route for the work. We look the address up, tell you what we found, and wait for your decision before any consent question is raised with Waverley.
Chapter 03 of 03
Two conservation areas and the Surrey Hills
| Designation | At Haslemere | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Haslemere | Changes to the look checked with Waverley |
| Conservation area | Springhead and River Wey | Changes to the look checked with Waverley |
| Article 4 direction (1976) | Lythe Hill Estate | Confirm the classes with Waverley |
| National Landscape | Surrey Hills, partly (21 per cent of the 1.5 km area) | Planning team asked first on dormers and extensions |
| Grade II listed church in use | St Bartholomew (NHLE 1243899) | Church of England faculty route |
| Grade II* listed | Broad Dene (NHLE 1244326) | Listed building consent |
Waverley lists the Haslemere Town Centre conservation area, designated in 1974 and extended in 1975, 1985 and 2005, and, separately, a Springhead and River Wey conservation area that also lies in Haslemere. Its Article 4 list names one direction here: the Lythe Hill Estate, made in 1976. What a direction removes depends on the notice, so ask Waverley's planning team which classes apply at your address before any change that alters the street view. Our planning permission for roof work guide lays out how to ask.
The edge of the Surrey Hills
The Surrey Hills National Landscape, which carries the old AONB designation under its new name, extends into land near the town. Haslemere's centre sits just outside it, but about 21 per cent of the area within 1.5 km of that centre falls inside the designation. A house on that side of town sits in a different planning position from one in the High Street, so an extension or loft dormer there is worth a question to Waverley before it is designed, and we would rather you asked before spending on drawings.
The figure21%of the ground within 1.5 km of the centre lies inside the Surrey Hills designation21% inside the designationSource: planning.data.gov.uk national landscape layer
Listed buildings and the church
St Bartholomew's Church dates its Grade II listing to 19 September 1977. Its congregation still uses it, which brings the faculty system into play: roof work there is approved through that route and not by the council. Broad Dene's Grade II* listing dates from 11 August 1975, a grade shared by Church Hill House and Kemnal. For a listed house, works that affect its character need listed building consent from Waverley.
A loft conversion is one reason a Haslemere owner opens the roof, and it brings Building Regulations with it as well as planning questions. A roof window follows the window figure in Approved Document L, which is 1.4 or Window Energy Rating Band B as a minimum (Table 4.2, 2021 edition), and a rooflight takes 2.2. If the house sits near the Surrey Hills edge, ask Waverley about the designation first. Our roof windows and skylights page explains the choice.
On roofs like these the work is slow and visible: lead renewed in the right code, ridges and hips matched to the originals, and tiles reclaimed where they can be. Our lead roofing and lead work page covers the flashings that sit under the tile-hanging.
Tile-hanging, Lythe Hill and scaffold: Haslemere questions
Why does a Haslemere roof leak where tile-hanging meets the slope?
The junction is sealed with lead or metal flashings or with soakers, and these can lift, split or slip long before the tiles fail. We photograph the junction from outside and from the loft, then say whether the water enters there or higher up the slope, what a repair would involve, and whether the fault is likely to come back.
Does the Lythe Hill Estate Article 4 direction affect my roof?
Waverley's list names an Article 4 direction for the Lythe Hill Estate, made in 1976. What it covers depends on the wording of the notice, so ask Waverley's planning team to confirm the classes for your address before any alteration to the roof's appearance. Attach our survey pictures to your enquiry, and the officers see the roof as found, which lets them reply without a site visit.
Does roof work on St Bartholomew's Church need listed building consent?
No. St Bartholomew's has a Grade II listing, yet because services continue in it the faculty system covers its roof, not a consent application to Waverley. A house listed in its own right, such as Broad Dene at Grade II*, follows the listed building consent route for works touching its character.
How long does a Haslemere scaffold licence take to arrange?
Surrey County Council, until April 2027, asks for applications 10 working days ahead of any scaffold going up, and charges £208 per 28 day period. Ask the scaffolder who applies, since the council's page is silent on it, and agree the date in writing. We plan the survey date and the scaffold date together, so the roof is not left waiting on paperwork.
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