Botwell's council housing
Between 1919 and 1924 the council built 766 working-class houses at Botwell, and 1,213 council dwellings stood there by 1938.
Roofers in Hayes
Roofs on Botwell's council homes and the estates beside them
Hayes grew from Botwell's council housing and large private estates, with older brick cottages at Wood End. Our survey covers each roof closely, house or flat.
Hayes, from Botwell to the Minet estate
Private estates before 1935
The Townfield estate round Central Avenue and the Minet estate between Birchway and Mount Road were laid out.
Wood End's brick cottages
Roads off Woodend Green Road hold brown brick houses of the early 19th century and four yellow brick cottages.
Map of Hayes with Southall, West Drayton, Northolt, Hounslow marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Hayes, west of Southall on the Grand Union Canal
Southall lies east of Hayes, West Drayton west, Northolt north-east, Hounslow south-east, Uxbridge north-west, with Iver and Richings Park further west.
About 25.6 road miles north-east of Farnborough · London Borough of Hillingdon (unitary).
Repairs and re-roofs across Hayes
Hayes, estates and flats
Roof work across Hayes, from Hillingdon to Botwell
How a London borough handles roof questions for houses and flats in Hayes, what the 1971 history says about its council estates and private estates, and what its conservation areas and Grade II neighbours add.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hillingdon's rules for houses and flats | London Borough of Hillingdon, unitary |
| 02 | Council homes, private estates and old cottages | 2,426 houses and flats by May 1961 |
| 03 | Botwell's conservation areas and three listings | Two Botwell conservation areas, three listings |
Chapter 01 of 03
Hillingdon's rules for houses and flats
| Role | Body for Hayes addresses |
|---|---|
| Planning authority | London Borough of Hillingdon (unitary) |
| Building control | Hillingdon's own service, or a registered building control approver |
| Scaffold on a road or pavement | A licence from the highway authority; applicant to be confirmed |
| Roofs over flats | No permitted development rights: planning permission for changes to the look |
| Distance from our base | 25.6 road miles north-east of Farnborough, from the A325 |
Hayes is in the London Borough of Hillingdon, which as a unitary council decides planning and runs a building control service of its own. No county council sits above it, so most roof questions have one answer-giver, which makes the first phone call simpler. The conservation, planning and building control sides do work to different rules, though, and we say which applies to your job. A roof over a flat follows different rules from a roof over a house.
Why flats are treated differently
In the national planning order, the word dwellinghouse excludes a building containing flats, and a flat inside one. A right that lets a house owner alter a roof without applying therefore never reaches a flat owner. Rushmoor's planning pages state it directly: a flat has no permitted development rights, and planning permission is required for any change except a like-for-like replacement. In Hayes the point carries weight, because the 1971 history counts flats among the homes its council built. Tell us at the first call whether the roof is over a flat.
The figure25%of the building envelope: the first limit, beside 50 per cent of the roof25% envelope limit50% roof limitSource: Planning Portal, building regulations for re-roofing
The managing agent or freeholder normally decides who commissions work to a roof shared by several flats, and a leaseholder's own contract may limit what they can do. We write up the roof in a form that can be handed to a managing agent, with pictures and a plain account of what is wrong, so the conversation starts from evidence and the agent can obtain a price against it.
Re-roofing, scaffold and building control
The Planning Portal's test works for houses and flats alike. Keep a re-roof under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof and a Building Regulations application is not normally required; a covering 15 per cent heavier or more is another matter. Our survey sets out the figures for your roof, which is useful for a block, where the roof is large and the percentages come out differently from a house.
Where a scaffold would stand on the road or footway, section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 brings it under the highway authority's licence, and a block of flats can need a much larger scaffold than a terrace does. We find out who applies and how long the authority takes, and the dates go into the plan before anyone is asked to move a car.
Chapter 02 of 03
Council homes, private estates and old cottages
Hayes housing in four published figures
- 766working-class houses the council built at Botwell, 1919 to 1924
- 1,213council dwellings around Botwell by 1938
- 2,426houses and flats built by the council by May 1961
- 3listed buildings within 500 m of the centre
The Victoria County History of Middlesex, in its 1971 volume, gives figures for Hayes that few places can match. Between 1919 and 1924 the council built 766 working-class houses at Botwell, and by 1938 there were 1,213 council dwellings around Botwell. By May 1961 the council had built 2,426 houses and flats in Hayes. These are counts of buildings, and they say nothing about their roofs, so we do not guess.
Estates laid out by 1935
The same account names large private estates laid out before 1935: the Townfield estate round Central Avenue, the Minet estate between Birchway and Mount Road, and an estate running north-east from Uxbridge Road up Lansbury Drive, Woodrow Avenue and Fairholme Crescent. Estates built to one plan in a short period share an age, so any original coverings, felt and fixings that survive would now be close to a century old. Each house still gets a survey of its own, and the photographs show whether a given slope has years left or not. A house that was re-roofed twenty years ago stands beside one that never was, and the street view will not tell you which is which.
Wood End and its cottages
The history also describes Wood End, Angel Lane, Morgan's Lane and other roads off Woodend Green Road, which contain many brown brick houses and cottages of the early 19th century and later, and a range of four yellow brick cottages dated 1867 facing a small green near the church. Cottages of that age can carry small chimneys, shared walls and shallow roofs, and each needs its own look. A terrace of cottages, like the four yellow brick ones facing the green, shares walls and probably chimneys, so the survey checks the party wall flashings and stacks as well as the slopes. Our pitched roofing page describes repairs to tiles, ridges and valleys.
Two Hayes dates
1938year 1,213 council dwellings stood around Botwell
1867date on the four yellow brick cottages at Wood End
The history records brickearth soil south and east of the village and London Clay to the north. We draw no roofing conclusions from soil. For the flat roofs of extensions, garages and blocks, our flat roofing page explains membranes, falls and outlets, which is where a leak can begin on a postwar house.
Chapter 03 of 03
Botwell's conservation areas and three listings
| Designation | In Hayes | For roof work |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | Botwell: Nestles and its Botwell neighbour, within 0.75 km of the centre | Ask Hillingdon before changing a roof's look |
| Grade II listed | Benlow Works (NHLE 1080121) | Listed building consent where character is affected |
| Grade II listed | Botwell House (NHLE 1358357) | Listed building consent where character is affected |
| Grade II listed | Church of St Anselm, Hayes (NHLE 1464541) | Church of England faculty, not council consent |
Two conservation areas, Botwell: Nestles and its Botwell neighbour, lie within about 0.75 km of the centre of Hayes. Their names point to industrial sites and not to houses, so a street of homes should not be assumed to be covered. Hillingdon's planning team keeps the boundary map and can confirm whether yours falls inside one. A dormer or any other visible alteration to a roof is best discussed with the council before pricing. For the household on a road that borders an area, a quick check is cheaper than a mistake.
Article 4 in a London borough
An Article 4 direction can take away certain permitted development rights in a set area, and Hillingdon's planning team can say whether one reaches your address, and the question matters most if you plan to extend or to alter the roof's shape. Our planning permission for roof work guide explains the national rules.
Benlow Works, Botwell House and St Anselm's
Benlow Works, Botwell House and the Church of St Anselm all have a Grade II listing, and the national list shows 3 listed buildings within 500 m of the centre. St Anselm's Parish Church on Station Road holds regular Church of England services, so its roof follows the faculty system under the ecclesiastical exemption, not Hillingdon's listed building consent. Benlow Works and Botwell House need listed building consent wherever proposed work would alter their character.
Most Hayes houses are not listed, and for them a repair that reproduces what is there needs no planning application, because section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 treats work that keeps a building's exterior materially as it was as falling outside development. The survey photographs record the roof as found, and a clear record helps if a neighbour, a buyer or the council later asks what was done.
The register of listed buildings is a separate list from the conservation area map, and a house can appear on one without the other. When you call, tell us whether the house is a flat, a terrace or a semi, and whether it stands near either Botwell conservation area, so the survey is planned with the right questions already asked and the right council pages already read.
Hayes roof questions, from estates to flats
My Hayes house is on an estate built before 1935: has its roof reached the end of its life?
Age is only part of the answer. A roof from that period may have been re-covered already, and some slopes can be sound while others are tired. We lift tiles, look at the battens and felt, and keep a picture record of each slope, so the repair or replacement we recommend follows the evidence and nothing else.
Do the Botwell conservation areas cover houses in Hayes?
Two are named, Botwell: Nestles and a Botwell neighbour, and both lie within about 0.75 km of the centre. Their names point to industrial sites, so check your own street with Hillingdon's planning team. A new dormer, or any other change in the roof's look, is put to the council first.
Who decides on a roof repair to a Hayes block of flats?
The freeholder or managing agent, usually, because the roof is shared. Flats have no permitted development rights, so a change in how the roof looks needs planning permission from Hillingdon, and even a straight repair should have the agent's agreement. We survey the roof and write the findings so the agent can act on them.
How is a scaffold arranged for a terraced Hayes house?
If it stands on the road or footway it needs the highway authority's licence, as section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 provides. We find out who applies and the lead time, then build the dates into the schedule. A route through the back garden may avoid the highway, and the survey checks whether that can work.
From Hayes to Southall and West Drayton
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