Bovis Homes' 1970s estate
Much of the Victorian Heatherside Estate was sold in the 1970s and built over as a self-contained neighbourhood.
Roofers in Heatherside
Roofs on a 1970s heath estate with diamond tile-hanging
Heatherside is a large 1970s and 1980s estate on the heath east of Camberley, built over a Victorian estate. Every roof is climbed, photographed and then quoted once.
Heatherside's roofs, from Victorian estate to 1970s neighbourhood
Diamond tile-hanging
Surrey Heath's guide describes sandy brown brick with diamond-shaped tile-hanging in green or dark brown.
Weatherboarding and long windows
The same guide names weatherboarding and long rectangular windows among Heatherside's house features.
Map of Heatherside with Deepcut, Camberley, Frimley, Frimley Green, Farnborough marked around it.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Loads only when you ask for it.
Heatherside, east of Camberley on the heath
Deepcut lies to the south, Camberley to the north-west, Frimley and Frimley Green to the south-west, Lightwater to the north-east, and Bagshot to the north.
About 3.6 road miles north-east of Farnborough · Surrey Heath Borough Council and Surrey County Council.
What we can do for your Heatherside roof
Heatherside, estate and edges
Heatherside roofs, from heath estate to tile-hanging junctions
How a Victorian heath estate became the area's largest private housing estate, what Surrey Heath's guide says about its walls and windows, and which listing, inspector and scaffold terms touch a roof job.
| No. | Chapter | The figure it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | A Victorian heath estate sold to Bovis in 1970s | Bovis Homes, 1970s; largest estate |
| 02 | Diamond tile-hanging and weatherboarding beside the roof edge | Diamond tile-hanging; weatherboarding |
| 03 | The Wheatsheaf, SHBCC and a Surrey scaffold licence | Grade II Wheatsheaf; canal-side area 2.5 km |
Chapter 01 of 03
A Victorian heath estate sold to Bovis in 1970s
Heatherside's history in four published points
- 1970smuch of the Heatherside Estate sold to Bovis Homes
- Largestsingle private housing estate in the area, per Surrey Heath
- 1911year the county history names Heatherside Nurseries
- 3.6 road milesnorth-east of Farnborough from the A325
Surrey Heath's character guide describes the Heatherside Estate as one of the last intact Victorian heathland estates. In the 1970s, it says, much of it went to Bovis Homes, who built a self-contained neighbourhood that became the largest single private housing estate in the area. An older record, the Victoria County History of 1911, names Heatherside Nurseries, with some of the finest Wellingtonias in England, as the typical industry of Frimley parish. Heath, nursery ground and specimen trees run through the area's past, long before the estate of the 1970s was built.
Reading a roof on a single-builder estate
A developer who builds a whole neighbourhood in a short span leaves a family likeness: the same house types recur, along with the same details and sometimes the same faults. That is a helpful hint and a risky assumption. If one house of a type has a failing valley, its neighbour is worth checking, yet a roof that has been re-covered, extended or patched since the 1970s has its own story, and a street's resemblance tells you nothing about what lies beneath a tile.
Our inspection begins at the ridge and runs downhill. A tape gives the area of each slope, the camera logs every ridge piece, verge, valley and flashing, and fixings are tested by hand at several points to see whether the tiles are holding. Inside the loft a torch shows the underside of the covering and the condition of the felt. Everything lands in a report arranged by slope, so any repair can be priced against the actual fault.
Pitched repairs are covered on our pitched roofing page, including the cases where a patch is the wrong answer. Extensions and garages with flat roofs are covered on our flat roofing page. You see the evidence before you see a price, and you are quoted for a repair whenever a repair is enough.
Because the estate is large, neighbours often compare notes, and we welcome that. If another house on your road has had the same fault, tell us. It will not change what we find on your roof, but it shows us where to look first, and the report will state plainly whether your roof matches or not.
Chapter 02 of 03
Diamond tile-hanging and weatherboarding beside the roof edge
| Feature in the guide | Where it meets the roof | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Sandy brown brick | Chimney stacks and gable walls | Pointing and flashings |
| Diamond-shaped tile-hanging in green or dark brown | Eaves, verges and abutments | Hanging tiles, soakers and flashings |
| Weatherboarding | Eaves and gable ends | Boards, fascia joints and drips |
| Long rectangular windows | Window heads and cills below the eaves | Gutter overflow and staining |
Surrey Heath's guide describes Heatherside houses with sandy brown brick, long rectangular windows, weatherboarding and diamond-shaped tile-hanging in green or dark brown. These are features of walls, and a roof meets the walls along its edges. That is where this chapter matters, because most water that gets into a roof does so at a junction and not through the middle of a sound covering.
The junctions that decide a leak
Hanging tiles stop where the roof begins. At the eaves, the verge and any abutment, a flashing or soaker has to carry water from wall to roof without letting it behind either surface. Weatherboarding finishes at the eaves and at the gable ends, where boards, fascia and gutter come together in a tight space. A failed joint at any of these places can show as damp indoors, a long way from the fault itself.
That is why junctions get the closest attention on a Heatherside survey. From above and from inside the roof space we examine each place where a wall surface meets a slope, and from the ground we look for overflow stains below the gutters. If a hanging tile has slipped, the question is whether the fault lies in the tile, in the batten behind it or in the flashing above, and the answer comes from looking and not from assuming.
Gutters and fascias belong to the same family of problems. A gutter that has dropped at the eaves can let water run down the boarding and rot a board from behind. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page explains how those parts are repaired and replaced, and the report records the condition of each one. We note, too, which parts can be reached from a ladder or low tower and which need full scaffold, because on a tile-hanging repair that decision changes both the cost and the time on site.
Window heads and cills sit just below the eaves on a house with long rectangular windows, so an overflowing gutter is likely to stain the wall right beside them. A pattern of staining below a gutter joint is one of the clearest clues available from the ground, and we photograph it whenever we see it.
Chapter 03 of 03
The Wheatsheaf, SHBCC and a Surrey scaffold licence
Four facts for a Heatherside roof job
- Grade IIThe Wheatsheaf, listed within 500 m
- 2.5 kmsearch radius for the nearest conservation area
- 28 daysSurrey County Council scaffold licence period
- 10 daysworking days of notice Surrey County Council asks for
The Wheatsheaf, Camberley received its Grade II listing on 27 April 2018 and stands within 500 m of Heatherside's centre. Work altering its character would need listed building consent, and an unlisted house on the estate falls outside the listing. The nearest conservation area on the national dataset is Upper Gordon Road to Church Hill, within about 2.5 km, though the box drawn round Heatherside's centre does not reach it, which is why we call it nearby. For a given address the planning officers at Surrey Heath hold the answer, and we ask them before pricing a visible change to a roof.
Who inspects
Anyone re-roofing in Heatherside deals with SHBCC, the consultancy that runs building control for Surrey Heath, unless they hire an independent registered approver instead. Whether either is needed depends on the roof's share. Under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is the Planning Portal's no-application zone, while a covering 15 per cent or more heavier calls for approval, with a structural check first. We calculate the share for your roof at the survey.
The figure2.5kmis the radius searched for the nearest conservation area to Heatherside2.5 search radiusSource: planning.data.gov.uk conservation-area dataset, area query
Who licenses the scaffold
Heatherside's roads belong to Surrey County Council, so its licence is what a scaffold on a carriageway or footway requires. The council's tariff is £208 for each 28-day period, with 10 working days of notice wanted before the start. The applicant goes unnamed on that page, so the paperwork is something we settle with the scaffolder before the dates reach you. On an estate road lined with parked cars, the position of the scaffold is a real question, and we agree it at the survey. A scaffold that sits wholly inside your plot needs no licence at all.
Weather shapes the programme. The Met Office's South Farnborough averages for 1991 to 2020 show 118 wet days a year and around 53 days of air frost, which means poles stay up through a bit of each. Spare days sit in the dates, and a changing forecast reaches you early enough to adjust.
Surrey Heath and the county are succeeded by West Surrey Council on 1 April 2027. A job that straddles that day is flagged at the survey, and we find out which body then holds each question.
Heatherside roof questions, from estate resemblance to scaffold
Does repairing tile-hanging on a Heatherside house mean working on the roof too?
Not always, but the junction is always checked. Hanging tiles meet the roof at the eaves, verge or an abutment, where flashings link wall and slope. A slipped tile may be a wall repair from a ladder, yet we inspect the junction above it from the slope and from inside before concluding that it is only a tile.
Does Heatherside's single-builder history tell you what is on my roof?
It gives a hint, not an answer. Surrey Heath says much of the estate was sold to Bovis Homes in the 1970s, and any one house may have been re-covered or extended since. Each slope is read on the evidence it shows, and a repair is recommended whenever one will do, whatever the street looks like.
Is the Wheatsheaf's Grade II listing relevant to a Heatherside house roof?
Only to the listed building itself, where work changing its character would need listed building consent. An unlisted house on the estate sits outside that listing. The National Heritage List is searched for your address during the visit, and the report sets down what turned up, so you have it in writing.
How far is Heatherside from the nearest conservation area?
The conservation area nearest to Heatherside on the national dataset lies in Camberley, within about 2.5 km: Upper Gordon Road to Church Hill. It stops short of the box drawn around Heatherside's centre. Whether your address sits inside any conservation area is for Surrey Heath to say, not for us to guess, and we ask before pricing visible changes, then record its reply with the survey.
Estate and heath roofs we reach around Heatherside
Get your free roof quote
A Heatherside roof, tested at every junction before pricing
Name your Heatherside road and describe what has gone wrong. We book a survey, and a written price follows.
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