Before spending thousands on a new roof, it makes sense to ask what will last longest. The answer is a ranking with caveats. Natural slate heads the published lists, zinc and lead are close behind, clay tile follows, and concrete, fibre cement and the flat-roof membranes bring up the rear in that order. The ranking is for the covering alone, though, and a roof is more than its covering.
The published lives are also typical ranges and not promises. They come from cost guides, manufacturers and a standards body, and they do not always agree: a clay figure from one source is a minimum from another, and a concrete figure from a tile maker is higher than the one in a cost guide. Where sources disagree we give both and name them.
Below, the published figures sit in one table, followed by what limits each covering in practice, how cost sets against life, and how the rest of the roof can cut short a covering that is still good. It is written for owners in Farnborough and the Hampshire and Surrey towns around it who are deciding what to put on a re-roof. The numbers are national ones, not a forecast for your house.
The published lives in one table
The table gathers every sourced life we hold, from longest to shortest, with the source against each one.
| Covering | Typical life |
|---|---|
| Welsh slate | 100+ years |
| Zinc | 100 years (BRE Environmental Product Declaration, cited by VMZinc) |
| Spanish natural slate | 75 to 100 years |
| Lead flat roof | 60 to 100 years |
| Lead flashing | can last for over 80 years (MyJobQuote, a lower bound) |
| Clay tile | 60 to 80 years |
| Reclaimed Welsh slate | 50 to 80 years |
| Concrete tile (plain, Double Roman) | 40 to 50 years |
| Fibre cement tile | 30 to 40 years |
| EPDM | 25 to 30 years (Less gives 30 to 50) |
| GRP | 25 to 30 years (Less gives 25 to 40) |
| Felt, torch-on | 10 to 15 years (Less gives 10 to 20) |
Where the sources disagree
For clay, Marley reports a BRE minimum of 60 years, and that applies to clay only. For concrete, Marley says around 60 years but with a caution that this is not a warranty, while HomeBuilding's range is 40 to 50. For EPDM, GRP and felt, HomeBuilding and Less give different ranges, so both are shown.
How to read the order
The order is by the top of each range, so a covering with a wide spread, such as lead flat roofing at 60 to 100 years, can sit above one with a narrow but similar figure. The bottom of a range says as much as the top, because it shows what you can plan on if the roof is only averagely laid and looked after. A range is a statement about coverings in general. Your roof is one roof, and its own age, exposure and workmanship place it somewhere inside the range or outside it.
What limits the life of slate, clay and concrete
The tile and slate family has the longest lives, but each member fails in its own way, and knowing how helps you judge what you have.
Natural slate
The stone is the durable part of a slate roof. What gives out first is often the fixing: when nails fail, slates slip, a condition known as nail sickness. Re-fixing the sound slates is possible when that happens, which helps explain why the published lives run so long. Our lead roof life expectancy post covers the metal that so often sits beside slate, in valleys and at chimneys.
Clay tiles
Clay is fired in a kiln, so its colour runs through the tile and it weathers rather than fading. The BRE's 60-year minimum applies to clay only, and HomeBuilding's 60 to 80 years sits close to it.
Concrete tiles
These are made from sand and cement under pressure. Marley's figure of around 60 years and HomeBuilding's 40 to 50 show how widely a published range can swing, so a roof's real age and condition tell you more than either number.
Fibre cement
Fibre cement slates look like natural ones and sit lower in the table, at 30 to 40 years.
What they share
All of these depend on the battens, underlay and fixings underneath, which have their own, shorter lives. A covering lasts no longer than the timber under it, and battens that crumble as a tile is lifted are a common reason a sound roof has to be stripped.
What this means for a re-roof
If the covering is the part with years left and the battens are the part that has gone, the decision is between lifting and re-laying the covering on new battens and replacing it outright. A reclaimed slate or clay tile can often be reused when it is sound, which is one reason reclaimed Welsh slate has its own row at 50 to 80 years.
Metals: zinc and lead
Metal roofs sit alongside slate at the top of the tables, but the figures rest on different evidence, and the use is different.
Zinc
VMZinc, the zinc maker, cites its BRE Environmental Product Declaration as stating 100 years. That is a manufacturer's citation, so read it as the maker's published figure. Zinc is a main roof covering in its own right as well as a material for flashings and gutters.
Lead
HomeBuilding gives a lead flat roof 60 to 100 years. MyJobQuote words the flashing figure as lasting "over 80 years", a lower bound. Lead's weakness is movement: it splits where it cannot expand and contract, and it attracts theft. Our post on the problems with lead roofing sets out the causes.
Standards
Lead sheet roofs follow BS 6915, which Approved Document C cites. BS 6229:2025 covers flat roofs with flexible membranes only, and not lead. That difference matters when a quote names a standard.
How metals compare in practice
A metal roof of either kind is a specialist job, and its life depends on the detail more than on the metal. A well-laid lead or zinc roof can stay watertight for generations, and a badly laid one fails early, whatever the published range says.
Cost side
HomeBuilding's supply-only price for lead is £170 per square metre, against £105 for EPDM, so the long-lived metal costs more at the start. Whether it pays back depends on how long you will keep the building and what the detail is like, and that is a judgement for the survey.
Flat-roof membranes and the short end of the table
Membranes serve flat and shallow roofs where tiles cannot go, and their lives are shorter. That is not a flaw in the materials. It is the price of a covering that can be laid in one sheet over a nearly level deck.
EPDM
EPDM, a man-made rubber, goes down as one sheet. HomeBuilding gives it 25 to 30 years, and Less gives 30 to 50. The two ranges overlap, so both are worth reading before you decide.
GRP
GRP is a glass-reinforced plastic skin laid on a deck. HomeBuilding gives 25 to 30 years, and Less gives 25 to 40.
Felt
Torch-on felt is laid in layers. HomeBuilding gives 10 to 15 years and Less gives 10 to 20, the shortest in the table.
Why the fall matters
BS 6229:2025 sets a minimum finished fall of 1:80, and IKO advises designing for 1:40. A membrane over a deck that holds water does worse than one that drains.
Cost and life together
Felt costs least to supply at £65 per square metre in HomeBuilding's table, and it lasts the shortest time. Over a few decades, the covering with the lowest price tag is not always the lowest-cost roof to own, because it has to be laid again sooner. A longer-lived membrane or a metal such as lead can cost less per year despite a higher first price.
Other short-lived coverings
A retailer puts uPVC fascia boards at 20 to 40 years, and HomeBuilding gives a polycarbonate conservatory roof about 10 years, with The Eco Experts at 10 to 15. Neither is a main roof covering, but both turn up on the same house.
The roof under the covering sets its own limit
A covering that could last a century can be undone by what sits beneath it. This is the point that tables leave out and the survey shows.
Battens and nails
Timber battens and the nails that hold tiles and slates have shorter lives than the covering. When they fail, slates slip and tiles drop while the material itself is still sound, so the moment the covering is lifted is the moment to renew them.
Underlay
Older felt underlay becomes brittle and tears. New breather membranes last longer, and the choice of underlay affects the ventilation the roof needs.
Ridge, hip and verge
Mortar on ridges and verges perishes first, and BS 5534 no longer relies on its grip alone. Dry-fix systems tested to BS 8612 hold the tiles mechanically.
Flashings and valleys
These are lead or metal and have their own life, as set out above. They also cut the life of an otherwise sound covering when they fail.
Maintenance
Clear gutters, take moss off with care and repair small faults early. Looked after in that way, a roof has the best chance of reaching the upper end of its range, and one that is ignored may not.
Our own part
We survey the roof, photograph the battens, underlay, ridge and flashings, and say which parts have years left and which do not. Our roof replacement page covers the full re-roof, and our guide to the signs you need a new roof helps you judge if your roof has reached that point.
Choosing a covering for the long term
The longest-lasting covering is not automatically the right one for your house. Weigh the following together.
The pitch
Every covering has a minimum pitch, from 12.5 degrees for the lowest Marley tile to 40 degrees for its steepest plain clay tile, with natural slate at 20 degrees under BS 5534. A shallow roof narrows the choice before life enters into it.
The weight
Where the new covering is 15 per cent or more above the old in weight, Building Regulations approval applies and a structural check is wise. Weights differ product by product, so the maker's sheet is the place to look.
The street
In a conservation area, or on a listed building, the council may expect the original material to stay. Rushmoor has nine conservation areas, and two of them, South Farnborough and Farnborough Street, cover parts of the town. Class C of the permitted development rules covers re-roofing a house, and Article 4 directions and listing can change that.
The cost
Set the cost of the covering against its published life. In HomeBuilding's worked example a three-bed semi costs £10,000 to £15,000 in plain concrete tile and could reach £18,000 in Welsh slate, while Which? (November 2025) gives £7,000 to £21,000 ex VAT for a typical three-bed roof. These are guide figures from named sources and not our prices; our own comes in writing after a survey. See our roof replacement cost guide for more on what moves the total.
The time you will stay
If you will own the house for decades, a longer-lived covering earns its price. If you will sell soon, a sound mid-range covering may serve. Whichever you choose, the written price follows the survey.
