Reading the figures
What the ranges are and are not
Every figure above comes from a published cost guide, and each is a national average or range for the whole of the UK. None of them is a quote for a house in Farnborough, Fleet or Camberley, and none is a price from Fortis Roofing Farnborough. Use them to gauge whether a figure you have been handed lies in a sensible area.
The Which? figures come from a survey of 11 traders gathered in November 2025. Which? states that the numbers cover labour and materials with VAT left out, so add VAT before setting them beside a quote that has it included. The MyJobQuote pages show the date each was last updated, and those dates run from August to October 2026.
Where two guides disagree we show both. That is common with whole-roof replacement, and the next section explains why.
Repairs
Tiles, ridges and verges
A repair is priced by what has to be reached and replaced. Which? gives a range of £75 to £400 for swapping one to six standard tiles that are cracked or missing, and MyJobQuote puts the average for replacing five tiles at around £215. The ridge is the capping row that sits over the highest line of the roof. Which? gives £80 to £300 for a new ridge tile, which is low because it assumes the surrounding ridge is sound.
The verge is where the covering stops at a gable wall. A dry verge system secures the roof edge with mechanical clips and caps rather than mortar, and MyJobQuote says it usually falls between £500 and £2,000. The spread reflects the length of verge, the height of the building and how much old mortar has to come off.
Roof repairs overall average around £650 on MyJobQuote's guide, and an emergency call-out typically ranges from £150 to £300 before any repair is carried out. Extensive storm repairs, MyJobQuote says, can reach £1,200 or more.
Flat roofs
Felt, rubber and the cost per square metre
Flat roofs are priced by area, so the size of the roof matters more than anything else. Which? gives £1,400 to £3,500 for a fresh felt covering over a standard single garage measuring 6m by 3m, and £1,950 to £4,000 for other materials or new boards. MyJobQuote's range for flat roof replacement is wider, from £1,500 to £6,000, because it covers larger and more awkward roofs.
On material alone, HomeBuilding (September 2025) gives supply-only figures per square metre: felt £65, EPDM £105, GRP £110 and lead £170. EPDM is a synthetic rubber membrane laid in one sheet, and GRP is glass-reinforced plastic, often called fibreglass. Supply-only means the material without labour, so these figures sit well below a finished price. For fitted rubber, MyJobQuote says around £60 per square metre, and Less (October 2026) puts a 15 m² garage at £1,200 to £2,500.
The sources also disagree about how long EPDM lasts: HomeBuilding (September 2025) says 25-30 years and Less (October 2026) says 30 to 50 years. That is another reason a written price should name the material and the build-up, not just the area.
Whole roofs
Why replacement figures differ so much
Replacing a whole roof is the figure that varies most between guides. Which? puts a whole-roof replacement on an average three-bedroom house at £7,000 to £21,000, excluding VAT. HomeBuilding works through one specific house, a three-bedroom semi with a 65 m² roof in plain concrete tiles, and arrives at £10,000 to £15,000 including labour, scaffolding and insulation. It adds that the same house in Welsh slate could reach £18,000. MyJobQuote's average is lower again, at around £5,250.
The gap comes from what each guide counts. A figure that includes scaffolding, new battens and underlay and insulation will be higher than one that covers only the covering. Roof size, pitch, the number of valleys and dormers, the weight of the covering and access to the property all push a price in one direction or the other.
Slate is a good example. MyJobQuote gives around £7,800 for fitting a slate roof, while HomeBuilding's supply-only figures start at £72 per square metre for Spanish natural slate and climb to £185 for Welsh slate. The same word, slate, covers very different products.
Lead, gutters and roof windows
Smaller jobs that still need a look
Lead is priced by the detail. MyJobQuote gives £350 to £920 for full chimney leadwork, depending on whether scaffold is needed, and around £540 for most full roof valley replacements. Gutters are cheaper to clear than to replace: Which? gives £75 to £350 for clearing front and back gutters, and MyJobQuote puts replacement at £1,000 to £1,600. For a roof window of the Velux type, MyJobQuote says a standard mid-range unit is about £1,100, with a straightforward swap around £100 less.
Chimneys carry their own rules. MyJobQuote gives £1,200 to £3,500 for removing a chimney breast, and the Planning Portal says that taking out a chimney breast always falls under Building Regulations approval, since it forms part of the structure. Conservatory roofs have a wide spread too: MyJobQuote says £3,200 to £6,000, while The Eco Experts give £2,300 to £6,000.
What sets the price
The jobs where only a survey can give a number
Some work cannot be priced from a guide at all. Scaffolding depends on the height and shape of the building, how long it stays up and whether it sits on private land or the public highway, where the highway authority has to issue a licence. Roof cleaning and moss removal depend on the covering, the area and the access. Chimney repointing depends on how much mortar has failed and how high the stack is. Spray foam removal depends on how it was applied and what lies beneath it, and commercial roofing depends on the area, the build-up of the existing roof and how the building is used.
On each of these, the useful question is what is included. Ask whether the price covers scaffolding, waste removal and making good, and whether VAT is part of the total. Those answers matter more than the headline figure.
VAT and grants
What you will actually pay on top
The standard rate of VAT is 20%. A homeowner who pays a roofer directly never meets the domestic reverse charge, because it only applies to supplies passing from one VAT-registered business to another inside the Construction Industry Scheme. Certain energy-saving materials carry a zero rate when installed up to 31 March 2027, then move to the reduced rate of 5% from 1 April 2027, which is a narrower category than roof repairs in general.
There is no national grant towards a new roof. The schemes listed on GOV.UK concern insulation, heating and home adaptations, and each sets its own eligibility, so check the GOV.UK page for the scheme before you assume anything applies.
Comparing quotes
Getting figures you can compare
Citizens Advice says to try for written quotes from at least 3 different traders before you decide on one. To make them comparable, give each roofer the same description of the problem and the same access, and ask each to state the covering, the underlay and whether scaffolding and VAT are part of the total. A quote that is much lower than the rest deserves a question about what has been left out.
For our own price, start with a free roof quote. If you would rather read first, our service guides go through each kind of job in detail.