Roofs in a Wealden village with a conservation area and listed buildings.
East Hoathly has a conservation area, two Grade II* listed buildings and 791 residents at the 2021 Census. We survey each roof first, share photos of it and give one written price.
Only part of the village falls within the East Hoathly conservation area. Whether your house falls within the boundary changes the paperwork, so we confirm it with Wealden's planning team before pricing anything bigger than a matching repair.
Tiled village roofs in daylight
The Parish Church and Belmont are both listed Grade II*, and numbers 5, 7 and 9 Waldron Road are listed Grade II. A listed house can need listed building consent for roof changes.
Old tiled roof with a chimney stack
The 2021 Census counted 791 people in the built-up area. Even in a village of that size, one cottage can differ from the next under the tiles, so each East Hoathly house is climbed, checked and photographed on its own.
Pitched roofs along a village lane
Map of East Hoathly and the neighbourhoods around it, with Crawley for reference.
East Hoathly is a village south-east of Crawley, beyond the South Downs National Park boundary, which leaves planning with Wealden District Council.
A job in East Hoathly
Three short chapters: what listing means for a repair, how scaffold fits a village road, and the Wealden and East Sussex approvals behind a larger job.
Stage 01 · First look
East Hoathly has Grade II* listed buildings and a conservation area, so our first question is what protection, if any, your own house carries.
The National Heritage List holds two Grade II* entries for East Hoathly. One is the Parish Church and the other is Belmont, and both were first listed on 30 August 1966. Numbers 5, 7 and 9 Waldron Road are listed Grade II as well, and a slice of the village sits inside the East Hoathly conservation area. None of this describes what is under your own tiles. It does decide which questions we settle before a price goes in writing.
Ring or email Wealden District Council's planning team. It holds the conservation area map and can say whether a property is listed. The legal papers from your purchase may also mention it. Settle this before any roofer prices the job, us included, because a listing covers the whole building. That can mean the roof, the chimneys and the way both are finished. A house that is neither listed nor in the conservation area is a much simpler job.
On a first East Hoathly survey
Listed building consent is required for works that would affect a listed building's special character. Swapping the covering for a different material is the kind of change that can do it. Putting back a handful of slipped tiles that match the rest is far less likely to. The council decides, not us. So we describe the work plainly, send photos of your roof and wait for the planning team to confirm before a scaffold tower arrives. A church in use may have its own consent route, so whoever looks after a church roof should ask the diocese or denomination first.
We walk round the outside first and look at the whole roof from the ground. Then we go up for the detail: the tiles, the battens (the timber strips each tile hangs from), the ridge that caps the roof, the verge tiles over each gable, the flashings where roof meets wall or chimney, and the gutters below. Indoors we check the loft for daylight, damp and stained timber. A clay roof has a minimum life expectancy of 60 years according to the Building Research Establishment, yet a building conservation article says that number fits old peg tile poorly. So condition matters more than date. Tile, batten and underlay repairs are set out on our pitched roofing page. You receive the survey photos and one total price in writing.
Stage 02 · On site
A village road leaves little spare room for scaffold, skips and deliveries, so we decide where everything stands before day one.
Safe access is half of any roof job, and in an older village it is often the harder half. One house opens straight onto the pavement. Another sits behind a short drive. A third is reached only along a side passage. At the survey we note which of these applies to you, because it fixes where the scaffold goes, where the tiles are stacked and where a skip can stand.
Poles and boards that stand on the road or the pavement need a licence from whoever manages that highway. In East Sussex that is the county council, with applications run through East Sussex Highways. Your own land is different, and no licence applies there. Where one is needed, we sort it out together with the scaffolding firm and choose a start date that suits the notice period. East Sussex Highways publishes the fee and the terms. Its terms set a deadline for extensions: apply at least 5 working days before the current licence runs out, which matters if a job overruns. They also bar scaffolding from the highway during annual bonfire celebrations, and for an autumn job in East Hoathly we check those dates before booking.
Words you may hear on site
Poles kept inside your own boundary escape the highway licence; poles on a pavement do not.
We knock on the nearest doors before erection day and again before the scaffold comes down. Walkways stay clear, and offcuts and broken tile leave with us each day instead of piling up by the gate. You are told what each day holds, so you know when to expect noise overhead and when the front door may be awkward to reach. While the scaffold is standing we also look along the eaves, because gutter, fascia and soffit faults are far cheaper to fix when access is already up. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page lists that work.
A roost is a legally protected place, and government advice on bats names roof repair among the jobs that may disturb one. Nests are protected from damage for as long as a bird is using or building one. If we spot droppings, a roost or a nest in the loft or under the tiles, that section of work stops and we explain the options before going any further. It is rarely a long delay when it is handled properly from the start.
Stage 03 · Permissions
Once a repair grows into a re-roof, Wealden District Council and the East Sussex Building Control Partnership come into the picture.
A small repair seldom needs paperwork. The picture changes with a full re-roof, a new type of covering or anything that alters how the building looks. Three questions then matter, and we put every one of them to the right body before we promise a start date.
The Planning Portal test has two limbs: under 25 per cent of the building envelope, and under 50 per cent of the roof itself. Stay inside both and approval is not usually needed. A covering that weighs 15 per cent more than the old one changes the answer, and the Planning Portal advises taking professional advice on the roof structure first. Local building control sits with the East Sussex Building Control Partnership, a Wealden-led team that also serves Eastbourne, Hastings and Rother. Should our findings lean towards stripping a big area, we put the question to them and the written price reflects the reply. Our roof replacement page sets out the sequence of a whole new roof, from stripping to the final inspection.
Points to inspect in East Hoathly
Putting back what was there does not materially affect the building's external appearance, so it falls outside planning control. Altering the look of a roof is another matter, and inside a conservation area the rules can bite harder. Rather than restate them, we point to our post on planning permission for roof work, which sets out the national position. Wealden's planning team can then tell you how it applies at your address.
Because changing it alters weight, pitch and appearance all at once. BS 5534 indicates a minimum pitch of 20 degrees for natural slate, so slate cannot simply replace tile on any roof, and a heavier covering may call for the roof structure to be checked. On a listed house or in the conservation area, the look of the new covering matters to the council as well. Each of those points goes into the survey notes, and the written price is built on the covering you and the council have agreed, not on a guess.
To start, send one clear photo of the worry spot, ideally from your garden or the lane outside, with your postcode. If it is listed or within the conservation area, mention that. It lets us plan the survey, bring the right ladders and avoid a wasted trip.
Possibly, though ask first. A new look for a roof inside a conservation area can bring planning control into play, whereas matching repairs generally do not. Put the question to Wealden's planning team before you commit, and send us pictures so we can name the existing tile correctly. Our written price then covers either the matching tile or the new one.
The East Sussex Building Control Partnership does that job for Wealden, Eastbourne, Hastings and Rother. The trigger for approval is the share of the house and roof the job touches, and on how heavy the new covering is. We run through those points at the survey and tell you the answer before the start date is fixed.
Only if the scaffold stands on the carriageway or footway. In East Sussex the county council manages the highway, and East Sussex Highways takes the applications. Your own drive or garden needs none. If a licence is required we organise it together with the scaffolders and fit the start date to the notice period, which East Sussex Highways sets.
Stopping the water comes first. We cover a leak with a temporary fix to make the roof safe, and you should photograph the damage and tell your insurer. A temporary cover is not a change of covering. Before any lasting repair, ask the council's planning team whether listed building consent applies, and we write the job up with photos.
Email one clear photo of the problem tiles, ridge or chimney with your postcode, noting any listing or conservation area status.
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