Buying a House: Roof Checks Before You Exchange

A surveyor normally inspects the roof by eye from the street and the garden, then pokes a head into the loft if the hatch is reachable. Typical comments are slipped, cracked or missing tiles, worn mortar on the ridge or verge, flashing that has lifted at a chimney or a wall, a sagging roof line, blocked or leaking gutters and damp stains on the timbers. The report may use a rating or traffic light to show how urgent each item is.

Read the wording carefully. Phrases such as "further investigation recommended" mean the surveyor could not tell, not that the roof is fine. A remark that the covering is ageing is a general opinion rather than a measurement, and lifespans vary a lot: Marley, for example, puts concrete tiles at around 60 years, and describes that as not a guarantee.

If the house was built or refurbished before 2000, HSE advises assuming asbestos is present somewhere in it. Garage roofs and soffits are worth asking about, and our answer on asbestos soffit boards explains the issue.

Put your questions in writing through your solicitor, so the answers are on file. Has the roof leaked, and when? Who repaired it, and is there an invoice? Has any part been re-roofed, and is there a building control completion certificate for it? Is there a written guarantee, and does it pass to a new owner? Has the loft been insulated or converted since the roof was last worked on?

The Planning Portal says re-roofing normally needs no building control application when less than 25 per cent of the building envelope is affected and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Larger or different jobs may need approval, so a certificate or a note from the council is worth asking for. If the seller says there is nothing in writing, that is an answer too, and it helps you decide how much to rely on the roof.

Photos of the loft taken by the seller or agent, with a date, can also help.

Look for signs yourself at the viewing, too. Stand outside and glance at the roof lines for dips and wavy ridges, and note any tiles that do not match their neighbours, which suggests an earlier patch. Inside, check the ceilings on the top floor and the corners of walls near the chimney for tide marks, blistered paint or a damp odour. A fresh coat of paint on one ceiling and nowhere else is worth a question.

Call a roofer when the survey mentions the roof at all and you cannot tell how serious it is. A roofer can look at the same areas more closely, photograph the tiles, flashings and ridge, and describe in plain words the repair each fault would need. That gives your solicitor and the seller something concrete to talk about.

Ask for one written total price for any repair, after a survey, rather than a verbal guess. That way you can ask the seller to cut the price, to have the work done before completion, or to hold back an agreed sum. A check on a mortgage condition also matters: ask your lender, in writing, whether it requires any roof work before it releases funds.

For scale, Checkatrade's October 2026 cost guide gives around £12,000 to renew the roof of an average 3-bed semi, rising to approximately £17,000 on a 4-bed detached. Use it as a yardstick only, and read each figure you are shown to see if VAT and scaffold are in it. Your own roof's price depends on the survey.

If the roof is sound, you can exchange knowing what you have. If a repair is needed, there are three sensible routes: agree a lower price, ask the seller to arrange the work with a written price you have seen, or budget for it and plan the work soon after you move in. Moving day is not the time to find out where a leak comes from.

Whatever you decide, keep the survey, the photos and any quote together. They are useful when you insure the house, and if you ever sell, the next buyer will ask the same questions you did.

It is also worth planning for the maintenance a roof will need once it is yours. Our seasonal roof maintenance checklist gives a routine you can follow from the ground, and our page on what happens at a roof survey explains the visit we make. For the full range of our work, see roofers in Crawley.