The short answer
A roofer typically charges £35 to £45 per hour, or £280 to £360 per day, in Checkatrade's June 2026 repair table. Roof work is normally priced as a whole job rather than by the day, because access, materials and whatever the survey finds all change the total. One written price after the survey is easier to compare than an open-ended day rate.
What a roofer typically charges per hour and per day in the UK, and why a whole-job written price tends to serve a homeowner better.
The typical UK day and hourly rate
The most useful published figure comes from Checkatrade's roof repair cost guide. Its table dated June 2026 puts a roofer's typical rate at £35 to £45 per hour, or £280 to £360 per day. Treat that as a national range quoted by an outside cost guide. It is not a Crown price, and it will not match every roofer, every region or every kind of job.
The same table says its costs exclude VAT, which has to be added on top. On GOV.UK the standard VAT rate is 20%, so always check whether a figure you are handed includes it. Our answer on VAT on roof repairs goes through the detail.
A day rate describes the labour of one person for one day. It tells you nothing about tiles, fixings, scaffold, a skip, or how many people the work needs. That is why a day rate is a weak way to guess your bill. It covers one slice of the cost, and the rest depends on your own roof, which nobody can see from a figure in a table.
Why roof jobs are priced as a whole
You want to know the end figure, not run an hourly meter. Replacing a slipped tile and re-roofing a semi are very different sizes of job, and the number of days either takes depends on the weather, the access and whatever lies beneath the tiles when they are lifted. A price for the job puts that uncertainty on the roofer, who therefore has to look at the roof before committing.
For that reason our visits begin with a survey. We photograph the roof, talk through what is wrong, and only then write down a single total. That figure covers the whole piece of work, so the decision you make is an informed one, taken before anyone picks up a hammer.
The things that move a total are worth understanding: how large the area is, which covering goes on, how difficult the roof is to get at, whether scaffold is needed and what sits underneath the old tiles. Checkatrade's table also gives repair rates per square metre for different coverings, again as national ranges dated June 2026.
How to compare prices sensibly
When two quotes differ, ask what each one covers. Does the figure include VAT? Does it include scaffolding or a tower where one is needed? Is the waste taken away? What does the paperwork say about the covering and the area being worked on? A lower total that leaves out the scaffold is not lower at all.
Checkatrade's October 2026 tile table puts up to five tiles at £170 for an easy job and £500 once scaffold is needed. Access can make up a big share of a small job, so raise it early. Our answer on scaffolding for roof repairs explains when it is needed.
Be careful with a roofer who will only talk in day rates and will not commit to a total. Our guide on how to tell a dodgy roofer lists other warning signs, and our page on how many roofing quotes to get suggests a sensible number to collect.
A day rate can still be fair for small extras, such as a morning's odd jobs. Agree it in writing, with a limit, before the work begins.
What to send for a written price
A firm figure arrives sooner if you give us a few details first: the address, the type of roof, what you have noticed and any photos taken from the ground. Mention whether water is coming in inside, and where. Tell us about anything affecting access, such as a narrow side passage, a conservatory beneath the slope or a steep drive.
We then arrange a survey. Afterwards you get photographs of the tiles and timbers above your head, a straightforward account of the work needed, and one price on paper. We also explain which jobs could wait, so you can plan the spending over time. If the roof needs a quick make-safe first, we deal with that before anything else.
If you are weighing repair against replacement, our overview of roof work costs sets out the national ranges, and our roofing services in Crawley page shows the jobs we take on. Send your address and a couple of photos through the enquiry form or on WhatsApp, and the reply will say what the visit needs to look at. A clear brief at the start helps a roofer work out how many people, how much access equipment and how many days the job is likely to need, which feeds straight into the total.
More on this in Roofers in Crawley: the full guide
Two questions about roofer rates
Is a day rate cheaper than a fixed price?
Not necessarily. A day rate keeps the total open, because the days needed depend on what the roofer finds once work starts. A single price on paper, given once the roof has been looked at, tells you the whole cost at the outset, so you can plan around it and check what it covers before you agree.
Should a labourer cost less than a roofer?
The Checkatrade table we use only gives a roofer's range, so we cannot quote a labourer's rate. Ask who will be on site, how many people and for roughly how long. The written price should still be one total, not a string of hourly figures you cannot check.