The short answer
A bungalow has no upper floor, so its roof covers the whole footprint of the house and is often larger than people expect. Checkatrade's October 2026 guide gives £120 to £275 per m² for pitched tiling, depending on the covering, so the total follows the roof's area, its shape and the access. A survey of your own roof is what turns that into a single written price.
What decides the price of re-roofing a bungalow, the national per square metre ranges, and why a low roof can still need scaffold.
Why a bungalow roof is bigger than it looks
On a two-storey house the roof sits over the upper floor only. On a bungalow it sits over everything, so the same floor area is covered by one large roof with a long run of eaves, ridge and often several hips. A hip is the sloping line down a corner of the roof, from ridge to eaves, and each one adds cut tiles, a hip capping and extra labour on site. A bungalow with a wing or a rear extension has valleys as well, the inward-sloping joins between two slopes, which carry rainwater away and must be lined or tiled with care.
Roof area is the first thing that moves the price, and it is measured on the slope, not from the plan of the house. A roofer cannot judge it from the front garden, which is why we measure on the survey and share photographs of the actual slopes with you. Some owners also plan a loft conversion later, and if that is on your mind, read our answer on re-roofing before a loft conversion first.
Typical UK ranges per square metre
Because bungalow roofs vary so much, per square metre ranges are a fairer yardstick than a single headline figure. Checkatrade's installation guide (table dated October 2026) lists £120 to £230 per m² for plain tiling, £160 to £275 per m² for clay, and £120 to £275 per m² for pitched roofs overall. Flat sections, such as a rear extension or a garage link, are priced differently at £50 to £110 per m² in the same guide.
Those are national typical ranges from a third-party guide, not Crown prices, and they depend on the covering, the pitch and the state of what is underneath. A range this wide tells you the covering matters as much as the size. Slate costs more than concrete, and a roof that needs new battens, repairs to timbers or lead around a chimney costs more than one that is simply stripped and recovered.
The Checkatrade table is about the work itself, so ask any roofer whether the total you are given includes VAT, scaffolding and waste removal. Our wider guide to roof work costs sets the other jobs alongside this one.
Low eaves, scaffold and access
A bungalow is easier to reach than a house, but that does not mean the roof can be done from a ladder. A re-roof means stripping the whole slope, stacking new tiles, battens and underlay up there, and carrying away the old ones. Edge protection is needed for that, and on a bungalow it can often be a lower, simpler scaffold than a two-storey house needs.
On a full re-roof, Checkatrade's October 2026 replacement guide puts scaffolding at £700 to £1,300. A bungalow may sit toward the lower end of that kind of range, but the length of the eaves and the position of the house decide it. A long, low roof with a side passage can need as much scaffold as a taller, shorter one.
Scaffold reaching onto the pavement or road needs a licence from the council that looks after that highway, and we work it through with the scaffolder. Scaffold kept entirely inside your boundary needs none. Hire is charged by time, so the number of days the job takes feeds into the total. More at scaffolding cost for a new roof.
Pitch, covering and what the survey checks
Many bungalows have a lower pitch than a two-storey house, and pitch limits which coverings can go on. The maker's data sheet gives every tile and slate a lowest safe pitch. Marley lists, for instance, 35 degrees for its plain concrete tile, 15 degrees for the Mendip tile, and 40 degrees for the Canterbury clay tile. For natural slate, BS 5534 indicates a minimum of 20 degrees. So the covering you like may not suit a shallow roof, and the survey measures the pitch before anything is priced.
On the survey we also look at the battens and rafters, the underlay, the state of the ridge and verge, the flashings and the chimney if there is one. Whatever the roof needs goes into one written total. The photographs from your survey show the condition of each part, which explains the final number.
For the Crawley view, with house types side by side, see our Crawley new roof price guide. For the full process, start at roof replacement. Tell us the address and the covering you have now, and we will name the first things to check on your roof.
More on this in Roof Replacement & New Roofs in Crawley
Two more bungalow questions
Is re-roofing a bungalow cheaper than a house?
Not automatically. Access is easier and the scaffold may be smaller, but the roof covers the whole plan of the house, so the area can match or beat a two-storey roof. Hips, valleys and a rear extension add detail. The only fair comparison is a written total for your own roof after a survey.
Can a low-pitched bungalow roof take any tile?
No. Every tile has a lowest pitch set by its maker, and a roof below that needs a different tile or a different system. Some interlocking concrete tiles work down to 15 degrees, plain tiles need far more. Tell your roofer the pitch you measured, or let the survey measure it, before choosing a covering.