The short answer
A listed building needs consent before work that changes its character, and a new roof covering often does. Plain repairs in the same material may not need it, but the council decides, not the roofer. Speak to the conservation officer at your local planning authority before you order materials or book a date, and get the answer in writing.
What listed building consent covers on a roof, how like-for-like repairs are treated, and what to ask the council before any work starts.
Why a listed roof is different
Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 bars alterations that would change the character for which the building was listed, unless they are authorised. An old house gets much of its look, and its construction story, from the roof, so the covering, the frame and the finish at ridge and verge may all fall inside the protection.
Two points catch owners out. First, listing covers the whole building, inside and out, and not only the front. Second, permitted development rules do not switch off. Neither Class B nor Class C of the General Permitted Development Order excludes listed buildings, so those rights stay, yet listed building consent is also needed wherever the work alters the building's character. Planning permission and listed building consent are separate permissions.
Working without consent where it is needed is a serious matter, and the owner can be held to account, not just the contractor. The roofer's survey can describe the roof and photograph its condition, but the legal question is for the council. Our roof replacement page explains the normal job; a listed roof adds a permission stage before it.
Like-for-like repairs and replacement
The South Downs National Park Authority says routine maintenance and small repairs done in place and matching the original do not need listed building consent. Treat that as one authority's wording; your council may phrase it differently. Putting back a few slipped tiles of the same type, size and colour is maintenance. Stripping the roof and laying a different covering is not.
The line between a repair and a replacement is a judgement, and councils differ on it. Reusing the existing tiles or slates where they are sound, and matching the rest closely, is more likely to be treated as like for like than a change of material or pattern. Swapping handmade clay for machine-made concrete, or natural slate for fibre cement, changes the character of the building. So can changes to the ridge, the verge, the eaves detail or the rainwater goods, where original ones are part of the design.
Our answer on whether you can reuse roof tiles explains what can be saved. Ask the roofer to sort and keep sound tiles, and to list the material that cannot be reused, so the council sees what is proposed.
Talking to the conservation officer
Start with the local planning authority. Their conservation officer knows the building, the local materials and what has been approved nearby. In Crawley that is Crawley Borough Council, and the planning team for your own town is named on the area page for that town. Ask whether the work needs listed building consent, and ask what they would want to see with an application.
Usually that means photographs, a description of the existing roof, a schedule of the work, and the proposed materials, with samples or maker's names where the covering changes. A roofer who has already surveyed the roof can supply the first three quickly, because the photos and notes exist.
Keep the council's reply. If the officer says no consent is needed for a like-for-like repair, a short email is the record. If consent is needed, wait for the decision notice before work starts, and follow its conditions, which may cover the tile type, the mortar mix or the way the ridge is bedded.
Churches in use have their own route, and the ecclesiastical exemption does not cover every building of worship, so the denomination or the council should be asked there as well.
Timber, structure and protected species
An old roof frame often holds more surprises than a modern one. Historic timber may be sound but weakened at the ends, and repairs are best made by splicing in new timber to the old rather than replacing whole members. Each timber swapped alters the original fabric, so tell the conservation officer before the work, not afterwards.
Roofs of old buildings are also where bats and nesting birds live. On bats, GOV.UK is plain: each species is fully protected by law, as are their roosts and breeding places, and it names roof repairs and replacement as work that may disturb them. Nests are covered too: the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 treats intentional damage to an active wild bird's nest, including one under construction, as an offence. Should you notice bats, droppings or birds building, pause and take advice before any covering comes off.
The scaffold needs planning too. Scaffold on a public footpath requires the highway authority's licence beforehand, and the applicant varies by county. Kent County Council, for instance, wants the scaffolding firm to apply on the customer's behalf. Ask who applies in your county.
Photos from the garden and anything you know about past repairs give the survey somewhere to begin.
More on this in Roof Replacement & New Roofs in Crawley
Two listed roof questions
Does listing mean I cannot change the roof at all?
No. Listed roofs are repaired and re-covered all the time. It means changes that affect the building's character need consent first, and the council can set conditions on materials and methods. Careful like-for-like work, with sound original tiles reused where possible, is the usual route to an approval.
Who is responsible if the wrong work is done?
The owner carries the legal risk, so do not rely on a contractor's word that no consent is needed. Ask the council's conservation officer and keep the written answer. A reputable roofer will welcome that, because it protects the roof and protects them from being asked to undo finished work.