Roofers in Ashurst
Inside the New Forest National Park, beside Totton and Lyndhurst
Ashurst has 2,076 residents and lies inside the New Forest National Park. We survey and photograph every roof before saying what it needs.
Ashurst roofs, from Park rules to drainage
Inside the Park
Ashurst lies inside the New Forest National Park, so the Park Authority is the planning authority there.
Streets near Eling
The nearest conservation areas, within about 2.5 km, include Eling and Forest North East.
Ground near Flood Zone 3
Land within about 250 m of the centre, in part, lies in Flood Zone 3, so drainage gets a look.
Ashurst between Totton and Lyndhurst
Netley Marsh lies to the north, Totton to the north-east, Marchwood to the east, Lyndhurst to the south-west and Copythorne to the north-west. Ashurst is 25.8 road miles south of East Street in Andover, on the far side of Test Valley, so we arrange a survey visit by appointment.
- Distance
- 25.8 road miles south of Andover
- Planning
- New Forest National Park Authority
- Council
- New Forest District Council and Hampshire County Council
The Ashurst roof report
Local editionAshurst, HampshireA National Park village and its rules
Inside the New Forest National Park: who plans, who inspects and who licenses an Ashurst roof
Ashurst is 25.8 road miles south of Andover and lies inside the New Forest National Park. This report covers who plans under the Park Authority, who inspects for the district council, two Article 4 areas in the data and the Hampshire scaffold licence.
Park Authority for planning, district council for the rest
Ashurst is one of the villages that sit inside the New Forest National Park, and that changes who answers which question. New Forest District Council's own householder page puts it plainly: if your property is within the New Forest National Park, you will need to apply to the Park Authority for planning permission. The New Forest National Park Authority is therefore the planning authority for Ashurst addresses inside the Park. The 2021 Census counted 2,076 usual residents in the civil parish of Ashurst and Colbury.
The Park Authority does planning only. Building control stays with New Forest District Council, whose team works from Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, and takes calls on 023 8028 5245 between 8:45am and 4:30pm. A registered building control approver is the private alternative. Hampshire County Council is the highway authority and issues scaffold licences, which neither the Park Authority nor the district council does. That makes three bodies for a full re-roof, each with a single clear job.
The Planning Portal's guidance supplies the test for building control. Under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, an application is not normally needed, as the Portal puts it. Past that, or where a new covering is at least 15 per cent heavier than the old, approval is required, and a structural engineer or surveyor should look at the timbers first. The same is true for a covering that would behave very differently in a fire. We measure the affected area at the survey, not afterwards.
A National Park counts as article 2(3) land, a term from the General Permitted Development Order for protected places, so a dormer in Ashurst is a question for the Park Authority's planners. Other works are less restricted. A like-for-like repair keeps the roof's appearance and is judged accordingly, and our planning permission for roof work guide explains where the lines fall.
We put each question to the right body, so you never ring the wrong office. The answers come back to you in writing, with the photographs that explain the work.
Paperwork after the survey is simple. A contract signed at your home after a survey is an off-premises contract, and under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you have 14 days after the day you sign to cancel without giving a reason. An urgent repair you ask us to visit for is the exception, under regulation 28(1)(e). If you want advice before signing, the Citizens Advice consumer helpline is 0808 223 1133, and Citizens Advice recommends gathering three written quotes where you can.
Two Article 4 areas and the nearest conservation areas
The conservation areas nearest Ashurst, within about 2.5 km, include Eling and Forest North East, and the planning authority's own map shows whether one reaches your street. The Park Authority holds the definitive answer for an Ashurst address, and the survey report states what it says about yours. The parish of Ashurst and Colbury has 2,076 residents, and each address is its own case. A cottage, a bungalow and a newer house on the same lane can each need a different answer.
The New Forest National Park Authority has Article 4 areas of its own, and two, both titled New Forest National Park Boundary, reach the ground around the village. One started on 20 September 2021 and the other on 17 October 2023. What they cover is for the Park Authority to say. They apply across a Park-wide area, so any Ashurst address might be inside one, and the Park Authority can say. If it turns out yours is, you will hear that from us before any price is given, along with what the authority says you need to do.
An Article 4 direction takes named permitted development rights away across a defined area. It matters most to a householder who wants to add or alter something that would otherwise need no application. For a repair it seldom bites. For an extension, a roof window or a change of covering it may. We ask the planning team before pricing, and its reply goes on your file.
Historic England's list shows no entry within 500 metres of the village point. Houses elsewhere in the parish can be listed all the same, so we search the list for the address in front of us. Where a house is listed, the route is listed building consent as well as any other approval, and matching materials become the starting point. Without that, the roof of an Ashurst house is decided on its condition, how it was built and what it is made of, and the survey is where all three are established. A house inside a National Park is no different from any other in that respect: a failing flashing is a failing flashing wherever the boundary runs.
For repairs, roof repairs is where the work starts, with photographs of the battens, underlay and flashings taken before any tile is lifted for repair.
“In Ashurst the Park Authority plans, the district council inspects and Hampshire licenses the scaffold.”
Flood Zone 3 and a county scaffold licence
The Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning puts parts of the land within about 250 metres of the centre of Ashurst in Flood Zone 3. That describes ground and not any one house, and it changes nothing about how a tile is fixed. It does mean that rainwater goods matter, and that a blocked outlet can cost more than a slipped tile. On every Ashurst survey we check gutters, hoppers, downpipes and where each downpipe discharges, and we photograph what we find. For a gutter that has dropped, split or filled with debris, guttering, soffits and fascias explains the repair. Brett Martin's installation advice gives a fall of 1 mm for every 600 mm of gutter, so a run that has sagged holds water at the low point and overflows at the joint. We check the fall with a level and photograph the sag where there is one.
Hampshire County Council, under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, issues the licence for scaffold on the road. Under Hampshire County Council's rule the scaffolding company makes the application on your behalf, and ten clear working days must separate application from start. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each additional 2-week period, adds a fee if hoarding is wanted, and does not extend a licence. Its insurance condition is £10 million of public liability cover on the scaffold. A private road falls outside the licence.
A few practical points follow, and they save more time than any form. A licence is for a fixed period, so we agree the programme with you first and add a margin for wet days. A scaffold on your own drive avoids the process entirely. And since the Park Authority and the district council are not highway authorities, neither can be asked for a scaffold licence, however close their offices are.
Flat roofs on garages and extensions are part of village life as much as pitched ones, and they come with their own numbers. BS 6229:2025 keeps a finished fall of 1:80 on membrane flat roofs, and IKO advises designing for 1:40. Our flat roofing page explains how a fall is measured and corrected.
Whatever the job, the total price is one figure, in writing, after the survey. It covers the scaffold or tower, the labour, the materials, the waste taken away and the tidy-up, and it does not change unless you ask us to change the work.
Ashurst roofs: the Park, the council and the licence
Who do I ask about planning for a roof in Ashurst, the Park or the district council?
The New Forest National Park Authority, for addresses inside the Park, which includes Ashurst. New Forest District Council's own householder page directs planning questions inside the Park to the Park Authority. The district council keeps building control, so the two bodies deal with different parts of a re-roof, and we put each question to the right one, then pass the replies to you.
Does a dormer need planning permission inside the New Forest National Park?
Ask before you plan one. A National Park is article 2(3) land under the General Permitted Development Order, so permitted development rights are narrower there, and the Park Authority's planning team decides. A repair or a like-for-like re-cover is treated differently, and we check the detail with the planning team before pricing and report back in writing.
What are the Article 4 areas called New Forest National Park Boundary?
They are Article 4 areas in the Park Authority's own published data, one started on 20 September 2021 and one on 17 October 2023. Only the Park Authority can say which rights they remove and which properties they reach. The Park Authority can tell you whether your address is inside one, and we ask it before pricing.
Does the Park Authority licence scaffold in Ashurst?
No. Hampshire County Council is the highway authority and licenses scaffold on the road, at £211.90 for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2 weeks, and the notice period is ten clear working days. Hampshire County Council takes the application from the scaffolding company, on your behalf. A drive is outside the licence. We fix dates with you before anything is lodged.
From Netley Marsh to Marchwood, close to Ashurst
Ask for an Ashurst roof survey
Send the address with a photo. We survey, find the right consent route and quote one written price.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.