Roofers in Bishops Green
On Hampshire's northern edge, close to the Berkshire line
Bishops Green sits in Hampshire but close to West Berkshire. We check which council's rules apply to your roof, survey it and photograph what we find.
Bishops Green roofs near the county line
Homes in a three-name parish
Houses in the parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green, home to 1,266 residents at the 2021 Census.
Houses near Ecchinswell
Homes toward the Ecchinswell conservation area, the nearest on record, within about 2.5 km of the village.
Extensions and outbuildings
Flat-roofed extensions, porches and garages, where outlets and edges fail before the open membrane does.
Bishops Green, south of Greenham
Greenham and Newbury lie to the north-west, with Shaw beyond them, and Thatcham to the north. Burghclere is south-west of the village and Kingsclere to the south-east.
- Distance
- 18.7 road miles north-east of Andover
- Planning
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Council
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Bishops Green roof report
Local editionBishops Green, HampshireA Hampshire village by the Berkshire line
Close to the Berkshire line: which council decides on a Bishops Green roof
Bishops Green is 18.7 road miles from Andover, yet Greenham, under two miles away, belongs to another county. This report explains which council, building control team and licence apply to a roof here, and why it matters.
A parish with three names and a county boundary
Bishops Green belongs to a civil parish with three names: Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green. At the 2021 Census that parish had 1,266 usual residents, so any figure quoted for the village is a parish figure and not a head count of the village alone. Planning decisions for the address belong to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, and Hampshire County Council looks after the roads.
The boundary is the interesting part. Greenham lies about 1.8 miles to the north-west, and it is in West Berkshire, where a different council and a different building control service apply. A house in Greenham and a house in Bishops Green may be a short drive apart, but the paperwork for a re-roof follows two entirely separate routes. We never assume that what worked on a job over the border will work on yours.
The nearest conservation area is Ecchinswell, within about 2.5 km of Bishops Green. Nothing in that record covers the centre of the village itself. Records of this kind have gaps, and none of them proves that a house is outside a protected area. Ask Basingstoke and Deane's planning team whether a conservation area or an Article 4 direction applies to your address, and keep the answer in writing.
The Article 4 directions the borough has made about roofs, fascias, soffits and gutters belong to four named town conservation areas, none of them near this village. That is a statement about where the directions were made and not a promise about your road, which is why we still ask.
Three bodies can be involved in one job, and each answers a different question. Basingstoke and Deane's planning team answers planning and conservation questions. Its Building Control team answers Building Regulations ones. Hampshire County Council answers the question of a scaffold on the road. Each question goes to the right body on your behalf, and the replies come back to you together.
If you are buying or selling, a dated record of the roof is worth having. It tells a buyer's solicitor what was repaired and when, and it spares the seller a round of enquiries about work that has already been done properly.
A survey here begins with what is simplest to see. We photograph the covering from ground level and from a ladder, then check the ridge, the verges and the flashings, and finally go into the loft. Water leaves a trail on timber, and the trail often starts well away from the stain on a ceiling.
Basingstoke and Deane's team and the question of weight
For Building Regulations, Bishops Green falls to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's own Building Control team, on 01256 844844. A registered building control approver is the private alternative, so you can choose. On the borough's page, a new covering on a pitched or flat roof is named as alteration work that might also need approval. The word is might, not always, and no percentage is given.
That wording is the reason we ask before a Bishops Green re-roof is booked. We describe the existing covering and the intended one, give the area and pitch, attach the survey photographs and put the question to the team. The reply comes back to us and then to you, so a decision made on paper is one you have seen.
The Planning Portal gives the national benchmark. Work involving under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof usually needs no application. A single slope on a house is a small share of the envelope, which is the whole outer shell: walls, floor, roof and glazing together.
The other trigger is weight. Should the new covering weigh 15 per cent more than the old, or beyond that, Building Regulations approval is needed, and the Portal advises a structural check first. Replacing plain clay tiles with concrete ones is the usual case, because a roof structure built for one weight may not suit another. We record what is on the roof now so that you can see the comparison before ordering.
Picture a semi-detached house on a Bishops Green road whose concrete tiles have started to slip across the rear slope. The ladder shows which tiles have shifted, the loft shows whether battens have rotted where the nails go, and the photographs draw the line between a repair and a re-cover. A repair of a patch needs no application. A re-cover in a different, heavier material brings in the weight rule, so the Building Control team gets the question before any tile is ordered.
Flat roofs deserve a mention, because an extension, porch or garage often carries one. Flat roofs fail at their details more often than across the open membrane: outlets, edges, upstands where the roof meets a wall. Often the right answer is a repair to the detail, and where it is not, the survey photographs show why a larger job is needed. Either way you see the evidence before a figure is given.
Small repairs rarely approach any threshold, and the survey note records that.
“Under two miles separate Bishops Green from Greenham, yet the county line between them changes which councils answer.”
Hampshire scaffold rules and a tidy site
If a scaffold has to stand in the public road, Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 requires a licence, and in Bishops Green it is Hampshire County Council that issues it, not Basingstoke and Deane. Hampshire County Council's own page tells scaffolding companies to apply on behalf of their customers, so the form is not yours to fill in.
Hampshire County Council's fee is £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks, then £72 for each additional 2-week period. It wants 10 clear working days of notice before a start, grants no extensions and applies no tacit consent. A private road falls outside the scheme altogether. These rules are the reason we agree the plan before booking: materials ordered, consents known, dates fixed.
Plot layout decides much of this. A front garden or drive often lets the frame stand wholly on private ground, which removes the licence from the programme. The roof of a rear extension may need only a tower standing in the garden. We look at each plot and tell you whether a licence comes into it, and what notice it needs, before a date is agreed.
Bishops Green roofs call for practical services. Roof repairs fix slipped tiles and failed flashings. Flat roofing covers extensions and garages. Guttering, soffits and fascias deal with the roofline, from the gutter and the fascia board that carries it to the soffit beneath the overhang.
A scaffold is also a safety structure for the people who use it and pass it. Boards are fixed tight, the lowest lift is fenced and debris netting hangs below the work. We agree with the scaffolder how the footway stays open for walkers, and we ask that the frame is checked after any gale or heavy rain before anyone climbs it again.
Timing matters because Hampshire licences are charged by the 2-week period. We order tiles, battens, underlay and lead before the frame is booked, agree a strike date with the scaffolder in advance and cover any open slope at day's end. Rain can delay a start, so the date is chosen with room to spare, and the forecast is checked before anything is committed.
Tidiness is part of the job. Boards, netting and skips are arranged so that a lane stays passable, deliveries are agreed in advance, and every evening the site is left safe. Neighbours are told before the frame goes up.
At the end, the waste goes with us and the photographs come to you, along with a written note of what was done on each slope.
Tiles, flat roofs and gutters in Bishops Green
Bishops Green roofs: the county line, the borough and the licence
Why does Greenham's council not apply to my Bishops Green roof?
Greenham is in West Berkshire, while Bishops Green is in Basingstoke and Deane borough in Hampshire. The two use different planning authorities and building control services, and a different highway authority for scaffold licences, so none of the advice carries across the line. We confirm which set of rules covers your address before any application is made, then tell you.
Is there a conservation area near Bishops Green?
The nearest is Ecchinswell, within about 2.5 km, so check your Bishops Green address against the council's map. The record can have gaps, so put your address to Basingstoke and Deane's planners and ask about any Article 4 direction. We can put the question for you and send the reply on to you.
Does Basingstoke and Deane need to approve a new roof covering?
Its building control page counts the replacement of roof coverings, pitched or flat, as work that might also need approval. That is a prompt to ask, not a rule for every job. We ask the Building Control team before booking, and a covering 15 per cent heavier or more always needs approval, with a structural check beforehand.
What does Hampshire charge for scaffold on a Bishops Green road?
Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each additional 2-week period. The firm putting up the frame makes the application to Hampshire County Council for the customer, and 10 clear working days are needed. Poles standing on a private road, or on land that is yours, are outside the scheme. We agree dates with the scaffolder.
North Hampshire neighbours of Bishops Green
Book your Bishops Green roof survey
Tell us your address and send a photo. We survey, confirm the council route, then send one written total.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.