Roofers in Copythorne
Forest homes, a Grade II church and a village war memorial
Copythorne lies inside the New Forest National Park, so the Park Authority, not the district council, reads a roof application. We survey and photograph first.
Copythorne roofs under Forest rules
The parish church
Listed Grade II since 10 June 1987 and in use for worship, so repair work follows the faculty system.
Copythorne War Memorial
Listed Grade II on 10 December 2015, it is one of two listed buildings within 500 metres of the centre.
Homes inside the Park
Copythorne lies inside the New Forest National Park, so a new dormer needs planning permission from the Park Authority.
Copythorne between Totton and Landford
Netley Marsh is close by to the south-east, with Totton and Nursling to the east, and West Wellow and Landford to the north-west. We survey them all.
- Distance
- 22.6 road miles south of Andover
- Planning
- New Forest National Park Authority
- Council
- New Forest District Council and Hampshire County Council
The Copythorne roof report
Local editionCopythorne, HampshirePark planning, district inspection and a church roof
Inside the New Forest National Park: who decides on a Copythorne roof, and who inspects it
Copythorne is a Hampshire village of 2,716 people inside the New Forest National Park. This report sets out which authority handles planning, which handles building control and which licenses a scaffold, and what the village church and conservation areas change.
Planning in the Park, building control at Lyndhurst
Copythorne parish had 2,716 usual residents at the 2021 Census, and the village itself lies inside the New Forest National Park. That splits the council work in two. Planning belongs to the New Forest National Park Authority, and the district council's householder guidance sends Park addresses there. A roof application from Copythorne therefore goes to the Park, not to the district.
Building control is a different office. The Park Authority handles planning only, and building regulations stay with New Forest District Council, which has its own building control team at Appletree Court in Lyndhurst (023 8028 5245). Hampshire County Council is the county council and the highway authority. We keep the three apart in the paperwork, since an answer from one body says nothing about the other two.
On a re-roof, the first measure is the Planning Portal's. Where the work touches under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof, a building control application is not usually needed. We apply that to a Copythorne address and confirm it with the district team where a job gets near the limit. A bigger scheme is dealt with as a whole, not slope by slope.
A new covering that weighs 15 per cent or more above the old one is the other trigger. It needs Building Regulations approval, and the Planning Portal advises a structural opinion before the work. Large concrete tiles over an old lighter covering are the sort of switch we flag.
Our survey notes how the ridge and verge tiles are held. They may sit in a mortar bed or be held by dry-fix (mechanical clips in place of mortar), and which it is decides whether a loose run needs rebedding or a new system. We also look at the valleys, at the flashings where the roof meets a wall, and at the battens under any lifted tile. Photographs go beside each finding.
A small job rarely needs either office. A slipped tile or a loose ridge piece is a repair, and the survey says so in a sentence. These questions come into play once a whole slope is failing, a roof is being altered, or the house is listed, and then the answers are in your hands before any date is set.
You can choose a registered building control approver in place of the district team. Either way, the planning position and the building control position are both on paper before work starts.
St Mary's church, the war memorial and the conservation areas
St Mary's church holds a Grade II listing (list entry 1094384, first listed on 10 June 1987) and is recorded as an Anglican place of worship in use. As an Anglican church in use, its repairs fall to the faculty system and not listed building consent, a faculty from the diocese's consistory court clearing Copythorne's church. Should a roof survey help that process, close-up pictures and a written account of the roof and the repair are supplied.
Copythorne War Memorial is listed Grade II (list entry 1431282, first listed on 10 December 2015). Historic England's list records two listed buildings within 500 metres of the village centre, so listings are sparse here and the Park designation carries much of the weight. A listed house, where there is one, needs listed building consent for anything that alters its character, in addition to planning permission from the Park Authority.
Conservation areas are the second layer. The Forest Central (North) conservation area lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre, with Forest North East also close by. Inside a conservation area, a change to how a roof looks from a public place is raised with the planning authority before work. We check the Park's map for the address and note which area, if any, covers it.
The Park Authority also has an Article 4 area called the New Forest National Park Boundary. The classes it removes were not read, so we do not guess at them. If it matters to your roof, the Park Authority is the body to ask, and we put the question for you and file the reply.
A National Park is also protected land for planning, which is why a new dormer window needs planning permission here, unlike on an ordinary suburban street. Our guide to planning permission for roof work explains where the lines are drawn. Repairs and matching re-covering follow different rules from alterations, and the survey separates one from the other.
Photographs are the common thread. They show the Park officer what is on the roof today, what we found beneath it, and what would change, so a decision is made from evidence.
Because there are so few listings, an unlisted house can look like a free-for-all. It is not. Every address inside the Park has the Park Authority as planning authority, a conservation area may also apply, and any visible change of covering is discussed first. The survey record answers those questions before the quote is written, not afterwards, so you are never asked to choose a price on a route that has not been confirmed.
“In Copythorne the Park decides the planning and the district decides the inspection.”
Hampshire licenses the scaffold, and what we price
A scaffold that stands on a public road or verge falls within section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and the licence comes from the highway authority. For Copythorne that is Hampshire County Council. Neither the New Forest National Park Authority nor New Forest District Council issues scaffold licences. Hampshire County Council's licence page treats the scaffolding firm as the customer's agent in applying, so the homeowner never touches the form.
Hampshire County Council wants 10 clear working days of notice, offers no extensions and charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks, then £72 for each further 2-week period. A scaffold that stays within your own boundary is outside the licence. We confirm your case at survey, and we carry the dates into the plan we send you.
The jobs themselves cover the ordinary range. Roof repairs answer slipped tiles and flashing that has failed, chimney repairs with stacks whose mortar joints have worn away, and roof replacement with coverings that have come to the end of their working life. The repair-or-replace choice rests on what the battens and fixings look like once a few tiles are lifted.
Where a Copythorne house sits among trees, the roof needs a closer look. Overhanging branches and leaf fall raise questions about gutters, valleys and moss, and the survey notes what is blocked, what is damaged and what is simply dirty. Clearing a gutter is a small task, rebuilding a collapsed valley a much bigger one, and the report keeps them apart so the price follows the work, not the first impression a stained ceiling gives. Where moss or lichen sits on a sound covering, cleaning may be all that is wanted, and we say that plainly instead of suggesting a repair that the roof does not need. Where a tile has cracked under a branch, the cause is photographed too.
Before the scaffold date is fixed we ask who owns the verge in front of the house, whether any tree sits close enough to need clearing for access, and where the delivery lorry can safely stop. Each answer goes into the plan, which you read before agreeing the price, and a second opinion on it from another roofer is welcome, because a clear set of photographs makes any comparison fair.
The villages close by share the same survey routine. Netley Marsh, Totton, Nursling, West Wellow and Landford each get a check on which council and which planning authority apply, since the Park boundary and the district boundary do not run together.
Copythorne roofs: the Park, the church and the licence
Can I add a dormer to a Copythorne house inside the New Forest National Park?
A new dormer needs planning permission here, because a National Park is protected land and the permitted route for dormers does not apply. The application goes to the New Forest National Park Authority, not to the district council. We survey the roof, describe the structure and photograph it, so the application is clear about what would change.
Who checks building regulations on a Copythorne roof, the Park or the district?
New Forest District Council, through its own building control team at Appletree Court, Lyndhurst. The Park Authority handles planning only. A covering that weighs 15 per cent or more above the old one needs Building Regulations approval. The point goes to the team before any booking, and its reply is kept with the survey pictures.
Does a church roof in Copythorne need the same consent as a house?
Not quite. St Mary's is Grade II and in Church of England use, which places it under the faculty system rather than listed building consent. A listed house follows the ordinary route. Either way the existing materials are recorded first, so any application is accurate about the covering that is there now, and the faculty or consent papers describe the real roof.
Do I apply for the Copythorne scaffold licence myself?
No. Under Hampshire County Council's rules the scaffolding firm applies in the customer's name, with 10 clear working days of notice. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each additional 2-week period. Scaffold on ground that is entirely yours needs no licence, and any cost forms part of your one price.
Nearby areas
Book a Copythorne roof survey
Pass us your address and a picture of the damage. We book the survey and follow with one written price.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.