Roofers in Dinton
Listed cottages and Cranborne Chase roofs west of Wilton
Dinton has seven listed buildings within 500 metres of its centre and sits wholly inside Cranborne Chase. We survey each roof, photograph what we find and give one written price.
Dinton roofs, from Little Clarendon to Lawes Cottage
Listed houses and cottages
Little Clarendon is Grade II*, with Lawes Cottage and Jesses at Grade II, so repairs follow the existing roof.
Homes in the conservation area
Houses inside the Dinton conservation area, where a visible change to the roof is put to the council first.
Houses in the National Landscape
Properties whose surrounding area lies within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, the designation covering the village.
Dinton between Fovant and Wilton
Fovant lies to the south-west, Codford to the north-west, South Newton to the north-east and Wilton to the east. Roofs in each of them are within our reach.
- Distance
- 27.3 road miles west of Andover
- Planning
- Wiltshire Council
The Dinton roof report
Local editionDinton, WiltshireOne council, one landscape, seven listings
Dinton has one council to ask: what Wiltshire Council decides about a village roof
Dinton is a Wiltshire parish of 755 residents with no district council in between. The report covers the body that decides on roof work in the village, what the listed houses and the National Landscape alter, and how a scaffold gets its licence.
Wiltshire Council answers every question
Dinton parish counted 755 usual residents at the 2021 Census, and every roof in it answers to the same authority. Wiltshire Council is unitary, so planning, Building Control and highways are departments of one organisation rather than three. Hampshire villages split these jobs between a district and a county; a Dinton owner rings Wiltshire Council once and is in the right place for planning, for the inspector and for the road.
Which department you need depends on the job. A patch repair is neither a planning matter nor a building control one, and the survey is the only paperwork it needs. A full re-roof is different. The Planning Portal sets a two-part test: where less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected, an application is not normally needed. Wiltshire Council publishes no percentage of its own, so that is the test we apply, and we put the question to the council whenever a roof sits near the line.
Weight is the second trigger. The Planning Portal also flags weight: a new covering that puts 15 per cent or more extra load on the roof needs Building Regulations approval, and it advises an engineer or surveyor to assess the structure beforehand. The case to watch is a light slate or clay roof being replaced by heavy concrete tile. It is a building control question and not a planning one. Wiltshire Building Control can be reached on 0300 456 0113, and a registered building control approver is the private alternative.
Our own part is practical, and it is the same on every Dinton job. Where it is safe we go up, raise a couple of tiles, and take pictures of the battens, underlay and fixings underneath, which shows how the roof was put together. If the fault is local, the work is a repair and none of the thresholds apply. If a whole slope has failed, we set out the route a re-roof would take, ask Wiltshire Council about anything unclear, and give you the answer in writing beside the price. The photographs come first, so the decision rests on what is actually on your roof.
Whoever you hire, ask who will deal with the council and make sure the answer is on paper with the price. Check that the quote states whether VAT and the scaffold are included, and what the covering will be. Citizens Advice recommends gathering at least 3 written quotes, and a roofer who is glad to explain a survey photograph will usually be glad to be compared.
Little Clarendon, Lawes Cottage and the conservation area
Historic England's list records 7 listed buildings within 500 metres of the middle of Dinton. The highest grade among the three we name is Grade II*, held by Little Clarendon (list entry 1146116, first listed on 23 March 1960). Lawes Cottage (1146124) received its Grade II listing that day as well, and Jesses (1283485) is Grade II. In a parish of 755 people, that means the roof you are mending may well stand beside a protected one.
The Dinton conservation area lies within about 0.75 kilometres of the centre, drawn from Wiltshire Council's own mapped boundary. In a conservation area the council scrutinises anything that changes how the roof looks from the road, with a new dormer one clear example. Even something as small as a different tile colour can change the look of a whole lane, and the council's planning team is the place to ask. Our guide to planning permission for roof work explains the limits. Whether an Article 4 direction affects your address is a question for Wiltshire Council's planning team.
A listed house follows a stricter path. Alterations that touch its character need listed building consent in addition to anything the planning rules ask for, whatever the size of the job. Matching repair is where we begin: the same size, colour and fixing as the tile or slate already there, with reclaimed pieces sought out when a match is needed. Our application note describes the covering now on the roof and the repair we propose, with photographs attached, so the officer can compare the two at a glance.
A house that is not listed but stands in the conservation area needs no consent of that kind, yet a phone call to the council is still wise before anything visible changes. The survey photographs record the tiles, ridge, verge and stack as they were, so any later question about what stood there has an answer.
The changes we flag early are the ones that show from the lane: a different colour or texture of tile, a rooflight on the front slope, a moved or taller chimney and new rainwater goods. Where a cottage shares a wall or a boundary with the house next door, that matters for access. If a ladder or frame has to cross a neighbour's ground, we raise it with you early, because a neighbour's goodwill is easier to ask for before the scaffold arrives than after.
“In Dinton, a roof question starts and ends with Wiltshire Council.”
Scaffold licences and the Cranborne Chase boundary
Where a Dinton house stands hard against a lane, the frame may have to go up on the public road, and section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 then requires a licence from the highway authority, which here is Wiltshire Council. Wiltshire Council's page says the firm supplying the scaffold applies through the MiPermit portal. The licence is arranged with the scaffolder as part of the job, so you file nothing.
Notice decides the fee. Wiltshire Council charges £143.80 when the application goes in more than three working days ahead and £164.70 when it goes in later, and every licence is valid for 28 days. Wiltshire Council also wants scaffolders to show public liability insurance of £5 million. A scaffold on a private drive or private ground needs no licence at all, which is why the survey records where the frame can stand. The scaffold, whatever it costs, sits inside the single written price.
Around the village lies the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, formerly the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB. A National Landscape does not decide planning applications: Wiltshire Council stays the planning authority. What the designation changes is the rule for adding a dormer, which faces tighter limits on this land just as it does in the conservation area. Putting a roof back as it was is treated in Dinton just as it would be anywhere else under Wiltshire Council.
Most of our Dinton enquiries are ordinary ones. Roof repairs follow a slipped tile or a failed ridge, pitched roofing suits a covering that has run out of life, and chimney repairs deal with a stack whose pointing or flashing has gone. Every job opens with the same survey, so you see the fault before you agree the fix. Any thatch on your property is for a specialist thatcher, whereas the tiled or slated parts are ours to look after.
Order matters on a listed or conservation-area job. While a consent decision is outstanding we keep the licence application back, because a 28-day licence runs from its start date and idle scaffold is still paid for. A start date is set once both permissions have arrived.
Access is judged on the day of the survey. A short length of frame, a tower or a platform lift may be enough for a small repair, and a full scaffold is saved for jobs that need one. We tell you which it is, and why, before the price is written, so there is no surprise on the morning the team arrives.
Dinton roof repairs and more
Dinton roofs: listings, licence and the National Landscape
Can a Grade II cottage in Dinton keep its tiles when the roof leaks?
Usually yes, if the fault is local. Alterations affecting a listed building's character need listed building consent, and matching repair is where we start. We lift the tiles around the leak, photograph the battens and underlay, and replace only what has failed. Where a match is needed we look for reclaimed tiles, and Wiltshire Council's planning team confirms the route before work begins.
Does the Cranborne Chase designation stop a roof repair in Dinton?
No. The National Landscape is not a planning authority, and Wiltshire Council still decides applications. Plain repair, or re-covering in the same material, is judged in Dinton as it would be across the rest of Wiltshire. A new dormer, which changes the roof's shape, meets tighter rules on this land, so check with Wiltshire Council's planning team before you design one.
Who arranges scaffolding on a Dinton lane for a roof job?
Wiltshire Council's page says the firm supplying the scaffolding applies through its MiPermit portal, so you do not apply yourself. Wiltshire Council charges £143.80 when the application goes in over three working days ahead and £164.70 when it is later, and a licence is valid for 28 days. It is arranged with the scaffolder, and its cost is folded into your price.
Do I need building control for a Dinton re-roof?
It depends on how much of the building is affected. Under the Planning Portal's yardstick, a job that stays below 25 per cent of the building envelope and below 50 per cent of the roof does not normally need an application, although a covering 15 per cent or more heavier does. Wiltshire Building Control can confirm, and we ask before booking work.
Ask for a survey of your Dinton roof
Tell us the address and send a photo. A survey, a consent check and one written price follow.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.