Roofers in Hatherden
Inside the North Wessex Downs, beside Hatherden School and Christchurch
Hatherden lies within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, with 11 listed buildings near its centre. Each roof starts with a survey and photographs, then a repair that suits it.
Hatherden roofs, school to church
Hatherden School
Listed Grade II on 27 September 1984, a building whose roof is repaired to match what is already there.
Hatherden's Christchurch
Another Grade II listing from 27 September 1984, where any repair begins with a conversation with the council.
Homes in the National Landscape
Houses where the designation tightens the rules on roof shape, though plain repairs proceed as normal.
Hatherden above Enham Alamein and Penton Mewsey
Enham Alamein lies to the south-east, Penton Mewsey to the south, Charlton to the south as well, and Hurstbourne Tarrant to the north-east. All are within our working area.
- Distance
- 4.2 road miles north-west of Andover
- Planning
- Test Valley Borough Council
- Council
- Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Hatherden roof report
Local editionHatherden, HampshireThe Downs designation and what it changes
Hatherden roofs: inside the North Wessex Downs, with listed neighbours, a flood-zone map and roof windows to fit
Hatherden sits inside a National Landscape and counts two Grade II listings among its eleven nearby. This report sets out what the designation changes for a roof, what the flood map means for drainage and how roof windows are judged.
What the North Wessex Downs designation changes
Hatherden is 4.2 road miles from East Street in Andover, to the north-west, and it lies within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, which used to be called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hatherden lies in Tangley parish, and census figures are published for the parish rather than the village. Planning belongs to Test Valley Borough Council. Hampshire County Council looks after the highway. In a National Landscape the planners look at how a roof sits in its setting, which is why pictures taken from the lane matter as much as the ones from the ladder.
The designation matters, but less than people expect. The North Wessex Downs partnership's own planning page says its role in the planning process is advisory and non-statutory, and that within these landscapes the main planning role belongs to the council, with Natural England a statutory consultee. For a Hatherden homeowner that means one council to deal with, not two. The partnership does not approve or refuse a roof.
Where the designation bites is the rulebook for altering a roof's shape. Land inside a National Landscape counts as article 2(3) land, where the usual freedom to add a dormer does not apply, so a dormer here needs planning permission from Test Valley Borough Council. Re-covering a roof is a different matter, and our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out where the lines fall for houses and flats. Whether a conservation area touches your road is for the council's map to say.
Building control has two tests of its own. The Planning Portal says approval is not normally needed for a re-roof that touches under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. A heavier covering is the separate trigger: raise the roof's weight by 15 per cent or more and Building Regulations approval follows, and the Planning Portal wants an engineer or surveyor to look over the structure first. Your building control body can be local authority building control or a registered building control approver.
Hatherden School, Christchurch and eleven listings
Historic England's list records 11 listed buildings within about 500 m of the centre of Hatherden. Two of them are named here: the School, listed Grade II on 27 September 1984 (list entry 1093285), and Christchurch, listed Grade II on the same date (1093286). Eleven is not many, but all eleven lie within about 500 m, and a roof beside one of them is part of the same picture.
Work reaching a listed building's character needs listed building consent, and the decision is Test Valley Borough Council's. Christ Church appears on A Church Near You, the Church of England's directory, with its services listed there, so roof work there needs a faculty and sits outside listed building consent. A faculty from the diocese's consistory court, Hatherden's route for Christ Church, comes before any roofer on a church roof.
The School is a different case. A building of that kind may now be a home, a hall or a business, and its owner should ask the council what is permitted before commissioning anything. The principle is the same as for a farmhouse: a repair that copies the existing covering is the easy case, and a different material or a new roof shape is the hard one. Test Valley Borough Council can say in a single call which of the two a given plan falls into.
For an unlisted house nearby, the same record offers a practical tip. Look at the roof next door before choosing a tile. If it is slate, a concrete tile beside it will stand out for years, and if it is clay, a flat grey tile will look wrong from the lane. Matching colour, size and the way the courses are laid takes more care at survey than not matching, and it keeps the street looking right. Ask the supplier for a sample and hold it against the roof in daylight before an order is placed.
We record all of this at survey. Photographs from the lane show how the roof sits against its neighbours, and close pictures show the tile or slate type, with ridge, verge and chimney details. Those pictures are the reference for any reclaimed material and for any conversation with the council. A short note of each nearby building's age, grade and list entry number goes into the report, so the owner and the council are looking at the same record. The National Heritage List for England can be searched by address, and checking your own takes a few minutes.
“Inside the North Wessex Downs one council still decides, and the designation chiefly affects roof shape.”
Flood Zone 3, drainage and roof windows
On the Flood Map for Planning kept by the Environment Agency, the middle of Hatherden falls in Flood Zone 3. That is a map of flood risk to land, used in planning, and it says nothing about a particular roof or a particular house. For roofs it is a reason to look at where the water goes. Gutters, downpipes and gullies that carry roof water away from the walls matter more where the ground already struggles to drain. We check the outlets, the joints and the downpipe ends at survey and photograph any that discharge against a wall. Each gutter material fails in its own way, at joints, brackets or seals, so the report names the material and the fault and replaces only what has failed.
Roof windows are the other regular job in a village with loft space to use. The figures that matter come from Approved Document L, 2021 edition. For a roof window fitted to an existing house it asks 1.4 W/m2K, or Window Energy Rating Band B, while rooflights are held to 2.2. The 2026 edition takes effect on 24 March 2027. Skylights are surveyed with that in mind, and the designation is one more reason to check a new window's position with the council. A leak beneath an existing roof window may come from its flashing rather than the glass, so the flashing is checked first. Roof windows are sized to suit the rafter spacing, so the opening is measured between rafters at survey to avoid cutting into structure unnecessarily.
A loft that is to become a room raises further questions that belong to an architect, such as the stair and the escape route. What the roof contributes is its structure, its space and its pitch, and the survey records all three so that the designer starts from facts.
Roadside scaffold needs a Hampshire County Council licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. Hampshire County Council looks to the scaffolding company to apply for the household, giving ten clear working days' notice, and charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period. Nothing extends a running licence. Private land carries no such requirement.
The regular work is roof repairs after slips and storms and guttering, soffits and fascias where the roofline has failed. Everything starts from the same photographs, so the fault is in front of you before a price is discussed. Waste goes with us and the site is left clear.
Hatherden roofs: the designation, the flood map and new windows
Is a dormer allowed on a Hatherden house inside the National Landscape?
It needs planning permission from Test Valley Borough Council, because land inside a National Landscape is article 2(3) land where the usual dormer freedom does not apply. The North Wessex Downs partnership only advises. Our guide on planning permission for roof work sets out the detail, and we raise the question before any price is given.
Does Flood Zone 3 in Hatherden alter the way a roof is repaired?
No. The Flood Map for Planning, kept by the Environment Agency, puts the centre of Hatherden in Flood Zone 3, but it describes risk to land, not to a roof. Keeping gutters, downpipes and gullies clear so roof water drains away from the walls is still sensible. We check the outlets and downpipe ends at survey.
What U-value must a new Hatherden roof window meet?
Approved Document L (2021 edition) asks 1.4 or Window Energy Rating Band B of a roof window fitted to an existing house. Rooflights are held to 2.2. From 24 March 2027 the 2026 edition replaces it. We check the figure for the window you choose and mark its position on the survey sketch, so the council and the fitter work from one drawing.
Does the School at Hatherden affect roof work on houses beside it?
The School itself is listed Grade II, since 27 September 1984, so listed building consent covers it. A house beside it keeps the ordinary rules. Matching tile colour and course pattern to the neighbour is still worth doing, and we tell the owner of a listed neighbour before the frame is erected beside a shared wall.
Villages near Hatherden
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