Roofers in Highclere
Roof work in a Basingstoke and Deane village wholly inside the downs
Highclere lies entirely within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape and answers to Basingstoke and Deane, not Test Valley. We survey each roof first and explain which rules apply to it.
Highclere roofs under the downs
Church of St Michael Archangel
A Grade II* church first listed on 16 May 1966, with its roof work handled through the faculty system.
Houses inside the National Landscape
Homes where the downs designation applies, so any change to a roof's shape is raised with the council first.
Roofs on the village edge
Houses towards Woolton Hill and Burghclere, with East End and North End conservation areas nearby on the map.
Highclere beside Woolton Hill and Burghclere
Woolton Hill lies north of Highclere and Burghclere east, with Enborne north, Bishops Green east and Newbury north-east. We carry out roofing work in all of them. Highclere is 11.4 road miles north-east of East Street in Andover.
- Distance
- 11.4 road miles north-east of Andover
- Planning
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Council
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Highclere roof report
Local editionHighclere, HampshireThe downs, a borough and a county
Highclere roofs: inside the downs, under Basingstoke and Deane, licensed by Hampshire
Highclere has 1,631 residents and lies wholly within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape. This report explains how three different bodies divide the decisions on a Highclere roof, and what each one needs from an owner.
Inside the downs: what the label means
Highclere lies within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, the name now used for what was an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The whole of the ground around the village lies inside the boundary. For an owner, that sounds as though it should change everything about a roof. In practice it changes one thing: how closely the council looks at changes to a roof's appearance.
The body that speaks for the downs is an adviser. Its role in planning is non-statutory, so it comments and does not decide. The decision stays with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Highclere's planning authority, with Natural England consulted where a case calls for it. There is no separate permission to obtain from the partnership.
Where the label does bite is on changes of shape and visible material. A dormer, a raised ridge or a switch from clay tile to a different covering will draw closer scrutiny inside a National Landscape, much as it does in a conservation area. Mending a roof so that it keeps its look attracts no such scrutiny, and nor does matching re-covering.
The conservation areas nearest the village point are Ashmansworth, and East End and North End, which sit a little way off. That tells you where to look on the council's map, not what you will find at your gate. We ask the council about your own address directly, in writing.
The Church of St Michael Archangel is listed Grade II* (list entry 1339760, first listed 16 May 1966). Being an Anglican church in use, it takes roof works through the faculty system and not through listed building consent. Historic England's list records just 1 listed building within about 500 metres of the village centre, the church itself.
That sparse listing is useful to know. A Highclere house is unlikely to share a wall with a listed neighbour, so the usual planning rules apply, with the downs designation as the added layer. Where a house is listed, listed building consent from Basingstoke and Deane is needed for work touching its character.
Our planning permission for roof work guide explains the national position, and the council's reply tells you the local one.
The survey itself does not change because of the label. We look at the covering, the fixings and the state of the timber beneath, and photograph every slope from the ridge down, so the picture is complete before any question goes to the council.
Basingstoke and Deane, with its own team
Planning at Highclere is Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's responsibility, and the borough staffs its own Building Control team. Its page says the team works to ensure that the minimum standards are achieved, and the number is 01256 844844. A registered building control approver offers the private route instead, a role regulated since 6 April 2024. Hampshire County Council sits above the borough as county council and highway authority.
This borough's building control page says something specific about roofs. The borough's building control page treats re-covering any pitched or flat roof as work that "might also need" approval. That wording is the council's own, it applies to its own addresses, and it says might, not always. A Highclere re-roof is therefore queried with the Building Control team before it is booked.
The Planning Portal supplies the national yardstick: a job on less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is ordinarily left out of building control. Basingstoke and Deane's own wording sits on top of that, and we report both to you after the survey, together with what the Building Control team replies.
Added load is a separate matter. A rise of 15% or more in the weight of the covering is a trigger for Building Regulations approval, with a structural check, in Highclere as everywhere. We look for it on roofs with natural slate, where the swap to concrete tile is tempting and the frame may not suit.
The Article 4 directions on roofs that Basingstoke and Deane describes concern four town conservation areas in Basingstoke itself, covering roof changes, solar panels and fascias, soffits and guttering. For a Highclere address, whether any direction applies is a question we put to the council in writing.
Repairs are simpler. A cracked ridge piece, slipped tiles or a failed flashing leave the thresholds untouched, and the work proceeds. Our roof repairs page explains how those jobs are surveyed and priced.
Whatever the route, the answer goes into a file with the photographs and the price.
Our roof replacement page covers the larger jobs, where a whole covering comes off. In a downland setting those jobs are planned around the weather, with the council's reply in hand before the scaffold goes up, and the neighbours told the dates.
Owners of flat roofs, on garages or extensions, should know the same borough wording covers them. A flat roof is judged on falls and drainage, and the survey checks outlets, upstands and edge trims.
“In Highclere the downs partnership advises, Basingstoke and Deane decides, and Hampshire licenses the scaffold.”
A Hampshire licence for scaffold on village lanes
Highway scaffold falls under the licensing in section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. In Highclere the licensing body is Hampshire County Council, and Basingstoke and Deane issues none. Hampshire County Council wants the firm that supplies the scaffold to submit the application for you, so the form goes from the scaffolder to the county and not to you.
Hampshire County Council's fee is £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks, then £72 for each further 2-week period, and hoarding adds a fee if it is wanted as well. 10 clear working days must separate lodging from the licence start, and no extensions are given. Planning the length of a Highclere job around those 2-week blocks is part of the quote.
According to Hampshire's page, private roads need no licence, and the same reasoning reaches a forecourt, a paddock gate or a garden. Houses set back from the lane can be scaffolded from their own ground, and then the whole question disappears. We check at the first visit and tell you which case you are in.
The jobs are everyday jobs. Pitched roofing covers whole slopes where tiles, battens and underlay need attention together. Chimney repairs cover stacks, pointing and the lead around them. The eaves line, with its gutters and fascias, gets the same careful look.
Natural slate roofs get a particular check on fixings. A rusted nail lets a sound slate slide, and replacing one slate costs far less than re-covering the slope. We photograph the slipped slates and their sound neighbours, so you see how far the problem runs.
On the downs, weather is a fact of life, so the order of work is planned around it. Only as much roof is opened as can be made watertight by the end of the working day, with a temporary cover on anything left, and a slope is never left bare overnight.
Each survey ends in one written price, taking in the scaffold with its licence, the work on the roof and the removal of waste. The consent route is named beside it.
Access on a village lane needs thought. Tiles and a skip come by lorry, so where each stands is agreed in advance, with a route kept clear for walkers and neighbours' cars. The houses either side hear the dates for putting the scaffold up and taking it down.
Gutters complete the job. A downpipe that discharges against a wall can undo a good repair, so outlets, brackets and falls are checked, and the wall below is looked at for staining.
Highclere: the jobs we take on
Highclere roofs: downs, borough and county rules
Does the North Wessex Downs designation stop a Highclere roof repair?
No. Mending a roof so that it keeps its present appearance is handled as it would be anywhere in the borough. The partnership is advisory, and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council decides. Changes to a roof's shape or visible material meet tighter scrutiny inside the National Landscape, so we ask the council before pricing them, and report back.
Who checks building control for a re-roof in Highclere?
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council runs its own Building Control team, on 01256 844844, and a registered building control approver offers the private route instead. The council's page names changes of roof covering among works that "might also need" approval. The team is asked before a job is booked, and you receive the reply in writing.
What would Hampshire charge to scaffold a Highclere lane?
Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period, with hoarding extra. Hampshire County Council wants 10 clear working days between lodging and start and grants no extensions. No licence is needed for a scaffold wholly inside your own boundary, and any fee for one that does need it is included in your single written price.
Is there an Article 4 direction on my Highclere roof?
Only Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council can say. Its published roof directions concern four conservation areas in Basingstoke town, not Highclere, but a direction can exist elsewhere, so we ask the council in writing with your address. The reply goes into your file with the survey photographs, before any price is given.
Book a survey on your Highclere roof
Send your address and a photograph. We survey the roof, check the borough's position and send one written price for the whole job.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.