Roofers in Longparish
Keeper's Cottage, Meadow Lawn and what to read before you sign
17 listed buildings stand near the centre of Longparish, which also has a conservation area. Each job starts with a survey and plain-spoken contract terms, set out before work begins.
Longparish roofs, lodge to meadow
Keeper's Cottage
Listed Grade II on 20 December 1960, a cottage where any repair keeps to the covering already there.
Meadow Lawn
A Grade II listing dating from 3 November 1982, with a roof that falls under listed building consent.
Houses in the conservation area
Homes within about 0.75 km of the village centre, where a changed roof appearance goes to the council first.
Longparish north of Barton Stacey
Barton Stacey lies to the south, Whitchurch to the north-east, Wherwell to the south-west and St Mary Bourne to the north. All are within our patch.
- Distance
- 5.4 road miles east of Andover
- Planning
- Test Valley Borough Council
- Council
- Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Longparish roof report
Local editionLongparish, HampshireListings, contracts and a village lane
Longparish roofs: 17 listings, a conservation area and the contract rights that come with a roofing job
Read on for the council and consent picture in Longparish, your legal rights when you sign for roofing work, and how a scaffold gets onto a village lane.
Seventeen listings, one conservation area, two councils
Longparish lies 5.4 road miles east of East Street in Andover. The 2021 Census counted 724 usual residents in the parish. Planning is Test Valley Borough Council's business, and Hampshire County Council runs the roads. Neither a national park nor a National Landscape covers the village.
The Longparish conservation area is recorded within about 0.75 km of the village centre, with its boundary taken from Test Valley Borough Council's data. Altering the appearance of the roof from the lane is something to take to the council first, and a dormer is a planning matter too. Check with Test Valley Borough Council whether an Article 4 direction reaches your street; the answer can limit what a roofer may fit.
Historic England lists 17 buildings within about 500 m of the centre. Keeper's Cottage is Grade II (list entry 1093400), on the list since 20 December 1960. Meadow Lawn is Grade II as well (1093396), listed on 3 November 1982. A listed home still allows like-for-like repair, but any work reaching its character needs the council's listed building consent first, and the argument that carries is a repair mirroring the present covering. A different material starts a longer conversation, and asking first spares an expensive false start.
Building control has two tripwires for a re-roof. Says the Planning Portal: a re-roof touching under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof normally escapes the need for approval. The second tripwire is weight; add 15 per cent or more and Building Regulations approval applies, with a look at the structure by an engineer or surveyor recommended. Ask your building control body, either local authority building control or a registered building control approver.
Our survey provides the evidence for each question. A walk round the lane side, a climb where the roof allows, a lifted tile and photographs of the timbers beneath make up the record. The written report explains what has failed and what is sound, and it is shaped so that a council officer or a buyer's surveyor could read it as easily as you. Every finding has a photograph next to it.
Where a roof has not failed, the report says that too, and the sensible advice is to leave it alone. A survey that finds nothing to do is still useful to a householder, because it gives a dated starting point against which any later change can be measured. For a listed owner, that dated record is also the first page of any consent application, should one ever be needed, and it costs nothing extra to keep.
What to read before signing a roofing quote
Roofing contracts are governed by national law, which travels with you wherever the house stands. Citizens Advice's counsel is to collect at least 3 written quotes before settling on a trader. Compare what each one covers and not only the total, and ask whether VAT and scaffolding are inside it. The standard rate of VAT is 20 per cent. The domestic reverse charge belongs to trade-to-trade supplies in the Construction Industry Scheme and never reaches a homeowner's bill.
Sign at your kitchen table after a survey and you have made what the regulations call an off-premises contract. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 you may cancel it without giving a reason, and for services the period runs out at the close of the 14th day after the day you sign. If the trader leaves out the required notice about that right, the period grows by up to 12 months. To have work start inside the 14 days you must say so on a durable medium, meaning an email or a paper form.
One exception matters to roofers. Where you have specifically asked a trader to visit for urgent repairs or maintenance, regulation 28(1)(e) removes the right to cancel. A leaking roof made safe at your request falls there, and a planned re-roof does not. Citizens Advice draws the same line, saying there is no automatic cooling-off period if you invite a business into your home for urgent repairs.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets the baseline for the work itself. A service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill under section 49, and in a reasonable time under section 52 when no time was agreed. Under section 57 a firm cannot write that liability out of its terms, and section 54 lists the remedies open to you if the work falls short. These are legal baselines and not promises from any one firm. Keep the quote, the photographs and any emails together in one folder, with the date you signed written on the front, because a dispute is easier to settle with the paperwork to hand than from memory a year later.
A trader who turns down a complaint must, under section 308 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, point you to any alternative dispute resolution on offer. The older ADR Regulations 2015 have been revoked, so look for the 2024 provision and not for leaflets citing them. The Citizens Advice consumer helpline, 0808 223 1133, gives advice on all of this.
“A roofing contract signed at home carries national rights that apply in Longparish as anywhere.”
Pitched, flat and roofline work on a village lane
Jobs in a village like Longparish fall into three kinds: a pitched roof that has lost tiles or lets water in at a valley, a flat roof over an extension or outbuilding, and the roofline that joins them, meaning the gutters, soffits and fascias. A soffit is the board under the eaves, and a fascia is the board that carries the gutter. Each fails in its own way, and the survey photographs show which has failed and which has not. Where two of them are linked, the report says so and treats them as one repair.
For a pitched roof the report records the covering, the pitch, the battens beneath and the condition of valleys and ridge. For a flat roof it records the membrane, the falls and the outlets. For the roofline it records every length of gutter that has sagged or leaked and every board that has softened. Our pages on pitched roofing, flat roofing and guttering, soffits and fascias go into each in more detail.
If the scaffold must go up on the lane, section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 requires a licence, and the licensing authority is Hampshire County Council. The scaffolding firm lodges the application, which Hampshire County Council wants lodged no later than ten clear working days ahead, with no extension once the licence is running. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period. Scaffold on private ground needs none.
Not every repair needs a frame. A garage's low flat roof is usually within reach from private ground, as are a few rear-slope tiles from a tower. The survey says which, since a frame booked and not needed costs a day and a second visit. A larger job has to fit deliveries, a skip and the scaffold into the lane, and the neighbours are told which days the road will be narrower than usual.
At the end the site is left clean, rubbish goes with the crew and you hold a set of before and after photographs. A leaking roof gets a temporary fix first; the lasting repair follows once the consent route, if any, is settled. For owners who plan to sell, the same photographs answer a buyer's surveyor without a return visit. Ask us for copies at the end of the job and file them with the house deeds, where a later owner will find them. If a roof carries a repair that is expected to be watched, the report names it, so the next owner knows where to look.
Pitched, flat and roofline work in Longparish
Longparish roofs: contracts, listings and the lane
How many roofing quotes should I get for a Longparish house?
Citizens Advice counsels at least 3 written quotes. Compare what each one covers, not only the total, and ask whether VAT and scaffolding are inside it. VAT stands at 20 per cent. Two totals can describe different jobs, so set the scope, the covering and the access side by side before you decide.
Is Keeper's Cottage in Longparish treated differently from other cottages?
Yes, because Keeper's Cottage is Grade II listed, since 20 December 1960. Test Valley Borough Council grants listed building consent for work reaching its character, and the easiest case is a repair that mirrors the present covering. An unlisted cottage keeps the ordinary rules, but a conservation area boundary may still be nearby.
Can I cancel a Longparish re-roof contract after the survey?
A contract signed in your home is an off-premises contract, so you may cancel without a reason within 14 days of the day it is made. The exception is a visit you specifically requested for urgent repairs. To have work start within the 14 days, ask in writing or by email. The Citizens Advice helpline is 0808 223 1133.
Who handles the scaffold licence for a Longparish lane job?
Under Hampshire County Council's rules the application comes from the scaffolding firm, not the household, and at least ten clear working days are needed beforehand. Hampshire County Council's fee is £211.90 for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period. A frame on land of your own is outside the scheme; the survey shows which case you have.
Villages around Longparish
Arrange a Longparish roof visit
Name the house and describe the fault. A survey goes first, and a written price comes after.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.