Roofers in Tadley
Heath End, Church Road and the clay-tile cottages of north Hampshire
Tadley has two conservation areas and a long record of brick-making on its common. Our surveyors climb the roof, photograph the faults and explain them in plain words.
Tadley roofs, from the common to Church Road
Conservation-area cottages
Timber-frame and brick homes in the Tadley and Church Road areas, where the appraisal names clay tile and thatch.
Houses near Tadley Common
Homes in the north of the parish, on ground that was heathland and common land, where bricks were once made.
Heath End and Mount Pleasant
Hamlet streets that the 1911 Victoria County History placed north of the village, close to the common.
Tadley and the parishes around it
Pamber Heath lies to the east, Baughurst to the south-west and Silchester to the east. Aldermaston is to the north, with Woolhampton beyond it to the north-west.
- Distance
- 20.4 road miles north-east of Andover
- Planning
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
- Council
- Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Hampshire County Council
The Tadley roof report
Local editionTadley, HampshireBasingstoke's rules, two conservation areas and clay tile
Close to Berkshire, run from Basingstoke: how a Tadley roof gets approved
Tadley is a large village 20.4 road miles from Andover, run from Basingstoke. Read on for who rules on a Tadley roof, how its two conservation areas change a re-tile, and how the county's scaffold licence works, then the jobs we take on.
A Hampshire village under Basingstoke
Tadley sits on the Hampshire side of the border with Berkshire, 20.4 road miles from Andover towards the north-east. What matters for a roof is the council that answers a planning query, and here that is Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. It decides planning for every roof in the parish, runs its own Building Control team on 01256 844844, and leaves the road outside to Hampshire County Council as highway authority. The parish had 11,718 usual residents at the 2021 Census, so those three names matter to a good many front doors.
Basingstoke and Deane says more about roof work than most councils around Andover. On its building control page the borough lists replacing the roof covering, on a pitched roof or a flat one, among jobs that could need approval as well. Read that as a prompt to ask, not as a rule. The question goes to the Building Control team ahead of a Tadley booking, and its reply comes to you in writing.
Behind that sits the Planning Portal's national test. Work on less than 25 per cent of the building envelope, and on less than 50 per cent of the roof, normally goes ahead without an application. Weight changes the picture. Tiles heavy enough to raise the roof's load by 15 per cent call for Building Regulations approval, and the Planning Portal advises having the roof structure examined before work begins. Clay tile laid where slate used to be is the sort of swap that earns the question.
Where one slope has failed we describe the choices plainly: patch the weak area, strip and re-cover the slope, or relay the whole roof on new battens and underlay. The first is a roof repair and the last is a full replacement, and the survey photographs show which one the evidence supports. A private approver from the registered list may be used in place of the council's team, a private route regulated since 6 April 2024.
Article 4 directions are another council-by-council matter. Whether one removes permitted development rights at your address is for Basingstoke and Deane to answer, so we ask during the survey instead of assuming that the answer from the last street holds for this one.
The border matters in practice. Aldermaston, a short way north, lies in West Berkshire, which has its own planning authority, its own building control service and its own scaffold fee. A surveyor who quotes Tadley from the paperwork of the last village over gets it wrong, which is why every job here is checked against Basingstoke and Deane's pages and not against habit.
Two conservation areas and a thatched past
Tadley has two conservation areas: Tadley, and Tadley Church Road. The Church Road area lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre, so a good number of ordinary streets sit close to one boundary or the other. Inside a conservation area, control over a roof's appearance is stricter, and a new dormer needs more than a builder's say-so. Our guide to planning permission for roof work sets out the main principles, and the borough's planners answer for any individual address.
The Tadley appraisal says traditional roof coverings there include long straw thatch and plain red clay tile, over timber-frame and orange or red brick walls. It also names Grade II listed thatched cottages such as Cons Cottage and Crooked Cottage. A thatched roof is specialist work and belongs with a thatcher. The tiled extension next door, the chimney that rises through the thatch, and the gutters and fascias on the same house are another matter, and those we survey and repair.
No listed building appears on the national heritage list within about 900 metres of the village centre. That should not be read as saying Tadley has none, since the appraisal names listed cottages, so the entry that covers your house is read before we price anything that alters a roof's look. A listed house also needs listed building consent for works touching its character.
The Victoria County History in 1911 placed the main village on the Basingstoke to Reading road, with the hamlets of Heath End, New Town and Mount Pleasant in the north near Tadley Common, and the modern church of St Mary at Heath End. The north of Tadley was heathland and common land, and bricks were made on Tadley Common.
On a conservation-area survey we photograph tile size, colour, bond and fixing, record the ridge and the verge, and note the state of the lead at the chimney. Those notes let us source a match from reclaimed stock or a maker, and they give the planning team something exact to read when it considers your case.
Plain clay tiles are small and overlap in rows, each hung from the batten by its nibs. When one cracks or slips, its neighbours are often still sound, and a short run can be replaced from the roof face without stripping the slope. When the battens or the underlay beneath have given up, the picture changes, and the photographs of what we lift show you why. Reclaimed clay tile from a salvage yard is often the closest match to a roof that has weathered over many decades.
“Tadley sits right by the Berkshire border, but its roof rules come from Basingstoke.”
A Hampshire licence, and the jobs in hand
Scaffolding on the public highway needs the highway authority's licence (Highways Act 1980, section 169), and for Tadley that authority is Hampshire County Council. Hampshire County Council's scheme makes the scaffolding company the applicant. The licence cannot start until 10 clear working days have gone by, nobody gets consent by default, and no extension is offered.
Hampshire County Council's fee is £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks, then £72 for each extra 2-week period. The scaffold also has to meet BS EN 12810/12811 or NASC guidance TG20:13. On a private road no licence arises, so a house on a private drive or a shared lane may not need one. We find out which case applies before anyone fixes a date, and tell you what the answer does to the programme.
With no extension possible, the dates matter. We hold the licence application until the survey findings are settled and the tiles or slates are on order, so the scaffold is not left standing for a fortnight waiting on a delivery. On a conservation-area job we also wait for the planning answer before the application goes in.
The work in Tadley follows a familiar pattern. A pitched roof that has lost tiles needs patching or a fresh covering. A ridge or verge held by crumbling mortar may suit a dry-fix system, which clips the tiles in place and needs no mortar bed. The roofline of fascias, soffits and gutters often shows the first sign of trouble, because water runs down it every time it rains, and a board that has soaked for years may need replacing.
Tadley has older cottages and later homes side by side. Whichever you live in, the order of work is the same: make the roof safe if it is leaking, find the cause rather than the stain, and set out the repair that suits the way the roof was built. You see the evidence before you decide anything, and the dates are fixed before the materials are ordered, so nothing is left to chance on the morning the scaffold arrives.
The same approach carries over to the smaller roofs on a house. A flat porch, a garage or a rear extension gets the attention given to the main slope, with its outlet, edge trim and junction photographed, and guttering, soffits and fascias checked at the same visit so that one scaffold, where one is needed, serves several jobs.
Our services for Tadley homes
Tadley roofs: conservation areas, tiles and the county licence
How do Tadley's two conservation areas affect a re-tile?
Changes to a roof's appearance face stricter control inside a conservation area, and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is the planning authority. A like-for-like re-tile is judged differently from a change of material or shape, so ask the planning team before work starts. We record the existing tile colour and size at the survey, which helps that conversation.
Must the borough council approve a re-roof in Tadley?
Possibly. On the borough's building control page, re-roofing of either a pitched roof or a flat one is listed among jobs where approval may also be required, so its Building Control team is asked first. The national test, under 25 per cent of the envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, applies as well. We bring you the council's reply in writing, with the photographs.
Who deals with the scaffold licence for a Tadley job?
The scaffolders apply to Hampshire County Council, and the cost belongs inside the job, so check that any quote includes scaffolding. Hampshire County Council charges £211.90 on application for the first 2 weeks and £72 for each further 2-week period, and 10 clear working days must pass first. A private road needs no licence.
Can you repair the tiles on a thatched Tadley cottage?
A thatched roof needs a specialist thatcher, and we leave it to one. Many cottages carry other roofs as well, such as a tiled extension, a porch, a garage or a chimney with its flashings, and those we survey and repair. Tell us which parts of the house are thatched and which are tiled when you book, and the plan will work around the thatch.
Parishes around Tadley
A Tadley roof, looked at before it is priced
Tell us the street and attach a photo. The Basingstoke route is checked, then a total price follows in writing.
10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.