How Much Does a New Roof Cost? UK Guide 2026

The short answer. Most UK re-roofs in 2026 cost between £5,000 and £12,000. A small terrace in concrete tile can come in under £5,000; a large detached house in natural slate can pass £20,000. The published averages range from about £5,250 to £7,000 depending on who is counting, and the sensible way to estimate your own is by roof area and material, not by the number of bedrooms.

New Roof Cost by House Type

House type	Typical roof area	Typical 2026 range
Mid-terrace	40 – 55 m²	£4,000 – £7,500
Semi-detached, three-bed	60 – 75 m²	£5,500 – £9,500
Detached, three or four-bed	80 – 110 m²	£7,000 – £12,000
Large detached or four-bed plus	110 m² and up	£10,000 – £18,000+
Bungalow	60 – 90 m²	£4,000 – £7,500

Those are the bands where most published 2026 guides agree. They do not all agree. MyJobQuote puts the national average around £5,250; Checkatrade's 2026 guide puts it around £7,000; and at least one 2026 guide puts a three-bed semi in slate at around £11,000. The spread is mostly material, which is why the next table matters more than this one.

New Roof Cost by Material

Supplied and fitted, including new underlay and battens, with scaffold included in most of the published figures.

Covering	2026 range per m²	Semi-detached, roughly 70 m²	Lifespan
Concrete interlocking tile	£85 – £170	£6,000 – £11,500	40 – 60 years
Clay tile	£110 – £210	£8,000 – £15,000	60 – 100 years
Natural slate	£140 – £280	£10,000 – £19,000	80 – 150 years

Checkatrade's own breakdown puts labour alone at about £130 per square metre, with materials on top at roughly £60 to £130 per square metre for concrete and clay and £160 to £210 for natural slate. Different guides bundle scaffold, strip-out and waste differently, which is why the ranges are wide; a quote that looks cheap has often left one of those out.

On slate. The spread inside the slate row is the widest of all. New Welsh slate sits at the top; Spanish and other imported slate in the middle; reclaimed slate and reusing the sound slates from the old roof at the bottom. On the older streets of Exeter, where the existing roof is natural slate, reusing it on new fixings and topping up with reclaimed stock is often both the cheapest and the best-looking option.

What Is in the Price

A re-roof is more than tiles. A proper quote covers:

Scaffold to the whole house, typically £500 to £1,200 on a semi, more on a terrace with no side access or a pavement frontage.
Strip-out and waste, typically £900 to £2,500 including skips. Some quotes include it, some list it separately.
New breathable underlay and treated battens. Non-negotiable; an old roof rarely has either worth keeping.
The covering, as above, plus ridge, hip and verge tiles or a dry-fix system in their place.
Leadwork: valleys, flashings at chimneys and abutments, and any hidden gutters. New, not reused.
Ventilation at the eaves and ridge, which building regulations expect on a re-roof.
Timber allowance. Rafter ends, purlins and wall plates only show once the roof is off. Expect £400 to £1,800 if timber needs replacing, and expect the quote to say how it will be charged.
Labour, typically five to seven days on a semi and eight to twelve on a large or complex roof, at day rates of roughly £250 to £300 for a roofer in 2026.

Building control may need to be told. In England, replacing more than a set proportion of a roof covering counts as notifiable work; a roofer registered with a competent person scheme can self-certify it.

Worked Examples

A 1930s semi in Whipton, concrete tile like for like. Around 70 square metres. Strip, new underlay and battens, new concrete interlocking tile, dry ridge and verge, new lead at the chimney, scaffold and waste. Most published ranges put this between £6,000 and £9,500.

A Victorian terrace in St Thomas, natural slate. Around 50 square metres, but a pavement frontage and no side access. The sound slates are reused and topped up with reclaimed Welsh slate, new lead in the valley and at the stack. The scaffold licence and the slate matching push this towards £8,000 to £12,000 despite the smaller roof.

A detached 1970s house in Alphington, concrete tile with two dormers and a chimney. Around 100 square metres with a lot of detailing. £9,000 to £14,000 is the realistic band, with the dormers and the leadwork accounting for the difference from a plain roof.

A bungalow in Countess Wear. Large footprint, low pitch, easy access. Around 80 square metres in concrete tile, £5,000 to £8,000.

What Pushes a Quote Up or Down

Roof area. Price follows square metres. Two three-bed houses can differ by half in roof size.

Pitch and shape. Hips, valleys, dormers and chimneys all add lead, cutting and time. A plain gable roof is the cheapest shape.

Access. Detached houses with a drive are straightforward. Terraces with rear yards reached through the house, or with pavement frontages needing a scaffold licence, are not.

Material. As above. Slate has the widest spread of all, and where the slate comes from is a question worth asking.

Timber. Nobody knows until the covering is off. A quote that includes a stated allowance and a rate for anything beyond it is more honest than one that does not mention it.

Conservation status. In a conservation area or on a listed building the choice of material may not be yours, and a like-for-like requirement can add cost. Ask the council before ordering.

Time of year. Roofers are busiest from September to March. A re-roof booked for late spring or summer is often easier to schedule, and the weather is on your side.

How Long It Takes, and Living Through It

A re-roof on a semi takes five to seven working days once the scaffold is up, and eight to twelve on a large or complicated roof. Slate takes longer than tile, because each slate is graded, holed and fixed individually, and reusing the old slates adds a day of sorting at the start. Add the scaffold going up before and coming down after, and a fortnight from first delivery to last skip is normal.

You can stay in the house. The work is outside, but the loft will fill with dust and debris as the old covering comes off, so anything stored there should come out first. A good roofer strips and re-covers in sections, so no part of the roof is left open overnight, and sheets the exposed section if rain threatens. Ask how they handle a wet day before the job starts rather than during it.

Booking matters too. Roofers are at their busiest from September to March, when storm work fills the diary, and a re-roof planned for late spring or summer is easier to schedule and less likely to lose days to weather. If the roof can wait, that is the time to do it.

How to Compare Re-Roof Quotes

Get at least three, and make sure they are pricing the same job:

Same covering, named, including where the slate comes from if it is slate.
Scaffold included or listed separately, and for how long.
Strip-out and waste included.
Underlay, battens and ventilation specified.
All lead renewed, not "as required".
A stated timber allowance and a rate beyond it.
VAT position clear.
Guarantee: length, what it covers, and whether it is insurance-backed.

A quote well below the others has usually left something out. Ask what.

Getting a Quote

Prices live on this page and on the other two cost guides, and nowhere else on the site, because a real quote depends on your roof. When you are ready, the roof replacement page explains what a re-roof involves and takes your enquiry; we pass it to a roofing firm covering your part of Exeter or Devon. If the roof is mostly sound and the problem is local, roof repair costs is the guide you want instead. And before accepting any quote, read how to choose a roofer.

Figures researched from published UK sources in September 2026 and shown as typical ranges, not quotes. Prices vary by roof, access and location.

How Much Does a New Roof Cost in the UK? 2026 Guide