Bexley Village is about 2.8 miles from our base on Chastilian Road, six minutes by road. We're roofers covering the whole of Bexley, and on any job in the old village the first thing we check is planning. Old Bexley is a conservation area, and on some of its houses an Article 4 direction brings a change of roofing material under council control. Put a different covering on without asking and you could be told to take it off again. So we start with what's on your roof now, match it, and tell you before any work begins whether the London Borough of Bexley needs to be involved. Outside the conservation area things are simpler. You still get a free survey and a written quote.
A roofer rings you back to arrange a visit.
Bexley takes its name from an old word meaning a box-tree wood or clearing. It was an ancient Kent parish and became a municipal borough in 1935. The village core runs along the High Street, with St Mary the Virgin and its octagonal spire on Manor Road, and Hall Place beside the River Cray on Bourne Road. The Old Bexley conservation area covers about 21 hectares and holds 18 listed buildings. That's a lot of protected fabric for a small place. It means a roofer working here spends as much time thinking about appearance as about water.
Some of the oldest buildings are clad in timber. The weatherboarded watermill and Cray House both date from the 1770s, and Nos 57-59 High Street have part-weatherboarded rear extensions. Roofs in the core have been mended across generations, so the work is mostly about matching what's there and keeping old details intact. Parkhurst is a separate conservation area in Bexley. Beyond those boundaries the roofs vary from street to street, and we survey each one on its own terms. A roof two streets from the High Street may have no special rules at all.
1,000+
Roofs repaired, renewed and rebuilt
10 yrs
Written guarantee on every re-roof
5★
The only rating anyone has left us
£0
For the survey and the written quote
A repair in a conservation area should be invisible. We match tiles, keep the original ridge and verge detail, and stop the leak without changing how the roof looks from the High Street.
Learn more about roof repairs in Bexley →
Where a roof has genuinely had its day, we re-cover it in materials that suit the house, and check with Bexley Council first if the Article 4 direction could apply.
Learn more about re-roofing in Bexley →
Older roofs depend on lead: valleys, chimney flashings, bay tops and dormer cheeks. We cut and dress new code lead by hand so it lasts, and so it looks right on a period house.
Learn more about leadwork in Bexley →In Old Bexley the roof is part of the street's character, and the council treats it that way. That changes how we work.
If your house is in the Old Bexley conservation area, we look at whether the Article 4 direction touches your job before putting a price together. You won't be handed a quote for something the council might refuse. It saves you money and a lot of letters.
Matching means more than colour. Size, thickness, camber and the way a tile weathers all count. We'd rather spend a day finding the right reclaimed tiles than fit something close enough that looks wrong for the next fifty years. A roof is the biggest single surface on most houses, so a mismatch shows.
Older roofs rely on lead where modern ones use plastic trims and pre-formed pieces. We shape flashings, soakers and valley linings from sheet lead on site, then chase them into the brickwork and seal them, the way they were meant to be done. Properly sized lead outlasts any bolt-on trim.
Several old buildings in the village have weatherboarded walls or extensions. Where a roof meets timber cladding, a careless flashing traps water behind the boards. We detail those junctions so the timber can dry out after rain. Wet boards rot from the back, where nobody sees until it's late.
With 18 listed buildings in the conservation area, some homes need listed building consent for work that would be routine elsewhere. If yours is one of them, we'll tell you, and we won't start until the paperwork is right. Unauthorised work on a listed building is a criminal offence, so it's not worth a gamble.
Being close means a storm-damaged roof in Bexley can be covered quickly. Temporary protection on an old roof still has to be fixed without harming what's underneath, and we take that seriously. No screws through good tiles, no battens nailed to a parapet.
"In Old Bexley, the question we're asked most isn't how much a repair costs but whether the council will mind, and the honest answer depends on the house."
10
Years' cover on a new roof
1,000+
Roofing jobs finished
Paperwork in your hand on the last day. Not posted out "in due course".
Re-roof a house in Bexley with us and you get 10 years of cover on the workmanship. It's a written document. It has your address on it, lists what was done, and is dated the day the roof is signed off. If water gets in because something was fitted wrong - a batten, a fixing, a lap, a flashing - a roofer comes back and puts it right. You don't pay for that.
Why are we happy to promise ten years? Because of how the roof goes on. Every tile or slate is mechanically fixed to BS 5534, the current British Standard. Ridges and hips are fixed too, not just sat in mortar. A breathable membrane goes down first. Where a roof meets a wall, a chimney or the house next door, it gets proper lead or a tested dry system. Shortcuts there are what make a guarantee expensive, so we don't take them.
Tiles, slates and membranes also carry the maker's own warranty. Those vary by product, and your paperwork tells you which ones apply. If a job is too unusual to guarantee in the normal way, you'll hear that at quote stage.
We start with a free survey of the roof and loft, noting the covering, the ridge, the leadwork and any earlier repairs. Then we check whether your address sits inside Old Bexley's conservation boundary, and whether the building is on the statutory list.
Your written quote names the tile or slate, the lead code and the ridge detail we plan to use. In a conservation area that matters, because the material is exactly what the council cares about.
If a change of material, a rooflight or a dormer is involved, we advise contacting the London Borough of Bexley before work starts. We'll give you the details and photos they're likely to ask for. Most like-for-like jobs never get this far.
Reclaimed tiles, handmade ridges, the right weight of lead: some of it takes time to track down. We'd rather book the job a little later than start before the right materials are on site. A half-finished roof waiting on tiles helps nobody.
Scaffold goes up with padding wherever it touches old brickwork or weatherboarding. Tiles come off one at a time, every sound one is set aside for reuse, and only what has failed gets replaced. Old tiles are part of the house's history.
Lead is dressed, ridge tiles are bedded or fixed to suit the roof, and the verges are finished to match the originals. From the street it should look as though nothing has changed, except that it no longer leaks.
You get photos of the work and a list of the materials used. If you ever sell, or the council asks, you've got evidence that the job was done like for like. Keep it with the deeds.
Tudor house on Bourne Road, built around 1537 for Sir John Champneys, a former Lord Mayor of London. Its gardens run down to the River Cray and include topiary clipped into heraldic beasts.
Learn more about Hall Place & Gardens on Google Maps
Medieval parish church on Manor Road in Old Bexley, recognisable from its octagonal shingled spire. A timber lychgate leads into the churchyard from the road.
Learn more about St Mary the Virgin, Bexley on Google Maps
Over 200 acres of parkland at Bexleyheath, about two miles from Bexley village, with a 12-acre lake at its centre. Danson House, a Palladian villa by Sir Robert Taylor, was built in the 1760s for Sir John Boyd.
Learn more about Danson Park on Google MapsEvery review left for us so far has been five stars. We're adding them here as they come in.
Reviews only tell you so much anyway. When a roofer comes out to Bexley, ask to see photos of a recent job on a house like yours. A good roofer will have plenty and won't mind you asking.
Prices in Bexley follow the same bands as the rest of our area: £180 to £450 for a tile refix, £450 to £1,200 for a ridge, and a re-roof from about £8,000 for a smaller house. Detached homes run £14,000 to £24,000 or more. In the conservation area, reclaimed or handmade tiles and extra leadwork can push a job towards the top of its band, and so can scaffold that has to keep clear of old walls. Outside the conservation area, the same job usually sits nearer the middle of each range. We itemise all of it.
It depends where you live. Bexley Village comes under the London Borough of Bexley. Across most of the borough, re-roofing that doesn't materially change the look of the house usually needs no planning permission. Old Bexley is different. It's a conservation area, and an Article 4 direction on certain houses, including Nos 4-14 North Cray Road and Nos 99-115 High Street, brings a change of roofing material under council control. If you want a different covering, ask the council first. Listed buildings need listed building consent for many changes as well. If you're not sure which applies, we'll help you find out before any money is spent.
Possibly, but not without checking. On houses covered by the Article 4 direction, such as Nos 4-14 North Cray Road, a change of roofing material needs planning permission, and elsewhere in the conservation area it's still worth asking first. A heavier covering can also bring in Building Regulations if it adds 15% or more to the roof's weight. Our advice is usually to stay with what the house was built with. It looks right, it weathers in with the rest of the street, and it avoids a refused application. Changing material on a whole roof is rarely worth the fight.
Bexley sits inland on the River Cray, further from the open Thames than Crayford or Erith. Most of the damage we see here comes from older ridges, verges and lead that have slowly lost their grip, then let go in a gale. In a big event, like Storm Eunice in February 2022, when London had its first ever red wind warning, even well-kept roofs can lose tiles. After a named storm, a quick look from the garden for gaps along the ridge or slipped tiles near the verge is worth doing.
Yes. We work across Bexley, from the High Street and Manor Road out along Parkhurst Road and Bourne Road towards Hall Place. Outside the conservation areas the planning side is simpler, and our survey, written quote and approach to repairs are the same wherever you live. Not sure if your house falls inside the boundary? We'll check for you.
Call 01322 946667 or use the form. We'll survey for free, check the planning position for your address, and send a written quote naming every material.
