Roofers in Birchington
3.9 road miles from Margate. Repairs, re-roofs, flat roofs and leadwork across Birchington, priced only after a close look at the roof and photos of it sent to you.
- Designated 1976Birchington conservation area, designated 2 February 1976.
- Grade II* churchChurch of All Saints is listed Grade II*.
- Thanet's own teamBuilding control through Thanet, 01843 577522.
A Grade II* church, two 2002 listings and a 1976 boundary
All Saints
Church of All Saints is Grade II* listed, first listed 10 April 1951, and still a Church of England place of worship.
Street furniture
The Fountain and the Horse Trough are both Grade II, first listed in November 2002, within four days of each other.
The 1976 line
Thanet's table dates the Birchington conservation area to 2 February 1976, within about 0.75 km of the centre.
Birchington, 10,395 residents
A seaside town with a conservation area and 30 listed entries nearby
| Council | Thanet District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Thanet District Council's own Building Control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Birchington, designated 2 February 1976 |
| Population, 2021 | 10,395 (Birchington parish) |
| From Margate | 3.9 road miles, about 8 min |
| Grade II*, first listed 1951 | Church of All Saints |
| Grade II, first listed 2002 | The Fountain; The Horse Trough |
| Listed entries within 900 m | 30, National Heritage List |
Birchington has a parish population of 10,395 at the 2021 Census, a conservation area, and 30 listed entries within 900 metres of its centre. Thanet District Council is the planning authority, and its Building Control team is the council's own.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Thanet District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Birchington, church to coastline
Birchington roofs, from a Grade II* church and the 1976 area to the wind off the coast
Three chapters on the listed church and street furniture, how wind and rain figures should be read near the coast, and the licences and notices behind a re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
All Saints, the fountain and the 1976 conservation area
Birchington is a town of 10,395 usual residents at the 2021 Census, and its heritage list runs longer than a village's: Historic England's National Heritage List has 30 entries within 900 metres of the centre. Three show the spread. Church of All Saints is Grade II* and was first listed on 10 April 1951. The Fountain and the Horse Trough are both Grade II, listed on 6 November 2002 and 2 November 2002, four days apart, with list numbers 1491457 and 1489855. A roof job in the older streets starts by finding out whether the building, or anything attached to it, appears among them.
Churches follow their own rules, and All Saints is in use as a Church of England place of worship. Section 60 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 lifts the listed building controls from an ecclesiastical building in use for ecclesiastical purposes, and a 2010 Order confines that exemption to named denominations. For All Saints, the Church of England's faculty system applies, and listed building consent does not. A Roman Catholic, Methodist, United Reformed or Baptist church uses its own system, while a Unitarian or Quaker building, or one owned by the Churches Conservation Trust, needs listed building consent like a house. Which route applies depends on who uses the building, so that is the first question asked.
Away from the church, the conservation area matters most. Thanet District Council's table dates the Birchington conservation area to 2 February 1976, and the national dataset puts it within about 0.75 km of the town centre. Thanet's Article 4 directions sit in three conservation areas: Pegwell, Ramsgate, and the marina extension to the Ramsgate area. Birchington is not one of the three, but for one particular address the council gives the definite answer. Dormer and roof window conditions are collected in our roof window planning guide. According to Thanet's page, needing permission is less likely where the work replaces like with like.
A survey in Birchington therefore opens with two checks, the list and the map, and only then the roof. You receive photos of every slope and stack, with the ridge and the flashings in close-up, and the quote that follows is one written total. Our pitched roofing page covers the coverings involved, and a house split into flats is asked about its freeholder before a visit is booked.
| Date | Entry |
|---|---|
| 10 April 1951 | Church of All Saints, Grade II* |
| 2 February 1976 | Conservation area designated |
| 2 November 2002 | The Horse Trough, Grade II |
| 6 November 2002 | The Fountain, Grade II |
Source: Historic England, National Heritage List; Thanet District Council, conservation areas page
Chapter 02 of 03
Wind, rain and fixings near the Birchington coast
Birchington is a seaside town, which is part of how its roofs are judged. Cupa's slate-fixing advice treats a building on a slope or hill, near the coast, or of tall build as more exposed, and that is why each fixing is sized to its site instead of quoted from a table. The Met Office's long-term figures come from its Manston station, and for 1991 to 2020 they show about 613 mm of rainfall over the year, 110.05 days with 1 mm or more, and a mean wind of 9.86 knots at 10 metres, 11.21 knots in January.
Marley's guidance is that fixing to BS 5534 is good practice rather than law, and that after the 2015 amendments mortar could no longer be the only thing holding ridge tiles in place. BS 8612:2018 sets out the dry-fixed alternative for ridge, hip and verge, where mechanical clips and screws do the holding. A hip is the sloping line where two slopes meet at an outward corner, and a verge is the sloping edge at a gable end, and both are checked first after a gale.
Myth
The Met Office publishes rainfall and wind figures for Birchington.FactIts long-term averages come from the Manston station and are quoted as Manston's: about 613 mm of rainfall and 9.86 knots mean wind.
Myth
BS 5534 is a law that every roof must follow to the letter.FactMarley says BS 5534 is not required by law, though its wind uplift formulas are used to calculate fixings.
Source: Met Office, Manston 1991 to 2020; Marley, BS 5534 guidance
Flat roofs have their own measures. BS 6229:2025 applies to flat roofs whose waterproof layer is a membrane supported along its whole length, so it concerns membranes, not lead. For the main roof area and internal gutters, 1:80 is the minimum finished fall, and IKO advises designing single-ply roofs to 1:40. A fall is the slope that sends water to the outlets. HomeBuilding gives EPDM, a synthetic rubber membrane, 25 to 30 years, while Less says 30 to 50, so two named sources are quoted instead of one promise. Our flat roofing page goes into the layers.
After a storm, look from the ground first: slipped slates, ridge tiles out of line, lifted flashings. Do not climb. The Institution of Structural Engineers advises telling your insurer first, making safe, and keeping photos and receipts. The Financial Ombudsman (0800 023 4567) points to the Beaufort Scale and notes that some insurers count only winds above a set point as storm-force, so Birchington owners should read their own policy's storm wording too. The Ombudsman's description centres on violent winds, and it says rain, hail or snow tend to go with them. A payout is never promised, and the Ombudsman names gradual damage, wear and tear as typical exclusions.
Chapter 03 of 03
Scaffold, skip and completion certificate for a Birchington roof
Building control for a Birchington re-roof is Thanet District Council's own team, on 01843 577522, and the council sends owners to the Planning Portal to check whether consent is needed. The Planning Portal puts its dividing lines at 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, and work below both lines normally needs no application. A new covering that weighs 15 per cent or more beyond what it replaces does need approval. The council also keeps a register: a copy of a completion certificate from it costs £54 (including VAT) per copy, useful when a buyer asks whether an earlier re-roof was signed off.
A scaffold over the road or pavement needs a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. Kent County Council issues it, and the scaffolders, not the householder, apply at least 5 working days ahead. The fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027. If an inspection finds an infringement, Kent County Council charges £120, and extra visits are also charged at £120 per visit. That is why the dates, the walkway and the lighting are settled with the scaffolders before the scaffold goes up.
A separate permit, also from Kent County Council, covers a skip on the highway: £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, applied for 5 working days ahead. Kent County Council allows a skip of up to 5 metres by 2 metres. Old slates, battens and underlay go into the skip as the roof comes off, and nothing is left on the road or the drive overnight.
The steps below put those notices in order. If the roof turns out to need a full new covering, our roof replacement page explains what that involves, and until the survey has been done, no one can say which route your own roof will take. One consumer point belongs with the notices. A contract that you sign at home after our survey counts as off-premises, which brings a 14 day cancellation period, and the work starts inside it only on your written request. The right does not cover an urgent repair visit you have asked for. Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133) recommends comparing written quotes from 3 or more traders.
A Birchington re-roof, notice by notice
Survey first
The roof is seen up close and you are sent photos of each slope.
Heritage check
The list, the 1976 boundary and any church or flat status are checked.
Licence and permit
The scaffolders apply to Kent County Council and the skip company applies for its permit.
Work and handover
A daily update, a tidy road and the waste taken away at the end.
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Birchington
West of Margate: Birchington and its neighbours
Birchington is 3.9 road miles west of Margate and shares Thanet District Council, its Building Control team and Kent County Council's highway licences with Acol, Manston and Ramsgate, so the route for a roof job stays the same across the district.
Birchington's church, boundary and storm questions
What does the Birchington conservation area mean for a roof repair?
Thanet District Council designated it on 2 February 1976, and it lies within about 0.75 km of the town centre. Thanet's guidance treats like-for-like work as the lower-risk case for planning, though a change of material or appearance is a different matter. Send us the address; the line on the council's map is compared with it ahead of the survey, and the result goes into the quote.
Does work on Birchington's Grade II* church go through the council?
Church of All Saints is in use as a Church of England place of worship, an exempt denomination, so the Church of England's faculty system is the route, and listed building consent from Thanet District Council is not. A Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed or Roman Catholic church uses its own system, and a church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust goes to the council for listed building consent.
Whose weather figures does a Birchington roof quote rely on?
The Met Office's Manston station, 1991 to 2020: about 613 mm of rainfall over the year, 110.05 days with 1 mm or more, and a mean wind of 9.86 knots at 10 metres. They are averages for that station. Under BS 5534 each fixing is sized to the exposure of your own site, so the specification, not a headline wind speed, goes into the quote.
How do I get a copy of a completion certificate for an earlier Birchington re-roof?
Thanet District Council's Building Control team keeps a register, and a copy of a completion certificate from it costs £54 (including VAT) per copy. Call the team on 01843 577522 with the address. Work done under a different route, such as a registered building control approver, may sit with that approver, so ask the owner or the seller which route was used.
What if the scaffold for a Birchington roof has to stay up longer?
Kent County Council treats a renewal like a new application, with 5 working days' notice, and it charges £52 per week for 2026 to 2027. The scaffolding company handles the renewal. A longer stay is far easier to arrange if the extent of the job is fixed at the survey, which is why the written quote follows it.
Birchington: survey first, then one total
Photos or a visit come first; the price follows, in writing and as a single total.