Roofers in Herne Bay
12.6 road miles from Margate. Pitched roofs, flat roofs, chimneys and lead for Herne Bay homes, with the address read against the listing and conservation maps before any price is given.
- City planningCanterbury City Council decides planning applications.
- Two protected areasEddington and Herne Bay conservation areas nearby.
- Inspected by STGBuilding control through the STG partnership.
A vent column, a Grade II* house and a direction for dwellings
Column listed
Herne Bay's sewer vent column is Grade II, first listed on 23 March 2000, which shows how varied listed entries can be.
Underdown House
Underdown House is Grade II*, first listed on 29 September 1951, and Christ Church Herne Bay Parish Church is Grade II.
Dwellings direction
Canterbury's Article 4 record for Herne Bay names dwelling houses in the conservation area; the council states what it withdraws.
Herne Bay, 38 listed entries nearby
Herne Bay's records, entry by entry
| Council | Canterbury City Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | STG Building Control Partnership |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Eddington, Herne Bay; Herne Bay |
| From Margate | 12.6 road miles, about 19 min |
| Underdown House | Grade II*, first listed 29 September 1951 |
| Christ Church Herne Bay Parish Church | Grade II, first listed 14 May 1976 |
| Sewer Vent Column | Grade II, first listed 23 March 2000 |
| Listed entries within 900 m | 38 |
Two conservation areas lie within about 0.75 km of the centre of Herne Bay, with 38 listed entries inside 900 metres and an Article 4 area for dwelling houses.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Canterbury City Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Herne Bay, listings and exposure
A listed sewer vent column, two conservation areas and a wind calculation shape a Herne Bay roof survey
Three chapters: the listed buildings, the conservation areas with their Article 4 direction, then the exposure grading and licences behind a seaside re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
The sewer vent column, Underdown House and Christ Church
Herne Bay is 12.6 road miles west of Margate, about 19 minutes by road, in Canterbury City Council's area. Historic England's list shows 38 listed entries within 900 metres of the town centre, and three of them show how wide the list reaches. A listed neighbour does not list your house; only a building's own entry brings consent into play. Underdown House is Grade II* (entry 1084951, first listed on 29 September 1951). Christ Church Herne Bay Parish Church is Grade II (entry 1336851, first listed on 14 May 1976). A Sewer Vent Column is Grade II as well (entry 1380176, first listed on 23 March 2000).
The column matters to a roofer for what it proves: listing is not limited to houses and churches, and the National Heritage List covers structures of many kinds. For any building with an entry, section 7 of the 1990 Act requires listed building consent where the work would affect its character. Permitted development rights for roof work stay with a listed house, but consent is needed as well, and Canterbury City Council decides the application. Entries carry a first-listed date, which helps to find the right entry; the consent rule is the same whichever year a building was listed.
Christ Church is a Church of England parish church, so its works go through the faculty system and not the council's consent route. For any other chapel or church the first question is which denomination uses it, because a Herne Bay chapel used by Methodists, Baptists, Roman Catholics or the United Reformed Church follows that body's own system, whereas a Quaker or Unitarian building, or one held by the Churches Conservation Trust, comes under listed building consent as a house does.
For a listed house the repair has to match what is there: the same slate or tile, lead dressed to the same detail, a chimney stack rebuilt as it stood. You receive pictures of every slope, stack and valley before anything is priced, so that whoever reads the application has the same view we do. Where the survey finds an entry, it goes to Canterbury City Council with the specification, and the date for the work is fixed after the answer. Stack work is on our chimney repairs page, and a roof damaged in bad weather is made safe first under roof repairs and emergency work, with the consent question taken up once the weather has cleared.
Checking a listing, in order
Search by address
The National Heritage List shows whether your building has an entry of its own.
Read the entry
The grade and the first-listed date are on the entry.
Choose the route
Council consent for most buildings, or the faculty system for a Church of England church in use.
Match the repair
Slates, tiles, lead and stacks are matched to what is on the roof.
Chapter 02 of 03
Two conservation areas and an Article 4 direction for houses
Two conservation areas sit within about 0.75 km of the centre of Herne Bay, according to the national planning data: Eddington, Herne Bay, and Herne Bay itself. Canterbury City Council lists 97 conservation areas across its district, and it is the council that says whether a given street falls inside one. Inside a conservation area, rights that a house would otherwise have to alter its roof are narrower, and dormers are the usual example; the planning conditions are set out in our roof window planning permission guide.
Canterbury's own Article 4 record for the town is headed Dwelling houses in Herne Bay Conservation Area, reference 73408. Article 4 is the power a council uses to take chosen permitted development rights away from a mapped area. Which rights this one withdraws is for Canterbury City Council to state, so for a house in the conservation area we ask the council in writing, name the property and keep the reply with the survey before any price is written.
| Record | Entry |
|---|---|
| Conservation areas within 0.75 km | Eddington, Herne Bay; Herne Bay |
| Article 4 area | Dwelling houses, Herne Bay Conservation Area |
| Council reference | 73408 |
Source: planning.data.gov.uk; Canterbury City Council Article 4 record
Building control belongs to the STG partnership, a joint arrangement in which Swale, Medway and Gravesham also take part. There is no Canterbury percentage for re-roofing, so the national test from the Planning Portal is the guide. It has two parts that must both be met: less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof. Weight is its own trigger: approval is needed once the replacement is heavier than what it replaces by 15 per cent or more. Approved Document A, which deals with structure, treats a rise of more than 15% in roof loading as significant, so the heavier of two coverings is raised at survey.
Flats follow a separate rule, since Canterbury says flats and maisonettes have no permitted development rights of their own. For anyone managing a converted house, that points to a planning conversation first and a quote second. With two conservation areas inside the same 0.75 km, an address near the centre is checked against both maps, and a building can be listed and inside a conservation area at once, in which case both questions are answered. None of this slows a make-safe. A roof letting in water is covered first, and the questions above are asked once it is dry.
Chapter 03 of 03
Exposure grading, Manston averages and Kent's scaffold licence
Cupa, the slate maker, grades hillside, coastal and tall buildings as more exposed. Marley explains that BS 5534 carries the formulas for wind uplift and the method for working out fixings, so on a Herne Bay roof the nails, clips and their spacing are worked out for the building in question and not from habit. BS 5534 is a code of practice and not a law, though its 2018 amendment brought normal re-roofing, repairs included, inside its scope, and we fix to it. The result of the calculation goes into the specification, which is also what lets the written price be one total. If a different covering is chosen after the survey, the calculation is run again for it, since a heavier or lighter tile changes the fixing schedule.
The Met Office's Manston averages for 1991 to 2020 show a mean wind speed at 10 metres of 9.86 knots, with January at 11.21 knots, and rainfall of 612.64 mm a year. Its separate page for inland South Farnborough gives 7.07 knots and 715 mm, so Manston is windier and drier. These are Manston figures and not Herne Bay's, and they are a regional guide, with no claim about any single street.
Kent County Council issues the licence when a scaffold stands on the highway, and the scaffolding firm applies to it for you, giving 5 working days' notice. Kent County Council's fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, and the scaffolder carries public liability insurance of £5 million or more. Under regulation 6(3) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, employers must prevent falls that could cause injury so far as is reasonably practicable. Edge protection is part of how we plan a Herne Bay roof.
Roof life is quoted as a typical range. HomeBuilding, last updated on 30 September 2025, gives Welsh natural slate at 100+ years, Spanish slate at 75 to 100 years and clay tile at 60 to 80 years, and none of it is a promise. Fixings, flashings and the lead round a stack can need attention well before the covering does, so the survey looks at them first and reports what it finds with a picture for each.
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Herne Bay
Herne Bay's neighbours, from Swalecliffe on the coast to Herne inland
Herne Bay shares Canterbury City Council with Herne, Broomfield, Swalecliffe and Chestfield, so one planning team and one building control route, through STG, apply along this stretch, although each house is still checked on its own address.
Herne Bay listings, directions and wind
Which Herne Bay roofs need listed building consent before a repair?
Those on buildings with an entry of their own, such as Underdown House, Christ Church Herne Bay Parish Church or the Sewer Vent Column, and only where the work affects the building's character. A house next door without an entry is not covered by its neighbour's listing. We search the National Heritage List by address before the survey is priced, and the entry goes into the file with the pictures.
What does the Article 4 direction for Herne Bay's dwelling houses cover?
Canterbury City Council's record is headed Dwelling houses in Herne Bay Conservation Area, reference 73408. Which permitted development rights it withdraws is for the council to state, and that can differ between directions. We write to Canterbury with your address before pricing and give you the reply, so the roof work is planned around the right rules and nothing is ordered before the answer arrives.
Do Eddington and the Herne Bay conservation area both reach the town centre?
The national planning dataset places both within about 0.75 km of the centre. The boundaries are held by Canterbury City Council, so a street name alone does not settle which area, if either, covers a house. We ask the council about your address and record the answer on the survey before the written price is prepared.
What wind figures is a Herne Bay roof fixed against?
Under BS 5534 each site gets its own exposure calculation, and no single figure goes on every roof. Cupa grades coastal, hillside and tall buildings as more exposed. The Met Office's Manston mean wind speed, 9.86 knots over 1991 to 2020, is a regional guide, and the survey looks at your own building.
Which team signs off a Herne Bay re-roof?
The STG Building Control Partnership, which Canterbury, Gravesham, Medway and Swale councils share, can be reached on 01634 331133. An owner can also pick a registered building control approver; that registration started on 6 April 2024, and private building control predates it. The Planning Portal's test is the guide to whether an application is normally needed.
Book the Herne Bay survey
Pictures or a call start it; we survey before pricing, and one written total follows.