Roofers in Nonington
16 road miles from Margate. In Nonington a roof is inspected before it is priced, and you see the same pictures we do, for a small repair and for a full re-cover alike.
- Planning: DoverDover District Council decides planning.
- Two protected areasTwo conservation areas within 0.75 km.
- Dover inspectsDover's own building control team.
A starred cottage, a farmyard pair and two named streets
Southdown
Southdown Cottage is Grade II* listed, first listed 23 April 1980, so its list entry opens any roof discussion.
Two roofs
White House Farmhouse and the stables beside it are separate Grade II entries, so each roof has its own record.
Two streets
Church Street and Easole Street are both conservation areas within about 0.75 km of the centre of Nonington.
Nonington parish
A parish of 922 people with 21 listed entries close by
| Council | Dover District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Dover District Council's own building control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Nonington - Church Street; Nonington - Easole Street |
| Population, 2021 | 922 (Nonington parish) |
| From Margate | 16 road miles, about 25 min |
| Grade II*, first listed 1980 | Southdown Cottage |
| Grade II, first listed 1986 | Stables at White House Farmhouse |
| Listed within 500 m | 21, National Heritage List |
Nonington is a small parish in Dover District, with 922 usual residents at the 2021 Census. Twenty-one listed entries stand within 500 metres of the centre, which makes the list the first stop for any older roof, and Dover District Council answers both the planning and the building control questions.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Nonington, cottage to verge
Nonington roofs, from Southdown Cottage and the farmyard stables to the conservation streets and the verge outside
Three chapters on the listed cottage and stables, the two conservation areas and Dover's approval line, and the licences and Manston figures behind a re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
Southdown Cottage, White House Farmhouse and the stables
Nonington is a parish of 922 usual residents at the 2021 Census, and Historic England's National Heritage List has 21 entries within 500 metres of its centre. Three show the range. Southdown Cottage is listed at Grade II*, first listed on 23 April 1980. White House Farmhouse is Grade II, entry 1348670. The stables about 5 metres south east of that farmhouse are a Grade II entry of their own, first listed on 3 December 1986. Each entry carries a list number, 1070271 for the cottage and 1348699 for the stables, and anyone can look a number up on Historic England's website in a minute, which is how we confirm what a building's record says before we describe a job to you.
The stables are the instructive case. Their entry is separate from the farmhouse, so two roofs in one farmyard answer to two records, and the consent question is asked of each roof on its own. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 makes listed building consent the test for work that affects a building's character, and Dover District Council decides the application.
What counts as character on a roof is easy to list: the covering, the ridge and any hips, the verge (the roof edge running up a gable), the eaves, and the stacks with the flashings that seal them. On an outbuilding there are also long runs of battens and rafters, which a surveyor checks from inside when the roof space can be reached. We look from the road, then close up, and you receive the same pictures we take, so a decision about a slope is made with the slope in front of you. Nothing is booked, and nothing is priced, until that has happened.
A listing can also be a reason to patch rather than renew. Where the timbers and the covering are sound enough, a matching repair keeps the entry's character intact. Where they are not, we tell you and describe the replacement in terms the council can approve, with the old material matched wherever it can be. Our pitched roofing and chimney repairs pages explain the choices on a traditional roof.
Chapter 02 of 03
Two conservation streets and what Dover expects of a re-cover
Two conservation areas lie within about 0.75 km of the centre of Nonington: Church Street and Easole Street. Dover District Council counts 57 conservation areas in its district. On its conservation area page, some work that would normally be permitted needs permission inside one, and building roof dormers is the example it gives. The roof window conditions sit in our roof window planning guide. Article 4 directions are the next layer, and Dover says they can cover altering a dwelling's roof on the faces of a house that look over a road, a waterway or public land. Whether one applies to a Nonington address is for Dover District Council to say. A house can be listed and inside a boundary at once, and each address is placed on the map by the council, not assumed from the village name. Where both apply we need both answers before we price, and the list entry comes first.
Dover's like-for-like line
| Work | Dover's page |
|---|---|
| Replacing a roof covering, even like for like | Needs approval |
| Installing roof lights | Needs approval |
| Loft conversions and roof extensions | Needs approval |
| Conservatories | Many exempt if separated and unheated |
Source: Dover District Council, building control pages
Dover District Council names a new roof covering, even one that matches the old, as work needing building control approval, and the line belongs to Dover's addresses alone. Nonington is in Dover's district, so a plain re-slate or re-tile is confirmed with the council's team before a date is set. The same page lists roof lights, so a roof window set into the new covering is dealt with at the same time.
The Planning Portal gives the national yardstick for comparison: no application is normally expected when under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected, while a covering that is 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. On old frames under cottages and farm buildings extra weight is a real question, and the Planning Portal suggests consulting an engineer or surveyor before work that adds it.
Neighbours matter too where a cottage shares a wall or a chimney with the next one. Dover District Council's party wall page says at least two months' notice must be given before starting work on a party structure, although the neighbouring owner can consent to work starting sooner. Questions about that notice go to a party wall surveyor, not to building control, and we raise it at the survey whenever a stack or a gable wall is shared.
Chapter 03 of 03
Scaffold, skip and weather for a Nonington roof
Any scaffold that obstructs a Nonington road, verge or footway requires a licence under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, whether the road is a main route or a quiet one. Kent County Council's page puts the application with the scaffolding firm, so our part is to agree dates with that firm once the survey is done. The fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, notice is 5 working days, public liability cover of £5 million is required, and the council can add a £78 site inspection. The conditions include a minimum 1.2 metres from scaffold to carriageway, and lighting at night if the scaffold stands in or within 45 centimetres of it.
A skip on the highway needs a Kent County Council permit as well: £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, applied for 5 working days ahead and limited to 5 metres by 2 metres. Placing a skip unpermitted costs an inspection fee of £120 plus a retrospective permit fee of £45, so the permit is secured before the skip is hired. The skip company files that application with Kent County Council, much as the scaffolding firm does for its licence.
We take weather figures from the Met Office averages for Manston, 1991 to 2020, a station in Thanet and not in Nonington, so they set the order of magnitude rather than a local forecast. The Manston averages are about 613 mm of rain a year across 110.05 days of 1 mm or more, a mean wind of 9.86 knots at 10 metres (11.21 knots in January) and 21.43 days of air frost. BS 5534 is the code for slating and tiling, and its calculations are made for each site, so a Nonington specification is worked out for the roof's own position and height rather than copied from another job.
The point of all this is order. The licence and the permit are in place before the scaffold or the skip arrives, the fixings are specified before the first slate comes off, and you hear about each day's work before it happens. Stripping is done in sections that can be made watertight by the end of each day, which is worth asking about whenever the forecast turns.
Myth
A quiet village road needs no scaffold licence.FactSection 169 of the Highways Act 1980 covers any scaffolding that obstructs a highway, quiet or busy.
Myth
A skip on a verge is the owner's own business.FactKent County Council issues a permit for a skip on the highway, applied for 5 working days ahead.
Source: Highways Act 1980, section 169; Kent County Council, skip and scaffold conditions
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Nonington
Nonington among the Dover District villages
Nonington shares Dover District Council, its own building control team and Kent County Council's highway licences with Deal, Walmer and Sandwich, so a Nonington roof moves through the same offices as one in the towns, with only the quieter roads to tell them apart.
Nonington listings, boundaries and licences
Does the listing of Southdown Cottage affect roofs on neighbouring Nonington houses?
Only through their own records. Southdown Cottage is Grade II*, first listed on 23 April 1980, and the farmhouse and its stables carry separate Grade II entries. A neighbouring house is covered by its own list entry, if it has one, and by the conservation and Article 4 position Dover District Council gives for that address, which we request before any price is written down.
How do the Church Street and Easole Street conservation areas change a repair?
Both lie within about 0.75 km of the centre, and inside a conservation area some normally permitted work, such as roof dormers, needs permission. A plain repair is a smaller question. Dover District Council places each address on its map, and we ask before pricing, then tell you the council's answer in writing, so you know the position before a scaffold is hired or a roof opened.
Is Nonington covered by Dover's approval line for re-covering?
Yes, because Nonington is in Dover District. Dover District Council's building control page counts a like-for-like replacement of the roof covering as work needing approval, so the route is confirmed with its team before a date is set. The Planning Portal's 25 per cent and 50 per cent test is a national yardstick that sits alongside it.
Do I need a scaffold licence on a quiet Nonington road?
If the scaffold obstructs the highway, yes. Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 makes no exception for a lane, and it is the scaffolding firm that asks Kent County Council for the licence, 5 working days before it is needed. Kent County Council's 2026 to 2027 scaffold fee is £52 per week, with public liability cover of £5 million required, and the firm lodges everything, not you.
Who inspects a Nonington re-roof for Building Regulations?
Dover District Council's own building control team. Its approval list takes in a replacement roof covering, identical to the old or not, so even a matching re-tile here is raised with that team first. A covering weighing 15 per cent or more extra needs approval whichever council applies, and on an old farmhouse frame an engineer or surveyor should look first.
Start with a look at your Nonington roof
Name the road and describe the roof as seen from it; a visit follows and ends in one written total price.