Roofers in Northbourne
14.2 road miles from Margate. Roof repairs, chimney work, leadwork and full re-roofs on Northbourne homes and farm buildings, with Dover District Council's rules checked before any price is given.
- Dover decidesNorthbourne applications go to Dover District Council planning.
- Village conservation areaNorthbourne conservation area within 0.75 km of the centre.
- Dover's own teamDover District Council's own building control team.
A Grade I church, two Grade II* farm entries and Dover's rule
Grade I church
St Augustine's, first listed in October 1963, belongs to the Church of England, so roof works there go through the faculty system.
Farm entries
Vine Farmhouse and the barn north of Northbourne Court were both listed Grade II* on 13 October 1952.
Dover's line
Dover District Council asks for approval when a roof covering is replaced, and says so even for a straight swap.
Northbourne, 727 residents
What Dover District Council's record means for a Northbourne roof
| Council | Dover District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Dover District Council's own building control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Northbourne |
| Population, 2021 | 727 (Northbourne parish) |
| From Margate | 14.2 road miles, about 22 min |
| Usual residents, 2021 Census | 727, Northbourne parish |
| Grade I, first listed 1963 | Church of St Augustine |
| Grade II*, first listed 1952 | Vine Farmhouse, Court barn |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 21, National Heritage List |
Northbourne sits in Dover District, so planning, building control and the council's own rule on replacing roof coverings all come from Dover District Council, and the road outside is Kent County Council's, which handles scaffold and skip permits.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Northbourne, farm to church
Northbourne roofs, from St Augustine's and the farm listings to Dover's rule on new coverings
A listed church and farm group, Dover District Council's approval line with the conservation area, and the permits and weather behind a Northbourne re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
St Augustine's, Vine Farmhouse and the Court barn
Northbourne is a parish of 727 usual residents at the 2021 Census, and Historic England shows 21 listed entries within 500 metres of its centre point. Three of them frame the village. The Church of St Augustine is Grade I, first listed on 11 October 1963. Vine Farmhouse and the barn about 20 metres north of Northbourne Court are both Grade II*, first listed on 13 October 1952. With a church and a farm group in one parish, the list entry decides the first step on more than one kind of building. The two farm entries share a listing date, yet each stands on its own, so an answer given for one does not settle the other.
St Augustine's is an Anglican church in use, which makes it exempt, so the faculty system and not listed building consent decides what may be done to it. Our job is to work to whatever the faculty allows, and to supply the photos and notes it calls for. The exemption is narrow: just the named denominations qualify, and it ends if worship stops, so the answer can change with the use. A Unitarian, Quaker or Churches Conservation Trust building would need listed building consent, and a scheduled monument needs scheduled monument consent.
A farmhouse or a barn gets no such exemption. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 applies in full, and it is Dover District Council that rules on an application. A barn roof is often a long unbroken run of covering, and lifting it for a repair exposes the battens, the strips of timber the tiles or slates hang from, and the rafters under them. Anything that alters the building's character, from a different covering to a changed ridge line, calls for consent first.
Next comes a walk round the roofs at ground level and then a close inspection, with photos of each slope sent across so that the written scope reflects what is really up there. Our pitched roofing and roof inspections pages show how that survey is laid out, and any repair is specified to match the existing covering unless consent allows a change.
| Entry | Grade | First listed |
|---|---|---|
| Church of St Augustine | I | 11 October 1963 |
| Vine Farmhouse | II* | 13 October 1952 |
| Barn north of Northbourne Court | II* | 13 October 1952 |
Source: Historic England, National Heritage List for England
Chapter 02 of 03
Dover's line on replacing a roof covering
Dover District Council's building control pages take a stricter line than the national one. Approval, the council says, is needed to replace a roof covering, flat or pitched, and a job that merely repeats the old covering is not excused. Installing roof lights and every loft conversion or roof extension appear in the same list. That wording is Dover's own and it covers Dover addresses such as Northbourne. It is not a national rule, and we never apply it outside the district.
The Planning Portal, by contrast, sets a gentler benchmark: a job touching less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is normally left without an application, unless the new covering raises the weight by 15 per cent or more. In Northbourne, a Dover District parish, it is Dover's page that we follow, so the route is confirmed with the council's building control team before a re-roof of any size. Dover describes that team's service as "both independent and impartial". The council also names some conservatories and porches, adding that many are exempt, though only where doors shut them off from the house and no heating is fitted, which matters if you are weighing conservatory roofs.
Myth
Every Kent council treats a straight swap of tiles the same way.FactDover wants approval for any replacement covering, copy of the old or not.
Myth
Planning permission and building control are one check.FactThey are separate tests, so a roof can pass one and fail the other.
Myth
A conservation area bans a new covering.FactIt removes dormer rights as article 2(3) land; repairs fall under section 55.
Source: Dover District Council; Planning Portal; GPDO Sch 1 Pt 1
Planning is a separate question. Dover District Council counts 57 conservation areas across its district, while the national planning dataset puts the Northbourne one within about 0.75 km of the village centre. The council's page says some works that are normally permitted need permission inside one, including building roof dormers. Our roof window planning guide explains how that works for dormers and roof windows.
Whether an Article 4 direction applies to a Northbourne address is something to check with Dover District Council. Dover explains that a direction may cover changes to the roof wherever that side of the house is turned towards a road, a waterway or open land the public can use, so a Northbourne owner planning an alteration on such a slope should ask first. Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 leaves out works that have no material effect on how a building looks from outside, and a plain repair, such as re-bedding a ridge or replacing slipped tiles, usually falls there.
Chapter 03 of 03
Permits, skips and the Manston averages
A scaffold on a Northbourne road or verge falls under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and the licence is Kent County Council's to grant. Kent County Council's own guidance says the scaffolding firm should submit the application. For 2026 to 2027 Kent County Council charges £52 per week, it needs the application 5 working days before the start, and it makes public liability insurance of £5 million or more a condition for the applicant. A site inspection can add £78 when the council judges one necessary, and a scaffold standing in or within 45 centimetres of the carriageway must carry lighting after dark. For questions before applying, Kent County Council highways can be rung on 03000 41 81 81.
Skips carry their own permit, again 5 working days ahead, at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027. Kent expects 3 days' notice for a renewal. A skip may be no longer than 5 metres or wider than 2 metres, and a skip that must go on the pavement needs the council's express consent, and 1.5 metres stays open for people on foot. Without a permit, a skip draws an inspection fee of £120 as well as £45 for a permit granted afterwards, so the permit is applied for first and the waste plan is built around it.
The Met Office publishes Manston averages for 1991 to 2020 of a mean wind at 10 metres of 9.86 knots (11.21 knots in January), about 613 mm of rain a year, 110.05 days with 1 mm or more of rain and 21.43 days of air frost. For comparison, its inland South Farnborough record for the same period shows 7.07 knots and 715 mm. Manston is the windier and the drier of the two. Neither is a Northbourne reading, so they are only a guide to the range of weather that a roof on this side of Kent can meet over a year.
Fixings on any re-roof are worked out from the exposure of the actual site under BS 5534, and the steps below set out the order a Northbourne job follows. You are told what is happening as the work goes on, and nothing moves forward until you have agreed the step before it.
How the Northbourne job runs, step by step
Entry and photos
The list entry is checked, the roof is surveyed, and photos of your slopes are sent to you.
Dover's approval route
Dover District Council's building control team is asked how the job is treated.
Permits booked
The scaffolder applies to Kent County Council; any skip gets its own permit.
Work, update, clear
Daily updates while the work runs, then the waste and tools taken away.
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Northbourne
Northbourne among the Dover District villages
Northbourne shares Dover District Council's planning team, its building control and its re-roofing approval line with Sholden and the other Dover District addresses we cover, while Kent County Council handles highway licences for all of them.
Northbourne church, farm listings and Dover's approval line
Does St Augustine's Church in Northbourne need listed building consent for roof repairs?
Not while the Church of England uses it. The Church of England is one of the exempt denominations, so works go through its faculty system. Only named denominations qualify, and only for as long as worship goes on there. We work to whatever the faculty permits, and any other listed roof in the village follows section 7 instead.
Does Dover District Council want approval for swapping Northbourne roof tiles for matching ones?
Dover District Council's building control page counts a replacement covering as work that needs approval, including a job that merely repeats the old covering, so we confirm the route with the council before a re-roof starts. The Planning Portal's less than 25 per cent and less than 50 per cent test is a national benchmark and is not Dover's own wording.
Is the Northbourne conservation area a problem for a new roof covering?
Dover District Council counts 57 conservation areas across the district, and the Northbourne one lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre. Inside one, dormer rights are lost as article 2(3) land, but a repair that leaves a building's appearance materially unchanged falls outside development under section 55. The boundary is checked against your address before a quote is written.
What changes if my Northbourne farmhouse or barn is Grade II* listed?
Listed building consent becomes part of the job, because section 7 of the 1990 Act covers works that affect a building's character. Vine Farmhouse and the barn by Northbourne Court, both Grade II* since 13 October 1952, show the type of entry. Dover District Council decides the application, and repairs are written up to follow the covering already on the roof.
Who licenses scaffolding and skips outside a Northbourne house?
Kent County Council, as highway authority, through an application the scaffolding or skip firm lodges at least 5 working days ahead. Kent County Council charges £52 per week for scaffold and £45 per week for a skip permit in 2026 to 2027, and limits a skip to 5 metres by 2 metres. Both need a licence or permit before anything stands on the road.
A Northbourne roof, checked before it is priced
Pictures of the Northbourne roof by message, or a visit, and one total in writing follows the survey.