Roofers in Selling
24.9 road miles from Margate. Selling homeowners get a survey first, then pictures of the roof, then one written total for repairs, a re-roof or a stack.
- Three conservation areasThree conservation areas close to the centre.
- Grade I churchChurch of St Mary, Grade I, listed 1967.
- STG inspectsBuilding control through STG, Rochester.
A Grade I church, an oast cottage and three boundaries within 750 metres
St Mary's
The Grade I Church of St Mary is Church of England, so repairs to its roof go through the faculty system.
Three boundaries
Selling, Sheldwich and Shepherd's Hill are the conservation areas within about 750 metres of the village centre.
Downs setting
Selling lies inside the Kent Downs National Landscape, article 2(3) land, which removes dormer rights from a house.
Selling, parish of 864
A small parish with a Grade I church and 21 listed entries
| Council | Swale Borough Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | STG Building Control Partnership |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Selling; Sheldwich; Selling - Shepherd's Hill |
| Population, 2021 | 864 (Selling parish) |
| From Margate | 24.9 road miles, about 31 min |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 21 |
| Grade I, listed 24 January 1967 | Church of St Mary |
| Grade II, listed 10 February 1976 | Bailiffs Cottage, Harefield Farm |
Selling parish had 864 usual residents at the 2021 Census. The National Heritage List shows 21 listed entries within 500 metres of the centre, and the Grade I Church of St Mary, listed 24 January 1967, heads them.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Swale Borough Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Oast cottage to lane
Selling roofs, starting with St Mary's Grade I listing and three boundaries and finishing at the scaffold licence
Three chapters: the church and the two listed cottages, the conservation areas and the Downs setting, and the Rochester desk plus the scaffold and skip limits behind a re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
Church of St Mary, Old Oast Cottage and Bailiffs Cottage
Selling is 24.9 road miles west of Margate, about 31 minutes by road, and it is a small place: at the 2021 Census the parish had 864 usual residents. Even so, the National Heritage List shows 21 listed entries within 500 metres of the village centre, so for a parish this size the list is long. Grade I is the grade held by the Church of St Mary, listed on 24 January 1967. Old Oast Cottage was listed that January too, at Grade II, and Bailiffs Cottage at Harefield Farm followed on 10 February 1976, also Grade II.
The church has the unusual route. St Mary is in use as an Anglican place of worship, and Anglican churches are among the denominations covered by the ecclesiastical exemption, so repairs to its roof go through the faculty system and not through listed building consent. The exemption comes from section 60 of the 1990 Act, whose controls do not apply to an ecclesiastical building that is being used for ecclesiastical purposes. Where a faculty is sought, a roofer's written account of the roof's condition can help the application, with the weak points named slope by slope and our photographs showing each one; that account is not a quote.
The two cottages take the ordinary listed route. Under section 7 of the same Act, works that affect the character of a listed building need listed building consent, and a cottage roof is nearly all character: the ridge, the verge (the sloping edge above a gable wall), the chimney and the flashing (the lead strip that keeps water out of the joint between roof and wall). Neither cottage loses permitted development for a change to its roof, but the consent rule applies as well, so a repair that looks minor from the lane can still need paperwork.
A survey starts with the list entry, then goes up to photograph each slope, stack and junction, so that an application can describe what is actually there. Swale Borough Council decides listed building consent. Our lead roofing page covers the flashings on a listed roof, and a roof inspection is the way into the whole job, church or cottage.
Myth
A Grade I church roof is repaired like any other listed building.FactA Church of England building in use sits under the ecclesiastical exemption, so its works go through the faculty system, not listed building consent.
Myth
A listed cottage can be re-covered quietly if the new tiles look similar.FactWorks affecting a listed building's character need listed building consent under section 7 of the 1990 Act.
Source: Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, sections 7 and 60
Chapter 02 of 03
Three conservation areas and the Downs around Selling
Three conservation areas fall within about 0.75 kilometres of Selling's centre on the national planning dataset: Selling, Sheldwich and Selling - Shepherd's Hill. Swale Borough Council counts 51 designated conservation areas across the borough, so the first job on a Selling survey is to find which boundary, if any, a house falls within. A house at the margin of a boundary is the awkward case, and a line drawn on a map settles it better than a guess from the road. A boundary can also run along the back of a garden rather than the front of a house, so the map is read for the whole plot.
Swale's page on its existing conservation areas puts "extensions or alterations to roofs" in its list of changes that need permission. That is the council's wording for its own areas, not a statement of the national rule, and it reads broader than the permitted development rules for an ordinary house. On any Selling roof inside a boundary we ask Swale about the specific job. Whether an Article 4 direction applies to a particular house is a separate question for the same council, and one we put before the quote, not after it.
Checking a Selling address, in order
Find the boundary
Which of the three conservation areas, if any, holds your house.
Read the Downs setting
The National Landscape designation limits dormers, not an ordinary change of covering.
Ask Swale
Any roof wording on the council's page is confirmed for your exact address.
Apply the weight test
A covering 15 per cent or more heavier is raised before pricing.
Selling also lies inside the Kent Downs National Landscape. Land with that designation, like a conservation area, is article 2(3) land under the General Permitted Development Order, which means dormer rights do not apply. Our roof window planning guide explains additions to a slope. A loft window or a dormer is where the designation bites; swapping a worn covering for a new one on the same slope is a different question.
Building Regulations come next. For a re-roof the Planning Portal draws two lines: a job touching under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is not usually a matter for an application, yet a replacement covering weighing 15 per cent or more extra calls for approval at any share. Weight is a good reason for a structural engineer or surveyor to inspect the timbers beforehand. Flats stand outside the householder rules altogether, so for a divided house the freeholder gets a call before the first visit.
Chapter 03 of 03
STG, scaffold and skip limits on a Selling lane
Swale Borough Council belongs to the STG Building Control Partnership with Canterbury, Gravesham and Medway. Post goes to Eastgate House, High Street, Rochester ME1 1EW (the Foord Annexe), and the telephone number is 01634 331133. Owners who would rather have a private inspector can appoint a registered building control approver; the register of approvers opened on 6 April 2024, and private building control was around well before it.
Scaffolding set up over a Selling footway or lane is covered by section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, which makes a licence compulsory. Kent County Council issues it, and its own page puts it this way: the scaffolding company, not the householder, submits the application to Kent County Council. The council asks for 5 working days between application and start, charges £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, and may charge £78 for a site inspection. Kent County Council wants £5 million of public liability insurance on the scaffolding company's side before it will register an application.
A skip in the lane is a separate application to Kent County Council. The permit costs £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, with 5 working days' notice; the skip itself may be up to 5 metres long and 2 metres wide. A skip on the footway is allowed only with express approval, and a 1.5 metre walkway must remain. We plan loads so old battens (the timber strips tiles hang on) and underlay (the membrane beneath them) go in the same trips as the slates or tiles.
Kent County Council's scaffold conditions are specific: keep a gap of 1.2 metres between scaffold and carriageway, whiten the standards for the lowest 2.5 metres, and light the frame overnight wherever it sits on the carriageway or less than 45 centimetres from it. The council's highways line is 03000 41 81 81.
As for weather, the Met Office's Manston station gives these 1991 to 2020 averages: a mean wind of 9.86 knots at 10 metres, about 613 mm of rain, about 110 days with 1 mm or more of rain, and 21.43 days of air frost. They describe Manston, not Selling. BS 5534 ties fixing choices to how exposed the actual site is, so the Manston figures give a general picture and the survey gives the specification.
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Notice before scaffold starts | 5 working days |
| Notice before a skip is placed | 5 working days |
| Largest skip | 5 m by 2 m |
| Gap, scaffold to carriageway | 1.2 m |
| Walkway beside a footway skip | 1.5 m |
Source: Kent County Council scaffold and skip terms
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Selling
Selling and Faversham under one council
Selling shares Swale Borough Council, STG Building Control and Kent County Council's highway licences with Faversham, so the paperwork route for a roof in either place is the same from survey to scaffold.
Selling questions on St Mary's, the three boundaries and STG
Which route does a repair to the roof of the Church of St Mary in Selling take?
The church is Grade I and Anglican, one of the exempt denominations, so the work goes through the faculty system rather than listed building consent. A roofer's written account of the roof's condition can help that application along. The two listed cottages nearby, Old Oast Cottage and Bailiffs Cottage, follow the ordinary listed building consent route instead.
Does living inside a Selling conservation area stop a worn roof covering being replaced?
The designation alone does not remove the rights that cover changing the covering on a house, but Swale's page lists "extensions or alterations to roofs" among work needing permission in its areas. We ask Swale Borough Council about your address before pricing, and tell you what comes back, so the job is described accurately.
Who inspects a Selling roof job for Building Regulations?
The STG Building Control Partnership, which serves Swale, on 01634 331133. The Planning Portal's test treats a re-roof as normally needing no approval below 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof; a replacement weighing 15 per cent or more extra is the exception that needs approval. A registered building control approver is the private alternative.
Does the Kent Downs setting change the scaffold licence for a Selling house?
No. The scaffold licence comes from Kent County Council as highway authority, and the designation is a planning matter handled by Swale Borough Council. What the designation does change is dormers and additions to the roof, covered in our planning guide. The scaffold itself is charged and inspected on Kent County Council's terms.
What notice does a scaffold on a Selling lane need?
Kent County Council expects the application, which the scaffolding company makes, 5 working days before the licence starts, renewals included. The 2026 to 2027 charge is £52 per week. A skip left on the carriageway is permitted separately, with the same 5 working days' notice, at £45 per week, and the council can inspect the scaffold or the skip after it goes down.
Selling roof, photos then a price
Tell us which boundary your house sits near, or just send photographs; one written total follows the survey.