Roofers in Sholden
14.2 road miles from Margate. Roof repairs, re-roofs, chimney work and leadwork for Sholden homes, each quoted as one total after the roof has been surveyed and photos sent to you.
- Dover planningPlanning decisions rest with Dover District Council.
- Conservation area nearbyDeal - Upper Deal conservation area within 0.75 km.
- Dover building controlBuilding control by Dover's own in-house team.
A 2023 listing, a 1987 one and the Upper Deal boundary
Newly listed
The Old Cottage was first listed on 17 April 2023, so roof advice given before that date may no longer hold.
Dower House
The Dower House has been Grade II since 24 March 1987, and any work on its roof is read against that entry.
Upper Deal
The Deal - Upper Deal conservation area reaches within 0.75 km of the village centre, so your street is worth checking.
Sholden, 2,269 residents
Sholden's record: three Grade II houses and one boundary
| Council | Dover District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Dover District Council's own building control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Deal - Upper Deal |
| Population, 2021 | 2,269 (Sholden parish) |
| From Margate | 14.2 road miles, about 23 min |
| Usual residents, 2021 Census | 2,269, Sholden parish |
| Grade II, first listed 2023 | The Old Cottage |
| Grade II, first listed 1987 | The Dower House |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 5, National Heritage List |
Sholden is a Dover District village with 5 listed entries within 500 metres of its centre, so a Sholden re-roof begins with a short check of the list and the boundary map before any ladder goes up.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Sholden, three Grade II houses
Sholden roofs, from the newly listed Old Cottage and the Dower House to Dover's approval list
Three chapters on the listed houses, Dover's approval list with the Upper Deal boundary, and what a scaffold, a skip and the weather mean for a re-roof.
Chapter 01 of 03
The Old Cottage, the Dower House and Hull Place
The 2021 Census counted 2,269 usual residents in Sholden. Historic England lists 5 entries inside a 500 metre radius of the village centre point, and three of those are Grade II houses. The Dower House was first listed on 24 March 1987. Hull Place is on the list as well. The Old Cottage is the newest of the three, first listed on 17 April 2023, which is recent enough that any roof advice given on it before then was given about an unlisted building.
That is worth pausing on, because Historic England still adds entries to the list. Once an entry exists it covers the whole house, the roof as much as the walls. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 makes consent compulsory where works would alter a listed building's character, and the roof is full of that character: the eaves, the low edge where the roof overhangs the wall above the gutter, the ridge tiles bedded along the top, and the flaunching, the shaped mortar that holds chimney pots in place.
For a house like these, we start with the list entry. The roof is then studied from the pavement and from a closer position, and photos of the slopes, the eaves and each stack come to you. Where consent is needed, the decision rests with Dover District Council, and we describe the repair in the same terms the roof will show once it is done. Tiles are matched, mortar is matched, and anything that would look different from the street is raised with the council before it is priced. Photos matter on a listed roof because the same pictures can go to the council with the application, so a cracked ridge tile or a slipped slate is evidence as well as a record.
Not every Sholden roof carries an entry. The check is by address, because a house two doors from a listed one may sit outside the list altogether, and a house listed this year did not appear on any earlier search. See our roof repairs and chimney repairs pages for the kind of work on a Sholden house that a listing can touch.
Chapter 02 of 03
Dover's approval list and the Upper Deal boundary
Dover District Council runs its own building control team, and its pages set out work that needs approval. The list includes replacing roof coverings on any kind of roof, and the page makes a point of saying that applies even when the job is just like for like. It also names installing roof lights, all loft conversions and roof extensions, and some conservatories and porches, with many exempt when a door divides the structure from the house and it is left unheated. The council describes its team as providing advice, carrying out site inspections and issuing approvals. That list is Dover's own wording and applies to Dover addresses such as Sholden, not to every council.
The Planning Portal sets a different benchmark for the country as a whole. Under that benchmark, a re-roof touching less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof does not usually call for an application, unless the new covering is 15 per cent or more heavier. Because Sholden is in Dover District, we follow Dover's list and ask the council's team how a job is treated before it begins. If the frame is old, an engineer or surveyor should confirm the timbers will take a heavier covering, because a change to a heavier material is exactly the case the weight test exists to catch.
| Work | Dover's wording |
|---|---|
| Replacing a roof covering | Dover requires it, even like for like |
| Installing roof lights | Needs approval |
| Loft conversions, roof extensions | All need approval |
| Some conservatories and porches | Many exempt if separated, unheated |
Source: Dover District Council, do I need approval
Planning is another question. The national planning dataset places the Deal - Upper Deal conservation area within about 0.75 km of the centre of Sholden, and Dover District Council counts 57 conservation areas in its district. Inside one, some normally permitted works need permission, naming roof dormers among them. Our roof window planning guide explains the rules for dormers and roof windows.
On Article 4, the simple route is a question to Dover District Council, put before changing anything visible from outside: does a direction cover this house? Dover's page explains that a direction can cover roof changes on the parts of a home facing a highway, a stream or open public ground, and it lists some by name. Until you have the council's answer for your own house, we plan the job as though a direction might apply.
Chapter 03 of 03
Scaffold, skip and weather for a Sholden roof
Scaffolding on a Sholden road or pavement is regulated by section 169 of the Highways Act 1980, and Kent County Council issues the licence; no district office does. Kent County Council's page puts the application in the scaffolder's hands. The fee for 2026 to 2027 is £52 per week and the application must reach Kent County Council 5 working days ahead of the start. An inspection that turns up an infringement is charged at £120, and each repeat visit is £120 more. Neighbours are worth a word before the scaffold arrives, since it will stand on the street for the whole period the licence covers. The fee runs by the week, so start and finish dates are settled with the scaffolder and the tubes come down once the work is signed off.
A skip sited in the carriageway needs a permit of its own at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, again with 5 working days' notice. A skip put down unpermitted draws an inspection fee of £120 and a retrospective permit at £45, so waste is planned from the permit date. Old tiles, battens, which are the narrow timber strips the tiles hang from, and sheets of underlay go into the permitted skip and out of the street when the job ends.
Long-term weather figures come from the Met Office station at Manston, not from Sholden. The Met Office's Manston averages for 1991 to 2020 show an annual maximum temperature of 14.42 °C and a minimum of 7.72 °C, a mean wind at 10 metres of 9.86 knots, and 110.05 days with 1 mm or more of rain across about 613 mm a year. They describe a different place on the Kent map and serve here only as a broad guide to a roof's working conditions. Under BS 5534, the fixing specification comes from how exposed the particular house is.
Taken together, these points set a steady order of work at a Sholden house, and you give the nod to each stage before the one after it starts. Photos arrive at the outset, and a daily message says what is happening while the scaffold is up, which is the period the fee covers.
Myth
The local council licenses scaffold on the street.FactKent County Council licenses highway scaffold; the firm putting it up applies.
Myth
A skip can stand on the road briefly without a permit.FactA permit is applied for 5 working days ahead; an unpermitted skip draws extra fees.
Myth
Manston's weather averages were taken in Sholden.FactThey are Met Office readings from the Manston station, used only as a guide.
Source: Kent County Council; Met Office, Manston 1991 to 2020
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Sholden
Sholden and the Dover District addresses beside it
Sholden sits with the other Dover District villages we cover, where the same council decides planning, runs building control and applies its own approval list for roof coverings, and where Kent County Council licenses the highway.
Sholden listings, the Upper Deal boundary and Dover's list
How does a recent listing change roof work on a Sholden house?
A listing brings listed building consent into the picture, since section 7 of the 1990 Act reaches any works touching a building's character. The Old Cottage, first listed on 17 April 2023, shows how an entry can arrive long after a house was built. Dover District Council decides applications, and we describe repairs to match the existing covering, ridge and mortar.
Do Sholden tiles replaced like for like still go through Dover's building control?
Dover District Council's building control page counts a roof-covering replacement as work needing approval, like for like or not, so we ask its team how a Sholden job is treated before it starts. That is a Dover District rule rather than a national one, and the Planning Portal's 25 per cent and 50 per cent figures are a separate benchmark.
Where does the Deal - Upper Deal conservation area leave my Sholden roof?
The area lies within about 0.75 km of the village centre, so some Sholden streets may fall inside it and others outside. Inside, the land is article 2(3) land and dormer rights go, while a repair that does not materially change how a building looks is outside development under section 55. We plot your address first, then decide how to proceed.
Should I ask Dover District Council about Article 4 before altering a Sholden roof?
Yes, for any visible change. An Article 4 direction removes named permitted development rights over a chosen area, and Dover notes that one may touch roofs on whichever sides of a house face the road or public land. The council has to say whether one applies to your address, and we plan around its reply.
Who arranges the skip permit for roof waste at a Sholden house?
Kent County Council takes the skip firm's application at least 5 working days ahead, at £45 per week for 2026 to 2027, and the skip may be no larger than 5 metres by 2 metres. Without it, Kent County Council bills £120 for the inspection plus a permit raised after the fact. Dover District Council is not the issuer, so there is nothing to request from it.
A Sholden roof, surveyed before it is priced
Say what the roof is doing, add a photo if you can, and a visit is booked; the total then arrives in writing.