Roofers in Worth
11.7 road miles from Margate. Roof repairs, replacements and chimney work around Worth, starting from an inspection of your own slopes and ending in a single written total for the job.
- Dover decidesWorth sits in Dover District Council's planning area.
- Worth conservation areaWorth conservation area within 0.75 km.
- Inspected by DoverDover's own team handles building control, Worth included.
Listed in 1963, listed in 2009, and Dover's approval list
Two listing dates
The village church was listed on 11 October 1963, and Worth War Memorial followed on 9 October 2009.
One boundary
The Worth conservation area lies within about 0.75 km of the centre, so every address is placed on its map.
Approval list
Dover District Council asks for approval whenever a flat or pitched roof is re-covered, identical materials included.
Worth, in Dover district
St Peter and St Paul's church, Church Farmhouse and the war memorial
| Council | Dover District Council |
|---|---|
| Building control | Dover District Council's own building control team |
| Scaffold and skip licences | Kent County Council |
| Conservation area | Worth |
| Population, 2021 | 1,005 (Worth parish) |
| From Margate | 11.7 road miles, about 19 min |
| Parish residents, 2021 Census | 1,005 |
| Listed entries within 500 m | 14, National Heritage List |
| Grade II*, first listed 11 October 1963 | Village church, St Peter and St Paul |
| Environment Agency flood map | Flood Zone 2 at the centre |
Worth had 1,005 residents at the 2021 Census and has 14 listed entries within 500 metres of its centre. The Environment Agency also maps its centre in Flood Zone 2, which describes the land and not the roof.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, Dover District Council, Kent County Council, OSRM road routing.
Worth, memorial to permit
Worth roofs, from the church and the war memorial to the permits on the road
The listed entries come first, then Dover's approval list and the conservation area, and last what scaffolding, skips and wind demand of a Worth job.
Chapter 01 of 03
The war memorial, the church and Church Farmhouse in Worth
Worth is a Dover District parish of 1,005 usual residents at the 2021 Census, 11.7 road miles south of Margate. The National Heritage List holds 14 entries within 500 metres of its centre, and three of them differ in kind. The church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul is Grade II*, first listed on 11 October 1963. Church Farmhouse and Wall Attached is Grade II and was first listed on that date too. Worth War Memorial is Grade II, first listed much later, on 9 October 2009.
The memorial may have no roof at all, but it carries a lesson for house owners: listing is still being added to, and an entry made in October 2009 is as current as one made in 1963, so the age of a village does not tell you what its list looks like today. Looking up your own house on the list, rather than relying on what neighbours remember, is a sensible first step. We do that before any visit, so the survey begins from the facts about the building and not from guesswork about it.
For a listed house such as Church Farmhouse, the roof is bound up with the listing. Section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 requires listed building consent where works would change the building's character, and a pitched roof contributes heavily to that through its tiles or slates, the ridge along the top, the stacks and the lead flashing, which is a strip of dressed metal weathering the joint between roof and masonry. We send pictures of each of those before a price is given. Where consent is needed, Dover District Council decides the application. Our roof repair and roof inspection pages describe how an inspection is carried out.
The church sits in a different system. Church of England worship still takes place there, and the ecclesiastical exemption in section 60 of the 1990 Act means any works there go through the faculty system and not through listed building consent. The exemption belongs to named denominations only, which is why, for any chapel or church building, we begin by asking who uses it. Only then does a conversation about scaffolding, ladders or lead make sense, and it keeps the paperwork pointed at the right body from the start.
Before a Worth roof is priced
Read the entry
Is the building on the National Heritage List, and at which grade?
Who uses it
A working church follows the faculty system; a house follows consent.
Place the boundary
Set the address against the Worth conservation area map.
Send the pictures
You see each slope and stack before any price is written.
Chapter 02 of 03
Dover's approval list, the Worth boundary and a flood-zone line
For a re-roof at a Worth address, Dover District Council's building control page is the one to read, because it takes a firmer line than the national test. It lists a new covering on any roof, flat or pitched, among the work that needs approval, however closely it copies the old. Read it as a Dover rule for Dover addresses and nothing wider. The Planning Portal's own test asks two questions: is less than 25 per cent of the building envelope affected, and is less than 50 per cent of the roof affected? Two yeses normally mean no application, while a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval. Approved Document A phrases the loading point differently, calling a significant change "increased by more than 15%". Either way, in Worth we weigh the proposed covering against the frame and confirm with the council before the old one comes off.
One boundary, and the Article 4 question
The national dataset places the Worth conservation area within about 0.75 km of the village centre, a line Dover District Council can confirm. A conservation area is article 2(3) land, which removes dormer windows from permitted development, and it controls the demolition of unlisted buildings. For added windows, see our roof window planning guide.
Article 4 is a separate layer. Dover's page says roof alterations to a dwelling can be caught by a direction when the side of the home concerned fronts a road, overlooks a waterway or faces public open ground. Whether any direction reaches a Worth address is for the council to confirm, and once the survey shows which slopes face the road, we put your address to the council and wait for its reply before pricing.
Flood mapping is the last layer. On the Environment Agency's planning flood map, the mapped centre of Worth falls in Flood Zone 2. That describes land and water, not roof coverings, so it changes none of the roof tests above. If a job also reaches ground-floor work or drainage, we note that in the scope and send you to Dover District Council for the answer on that part of the job at Worth.
Chapter 03 of 03
Scaffold and skip permits and the wind at Worth
Scaffold poles that obstruct a Worth road or footway fall under section 169 of the Highways Act 1980. Kent County Council grants that licence because it runs the roads, and Kent County Council's own page expects the firm erecting the scaffold, not the householder, to apply. The notice period it asks for is 5 working days, renewals too. The weekly fee for 2026 to 2027 is £52, a site inspection adds £78 if the council considers it necessary, and a breach found on inspection brings a £120 charge.
A skip is permitted on separate terms, again by Kent County Council: £45 per week in 2026 to 2027, 5 working days' notice before it arrives, and a ceiling of 5 metres by 2 metres. A skip set down without a permit draws a £120 inspection charge and a retrospective permit fee besides, which is an avoidable cost. On a village road with little spare width, we fix where the skip and the scaffold will stand before dates are agreed, so neither is in the other's way and both permits describe what really happens on site.
The Met Office station at Manston gives 1991 to 2020 averages for that Thanet site: a mean 10-metre wind of 9.86 knots, about 613 mm of annual rain, 1 mm or more on 110.05 days, and frost in the air on 21.43 days. A station is not a street, so these are a scale and not a forecast for Worth. Under BS 5534 fixings are sized to each roof's own situation, and the survey notes record the roof's height, its aspect and what stands around it, so the schedule is built from the building and not from a table. A gable end with open ground beside it is read differently from a hipped roof tucked between neighbours.
Roofing that follows from all of this is planned in days, with a word from us at each stage, and the waste goes out in loads that fit the skip permit, so old slates, tiles and battens do not pile up beside the house or on the verge while the weather turns. The two pairs below test a couple of assumptions about a Worth job.
Myth
The local council licenses the scaffold for a roof job.FactKent County Council licenses it as highway authority, after an application from the scaffolding company.
Myth
Manston's wind average describes Worth exactly.FactIt is a Met Office station average for 1991 to 2020, not a reading taken in Worth.
Source: Kent County Council; Met Office, Manston 1991 to 2020
10-Year workmanship guarantee. In writing
Around Worth
Worth beside Ash, Preston and the rest of Dover District
Dover District Council covers Worth, Ash and Preston alike, so one approval list governs all three, while Kent County Council handles every highway permit on the roads that join them. A job in one village therefore tells you most of what to expect in the other two.
Worth's church, its boundary and Dover's list
Which route covers work on the roof of the church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul in Worth?
Church of England worship goes on there, so the faculty system applies and listed building consent does not, because of the ecclesiastical exemption. A Roman Catholic, Methodist, URC or Baptist church would follow that denomination's own procedure, while a building used by Quakers or Unitarians, or one in Churches Conservation Trust hands, needs listed building consent. Who uses the building decides the route, and that is the question we put first.
Does the 2009 listing of Worth War Memorial change the rules for nearby house roofs?
No. Listing attaches to the memorial itself. The houses around it stay as they were: each has an entry of its own, or no entry at all. We check your address on the National Heritage List and on the Worth conservation area map, because those two decide what applies to your roof, not the buildings nearby.
Does being in Flood Zone 2 change how a Worth roof is replaced?
The Environment Agency's flood map puts the centre of Worth in Flood Zone 2, a designation of land. It does not alter roof building control, the Planning Portal test or the permits for a scaffold. If your project also touches ground-level work, ask Dover District Council whether the flood line matters for that part of the job.
How is the weight of a new covering checked on an older Worth roof?
Approved Document A calls a significant change in roof loading one that is increased by more than 15%, and the Planning Portal says approval is needed at 15 per cent or more. For an old frame, the Planning Portal points owners to an engineer or surveyor before work starts. We compare the proposed covering with the existing one, report what the frame shows, and suggest a structural engineer when the figures are close.
Who applies for the scaffold on a Worth road, and how early?
The scaffolding company does, and Kent County Council, which runs the roads, wants the paperwork 5 working days before the start date, renewals included. The fee is £52 per week for 2026 to 2027, with a £78 inspection charge where the council considers one necessary. A skip needs a separate permit at £45 per week, and also 5 working days.
Your Worth roof, pictures first
Tell us about your Worth roof by photo or phone, and the survey leads to one written total.