A working list of questions on re-roof dates, completion certificates and new-build cover, with a note on what each answer tells you before you pay for a survey or make an offer.
Buying a house means asking about things you cannot see from the pavement, and the roof is one of them. Slates and tiles look much the same from the street whether they went on last year or a lifetime ago. The answers sit in paperwork, and the seller is the person who can hand it over.
This guide is for a buyer looking at a house in Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Birchington or elsewhere in Thanet and East Kent. It covers what to ask the seller, which council holds the building control records, how the cover on a newer home works, and what a roof survey adds. The questions are short enough to put to the seller's agent in a single email.
A paper trail cannot tell you the state of the roof today. It tells you what was done, when, and under which rules. The physical look is a separate job, which belongs to roof inspections, and the two together give a clearer picture than either alone. We are a Margate roofing company, and the main page at Castle Roofing Margate shows the rest of what we cover.
Ask when the roof was last renewed
The first question is the simplest: has the roof been re-covered, and if so when? A re-roof means the slates or tiles were stripped and replaced, usually with new battens and underlay beneath. Battens are thin timber laths nailed across the rafters, and the slates or tiles hang from them. Underlay is the membrane under the battens that catches water getting past the covering. A roof renewed recently has these parts in good order. An original roof may have a covering that is sound and an underlay that is long past its best, and you cannot judge that from the street.
Ask for the year, the name of the firm that did the work, and any invoice or specification the seller kept. A seller who cannot say when a roof went on is not hiding anything; a house can change hands without a file. It simply tells you the roof's age is an open question for the survey, and you can price that in before you commit.
Also ask about repairs, because patching tells a story too:
- Has any part of the roof leaked since the seller moved in, and where?
- Have slates, tiles or the ridge been replaced in one area?
- Has the lead around the chimney or a dormer been renewed?
- Has the chimney stack been repointed or rebuilt?
- Is there a loft hatch, and has the seller been up there?
Write down the answers exactly as they are given. If the seller's solicitor later sends a different version, the difference matters.
Completion certificates and the council register
When roof work needed Building Regulations approval, the council's building control team issues a completion certificate at the end, or a registered approver its final certificate. Whether a re-roof needed approval depends on its size. The Planning Portal's test has two parts, and a job can skip an application only when it touches under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. A full re-roof goes past the roof half of that test, so a certificate should exist. A repair to a few slates does not need one.
Weight is a second trigger: the Planning Portal says approval is needed if the new material makes the covering 15 per cent heavier or more. A seller who swapped one material for another should be able to say whether building control was told. Our guide to Building Regulations for roof work sets out the full test.
Thanet District Council keeps the register for Thanet addresses. Its page says a copy of a certificate from the register costs £54 (including VAT), and Thanet Building Control can be reached on 01843 577522. Your solicitor can request it, or you can ask the seller to look through their own papers first.
The council differs by district:
- Thanet, which covers Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, runs its own building control.
- Canterbury and Swale use STG Building Control, on 01634 331133.
- Dover District Council puts a re-covering of the same material on its list of approval work, so a Dover address should have a certificate for any re-roof.
- Folkestone & Hythe District Council words it more loosely: replacing a roof covering may need approval.
- Ashford addresses go to Ashford Borough Council's building control.
Newer homes and NHBC Buildmark
A house built in the last decade or so may come with an NHBC Buildmark policy. NHBC describes it as "a builder warranty and NHBC guarantee for two years after completion and then eight years of insurance cover against defects to certain parts of the home." That makes two periods: the first two years sit with the builder, and the next eight are insurance cover.
For a buyer, the useful questions are about dates and scope:
- When was the house completed? The ten years run from completion, not from the date of the sale.
- Is the Buildmark paperwork with the seller, and can it pass to you?
- Which parts of the home does the cover list? Read the policy documents; "certain parts" means certain parts, not everything.
- Has any claim been made on the roof or the chimney?
A roof that is still inside the cover period is a different proposition from one that has run out. If the cover has ended, the roof is your responsibility from day one, and a survey becomes more useful.
Cover on a new house tells you nothing about an older house next door. A period terrace in Cliftonville or Ramsgate has no such policy, so the paperwork there is the re-roof history and anything the previous owner kept.
If the house is a conversion into flats, ask who owns the roof and who pays for repairs; the lease or the freeholder will say.
What a roof survey adds to the paperwork
Documents record what was done. A survey records what is there now. A homebuyer's report from a general surveyor usually comments on the roof from the ground and the loft hatch, and a roofer's inspection goes further, onto the roof itself or close to it with photographs.
MyJobQuote's October 2026 guide puts a roof survey at "around £300" on average. That is a typical UK figure from a national guide, not a Castle price, and a roofer's inspection is quoted once the house has been seen.
What a survey can tell you that the seller cannot:
- the condition of the covering, ridge, hips and verges (the sloping edge beside a gable end wall)
- whether the lead flashings at chimneys and abutments are lifting or split
- the state of the chimney stack, its pointing, its pots and the flaunching around them
- signs of old leaks in the loft, such as staining on timbers and underlay
- whether the roof ventilation looks right for the way the loft is used
Ask for photographs with any survey, and ask for the findings in writing with the repairs ranked: urgent, soon, and watch. A buyer with that list can ask the seller to reduce the price or repair before completion, or can budget for the work after moving in.
Our page on whether a homebuyer survey checks the roof goes into what each type of survey looks at.
Listed houses and conservation areas
Some houses in Thanet sit inside a conservation area, and a few are listed. Neither stops you buying, but both change what a roof repair involves, and you are better off knowing before you agree a price. Ask the seller whether the house is listed and whether it lies within a conservation area; Thanet District Council can confirm either.
Re-roofing a house is normally permitted development under Class C, the rule for other alterations to a roof. A listed house also needs consent from the council for changes that alter its character, under section 7 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. Swapping the covering for a different material can fall under that, even when the job looks like a plain repair to the eye.
The questions to ask:
- Is the house listed, and at what grade?
- Has listed building consent been granted for any past roof work?
- Is there an Article 4 direction on the street? Check with the council; the details differ by district.
- Is the house a flat or maisonette? Canterbury's own wording is that such homes carry no permitted development rights at all.
Where work was done without consent, the problem can pass to the new owner, so it is worth settling before exchange. A solicitor can check the planning history, and the seller can say whether any consent letters were kept. Our guides on listed building roof repairs and on how to tell whether your house is in a conservation area set out the routes in more detail.
Turning the answers into a decision
Once the seller's answers and the survey are in hand, the question is what they mean for the price and for your first few years in the house. Different answers point different ways.
| Answer | What it suggests | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Re-roofed, certificate held | Covering and fixings are recent | Check the date and scope |
| Re-roofed, no certificate | Approval may be missing | Ask the council register |
| Original roof, no repairs | Age unknown | Book an inspection |
| Newer home, Buildmark live | Cover may still run | Read the policy terms |
A missing certificate does not always mean unlawful work. It may mean the work was below the approval threshold, or that the paper was simply lost. The council register settles it, and your solicitor can advise on any gap that cannot be closed before exchange.
Treat a long list of small repairs as information, not a reason to walk away. Roofs are repaired all the time. What matters is whether the cause was found and fixed, and whether the person who did the work can be named.
If you want a roofer to look before you commit, tell us the address and what the survey or the seller has said. We go up and look before putting a figure on anything, so a number you take into a negotiation rests on what is actually up there.
Keep the answers, the certificate copies and the survey photographs together in one folder. They are the start of the house's roof file, and the next owner will ask you the same questions.
