Published guides give a wide spread for a new conservatory roof. This piece sets the figures out with their sources and dates, explains why they differ, and shows what to look for in a quote.
Ask what a new conservatory roof costs and the honest first answer is a range, because the job is not one size. A small lean-to with sound bars and a new set of sheets sits at one end. A large room with a solid tiled roof, a reinforced frame and new lead at the house wall sits at the other.
The figures below are typical UK ranges from third-party cost guides. They are not our prices, and they are not a quote for your house. Their use is to show you the shape of the market before anyone prices your roof, so that a figure on a quote can be placed against something.
Kent sits in the South East, and HomeBuilding notes that labour rates are higher there, so read every range here as a guide to the market, not a Kent figure. This guide belongs to our conservatory roofs work, where we survey the conservatory first and send photos of the roof, so the reasoning behind a price is in front of you.
Two published ranges, side by side
Two national guides give a range for a conservatory roof replacement, and they were written at different times. They agree on the top of the range and differ on the bottom, and the gap between the two bottoms is the first thing to understand about the figures.
| Guide | Typical UK range | Date |
|---|---|---|
| MyJobQuote | £3,200 to £6,000 | October 2026 |
| The Eco Experts | £2,300 to £6,000 | 29 April 2024 |
The older guide starts about £900 lower. The MyJobQuote page is the more recent of the two, which is worth knowing when you weigh them. Neither guide is a Kent price list, and neither says which roof type or conservatory size sits at which end. A figure from either guide is a place to start asking questions, never a total to expect on your own invoice.
It also helps to know what the range is a range of. A replacement can mean new polycarbonate sheets in the existing frame, a glass roof, or a solid roof, and each of those lands somewhere different. The guides do not split the range by roof type in the figures we use, so it would be wrong to say that a particular type costs a particular amount.
Two rules for using any published range:
- treat the bottom as a small, simple job and the top as a larger or more complex one
- never multiply a per-metre rate from a different guide into a total for your conservatory
What moves the price of a conservatory roof
The price on a quote comes from the roof itself, from what has to be done to the frame and the wall joint, and from how the work is reached. All of it is looked at during the survey, before any figure is written down.
Things that push the figure up or down:
- The size of the conservatory and the shape of its roof. A lean-to is simpler than a Victorian or Edwardian style with a hipped end, because the hips, the ridge and the extra bars all take time.
- The roof type. A solid roof is a different build from sheets, with a different weight, different fixings and a different finish inside.
- The state of the frame. Sound bars can stay; corroded or bowed ones cannot, and a new covering needs a true frame to sit on.
- The wall joint. If the old flashing has failed, the new roof is only as good as the new flashing at the house wall.
- The gutter and fascia at the eaves, which are cheaper to renew while the roof is open.
- Access. A conservatory with a walled garden, steps or no side path takes longer to supply and clear than one with a gate and a flat approach.
The last item is easy to overlook. A job that needs materials carried through a house is slower than one delivered to the back of it, and the quote reflects that.
None of these has a separate figure in this guide. The point is that two conservatories that look alike from the garden can price differently once the frame and the wall joint are seen.
Sheets, bars or the whole roof
"Replacement" covers three different jobs, and the quotes you collect may not all mean the same one. Putting the options in order of how much they change helps you see why the totals differ.
| Job | Replaces | Leaves |
|---|---|---|
| New sheets | Polycarbonate or glazing units | Bars, ridge, wall joint |
| Sheets and bars | Covering and glazing bars | Frame and wall plate |
| Whole roof | Covering, bars and ridge | Walls and base |
New sheets suit a frame in good order whose sheets have yellowed, cracked or started to leak. It is the smallest of the three, and it exposes any fault in the bars the moment the old sheets come off. When the bars turn out to be tired, the job grows into the second row, and a good survey says that before the sheets are ordered, with a photo of the bar that changed the answer.
Sheets and bars together suit a roof where the whole glazing system is spent, but the frame under it is sound. A whole-roof job suits a conservatory that is being changed in character, such as a polycarbonate roof becoming solid or a glass roof being fitted for the first time.
Do not compare a quote for the first row with one for the third. Two conservatories on the same road can still sit in different rows of that table once the old sheets are off, since each frame has aged in its own way. The difference between them is the job, not the price, and a roofer who has not been up to look cannot tell you which row you need.
How long the sheets last against what you pay
A conservatory roof is bought once, but it is not bought for ever. HomeBuilding gives polycarbonate roofs a typical lifespan of 10 years, and The Eco Experts put it at about 10 to 15 years. These are ranges, never promises, and a roof on a sunny south-facing wall ages faster than a shaded one.
That shapes the decision in three ways.
- If the sheets are within a few years of the end of that range, spending on a repair buys time rather than a fix, and a replacement may be the cleaner purchase.
- If the frame is sound and the sheets alone have failed, new sheets in the existing frame is the smaller job, and the figure should reflect that.
- If the room is uncomfortable as well as leaking, a solid or part-solid roof answers the comfort problem that new sheets would repeat.
Repair is sometimes the better buy. A failed seal or a split bar cap can be put right without a new roof, and the survey photos show when that is the case. Our guide to repairing a conservatory roof covers the point at which repair stops being sensible.
A fair way to compare is to ask, for each option, what it fixes and what it leaves behind. New sheets leave the frame and the wall joint as they were. A solid roof replaces the lot, and with it comes the Building Regulations question we cover next.
Approvals that sit behind the price
The exemption for conservatories sits in Schedule 2 of the Building Regulations 2010 and in Approved Document L. It holds while the room stays at ground level, within 30 m2 of floor, separated from the house, and without the home's heating extended into it. A new solid roof is a different matter, because the Planning Portal treats a solid replacement as a roof that must satisfy the regulations on structure, energy use and ventilation, which means approval.
That has a price consequence. A solid roof brings building control, possibly a structural check of the frame, and a longer programme than a sheet swap. Ask any quote whether it names who deals with the council, and who pays any charge the council makes.
Conservation areas and listed houses add their own checks. In a conservation area, ask the council's planning team whether the new roof needs permission, and keep its reply in writing. For a listed house, the consent route is listed building consent. Neither is a roofer's decision, and either can change the roof you choose, so settle them before the price is accepted. Our guide to conservatory roofs in a conservation area covers that route.
Across the six councils we work in, building control sits with different teams. Thanet runs its own, on 01843 577522. Canterbury and Swale use STG Building Control on 01634 331133. Dover has a service of its own. So does Folkestone & Hythe, on 01303 853538, and Ashford Borough Council has its own team for the Ashford villages we cover.
Reading a written quote when it arrives
A written quote for a roof is one total price for a described job. The description matters as much as the figure. Citizens Advice recommends collecting written quotes from at least 3 different traders before choosing one, and that only works when each quote describes the same job.
Check that each quote you hold:
- names the type of roof, with the sheet or glass or tile make and thickness where relevant
- says what happens to the frame, and whether any bars are replaced
- covers the joint at the house wall and the gutter at the eaves
- says whether VAT is included, at the standard 20 per cent rate
- says whether the old roof is taken away, and whether access or scaffold is covered
- states who deals with any council approval
A quote that shows only a total, with nothing about the frame or the wall joint, cannot be compared with one that does. The lower figure may simply be doing less, and the cheaper-looking quote can end up the dearer once an omitted item has to be added back in.
One more point on timing. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give 14 days to cancel a contract made away from the trader's premises, and a deal agreed in your own conservatory counts. The exception is an urgent repair that you have asked the trader to come and carry out.
Our guide to the Building Regulations for a conservatory roof is worth reading before the quote arrives.
