What Dover District Council's own page says
Dover District Council runs its own building control service, and its page headed Do I need approval sets out the work that has to be notified. Replacing the coverings on pitched and flat roofs is on that list, and the council adds the words "even if this is just like for like". Roof lights and loft conversions are named on the same list, so a re-roof that also adds a roof window can raise two points at once.
That is stricter than the national guidance. The Planning Portal's test asks whether less than 25 per cent of the building envelope plus less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected; swapping like for like is not part of that test. A homeowner who stops at that test and re-covers a whole slope at a Dover address may find the council reads the job another way.
The wording is the council's, and it covers the district's own addresses: Dover, Deal, Sandwich and the villages between them. Nothing about it is national, and it stops at the district boundary. For a re-roof anywhere in the district, we ask Dover District Council which route it wants, so the paperwork is in hand when the scaffold goes up.
How the other East Kent councils word it
A few miles along the coast the picture shifts, and each council deserves its own reading rather than a Dover assumption. The table sets out what each building control service says about re-roofing.
| Council | What it says |
|---|---|
| Dover | A new covering needs approval, like for like or not |
| Folkestone & Hythe | Replacing roof coverings: you may need approval |
| Thanet | Sends you to the Planning Portal's Interactive House |
| Canterbury | No re-roofing wording; Planning Portal test |
| Swale | No re-roofing wording; Planning Portal test |
| Ashford | Own Building Control team; ask it |
Folkestone & Hythe District Council also adds that most repairs and maintenance need no approval, so its wording reads as a prompt to ask rather than a ruling. Councils revise their pages from time to time, which is one more reason to ask for the answer in writing for the address in question. A reply on file also helps if you sell, since a buyer's conveyancer may ask under what approval the roof was done. Where a council is silent, the Planning Portal's size tests and its heavier-covering test are the working guide.
What this means before a Dover District job
Treat it as a step in the programme, not an afterthought. A sensible order for a Sandwich cottage or a Deal terrace runs like this:
- Contact Dover District Council building control and confirm that the re-covering falls on its list, then ask what it wants to see.
- Agree who submits the notice or application, and when, so no work starts before the route is settled.
- Ask whether the new covering is heavier than the old, because a rise of 15 per cent or more brings its own approval question.
- File the council's answer beside the written quote, where you can find it years from now.
None of this changes the roof you end up with. It changes the order of events, and it can decide whether a start date holds. A council that wants an application can need time to deal with it, so ask early. The council route is also where a registered building control approver, the private alternative, comes up. Private building control already existed before 6 April 2024, when the rules for registering approvers came into force.
Planning is a separate question
Approval under the Building Regulations and planning permission are two different tests, run by different teams, often in the same building and with different forms. For a house, re-roofing is normally covered by Class C of the permitted development rights, so re-covering a house with the same material rarely calls for a planning application. Flats have no such rights, and a listed building needs listed building consent where a change would affect its character. The planning permission answer sets out where each rule applies.
If your Dover District address is in a conservation area, ask the council whether an Article 4 direction applies before you choose a covering, and whether your elevation is one it reaches. A roof that faces the back garden and one that faces the street can be treated differently. Dover's directions can reach roof alterations on any elevation that faces the street, a waterway or an open public space.
For who tells building control and when, see who notifies building control, and for the whole job see our roof replacement page.
