Do new roofs cost more in the South East?

What the two guides say about the South East

Which? built its roofing figures from a survey of 11 traders, gathered in November 2025. Its figures include labour and materials, exclude VAT, and come with a warning that anyone in London or the South East should expect the top of each range. HomeBuilding arrives at the same place from the labour side, noting higher labour rates across London and the South East.

Both guides give a direction, not a Kent percentage. That matters. Nobody can honestly say a Margate roof costs a set share more than one in the Midlands, and a figure of that kind should be treated as invented. What the guides do support is a tilt: when you read a national range, expect your own house to land towards the top.

HomeBuilding names labour as the cause. Access matters on any house, since getting scaffold, materials and a skip to a house on a tight terrace or a long cul-de-sac takes time that shows up in the total. Neither guide claims to split the difference for a particular town.

National ranges for a whole new roof

The guides disagree widely, because they measure different roofs. A small terraced roof and a large hipped one are not the same task, and the covering moves the figure too, as HomeBuilding's concrete and slate rows show. The roof described in each guide is part of the answer, so read that column first. What follows are typical UK ranges, not Castle prices.

Because the guides sit so far apart, quote two of them with their names rather than one. Picking only the lowest or only the highest would mislead you either way. The gap between MyJobQuote's average and the Which? range is a reminder that an average taken from many jobs is not a price for your house.

What moves the price on a Kent house

Postcode is one factor among several, and the house itself carries plenty of weight in the figure. What decides the figure is usually down to the building itself:

• Roof size and shape, including hips, valleys and dormers, which add labour.
• The covering chosen, with Welsh slate costing more than plain concrete tiles in the HomeBuilding figures.
• How easily the crew can reach the roof, since a terrace with no rear access means a harder scaffold and slower handling.
• The state of the timbers underneath, which cannot be judged until the roof is open and which can add repair work to the plan.
• Chimneys, flashings and roof windows, if they form part of the job.

Check that each quote states VAT and scaffold in its total. Which? figures exclude VAT, which is 20%, so a quote may land higher than a Which? range implies. Citizens Advice says to try to get written quotes from at least 3 different traders before you decide on one. Compare what each quote describes, but the price you accept should be a single total.

Reading a quote against the national ranges

Use the ranges as a sanity check, not a target. A price far under every range invites a question about what the quote omits. A figure that excludes the scaffold or VAT is not comparable with one that includes them. One far over the top invites a look at the specification. Either way, the answer sits in the details: the covering, the underlay, the ventilation, the fixing method and the way old material is taken away.

A fair quote is a single total, written down, with the work described. It does not need to be broken into pieces to be understood. If a figure looks high, ask what drives it. If it looks low, ask how the job will be carried out and who will do it.

Whatever the ranges say, the final number comes only once the roof has been looked at. The roof replacement cost guide goes deeper into the same national figures, and the guide to choosing a covering shows how the covering shifts the price. The full job is set out under roof replacement.