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Re-Roofing in Leeds: Slate and Tile

A full re-roof on a Leeds mid terrace costs £6,500 to £12,500 including scaffold, new breathable membrane, treated battens, new leadwork and waste removal. Semis with two slopes and a bay run higher. We strip the roof, sort what can be reclaimed, and put the whole job in one fixed written quote.

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Signs you need this

  • Slates slipping in a different spot every winter, which usually means nail sickness
  • Battens that crumble when you touch them from inside the loft
  • Repair bills that now add up to a meaningful share of a new roof
  • A sagging ridge line or a dip in the slope visible from across the street
  • Cement torching lying on the loft insulation in heaps
  • You are selling and a survey has flagged the roof covering as life expired

What a re-roof covers

Stripping and recovering a roof means taking everything back to the rafters. Covering, battens, any old torching and the whole gutter line come off. What goes back is a breathable underlay, new treated battens gauged to the covering, the slate or tile, and completely new leadwork at every abutment, valley and chimney. Ridge and verge are fixed mechanically.

That is the honest scope. A job that leaves the original battens in place is a recover rather than a re-roof, and on a Victorian Leeds roof those battens are usually the weakest part of the whole assembly.

What the survey looks at

The rafters and purlins decide a lot. Stone slate is heavy, so if a roof has already been switched to something lighter at some point in its life, going back to stone means checking the timbers can carry it. We look at rafter size and spacing, the condition of the purlin ends where they bear into party walls, and whether the ridge board has dropped.

We also look at what the neighbours have. On a terrace your roof runs into theirs at the party wall, and the detail where the two meet has to work for both. Where a stack sits on a party wall, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 can apply and notice may be needed. We flag that early rather than on the morning the scaffold arrives.

Covering choices

Reclaiming stone slate is the right answer on most Horsforth, Morley and Pudsey stone properties. The slates outlast their fixings by generations, so the sound ones go back on new battens with new pegs and the shortfall is made up from reclaimed stock.

Welsh slate on a terrace is a straight decision between reclaimed and new. Reclaimed matches the street and costs less in material, though it takes longer to sort and some of it will be too thin to reuse. New natural slate gives a uniform roof with a long life. Fibre cement slate is cheaper again and looks acceptable at the rear, though it does not weather like the real thing.

Concrete interlocking tile is the budget route on a 1930s semi. It is heavier per square metre than slate, so it only suits a roof designed for tile in the first place.

Membrane, ventilation and the details that matter

A breathable underlay still needs airflow. We keep a continuous 10mm gap at the eaves, use over fascia vents where the detail is tight, and ventilate the ridge where a dry ridge system is going on. Sealing a Leeds loft up tight with a new membrane and no ventilation is how you turn a dry roof into a condensation problem within two winters.

Lead gets sized properly and kept to sensible lengths so it can expand. Soakers go in at the party wall rather than a strip of mortar. Every verge and ridge tile is mechanically fixed to satisfy BS 5534, which means the frost cannot work them loose the way it did with the original mortar.

How the work runs

  1. 1

    Survey and measure

    We measure each slope, count courses, check the rafters and battens from inside the loft, and work out how much of the existing covering can be reclaimed and relaid.

  2. 2

    One written quote

    Scaffold, licence, skip, membrane, battens, covering, leadwork, ridge, verge, guttering and making good are listed separately so you can see where the money goes.

  3. 3

    Scaffold and strip

    Scaffold goes up first, along with the Leeds City Council licence if it stands on the pavement. We strip a slope at a time and sheet it overnight so the house stays dry.

  4. 4

    Recover and finish

    New membrane, new battens, covering relaid or renewed, fresh leadwork, then ridge and verge fixed mechanically. Photos of every stage go to you as we go.

What it typically costs

Job Typical range
Full re-roof, mid terrace Strip, membrane, battens, reclaimed or new slate, new leadwork, scaffold and skip included £6,500 to £12,500
Full re-roof, semi detached Two main slopes plus a bay or porch roof, scaffold on two elevations £9,000 to £16,500
Rear outrigger slope only The back addition on a through terrace, including the valley and party flashing £2,800 to £5,500
Reclaim and relay stone slate Lifting, sorting and re-holing stone slates takes far longer than handling Welsh slate Adds 20 to 35 per cent
Scaffold on its own Two to three weeks on a domestic property, more where it sits on a highway and needs a licence £750 to £2,200
New rafter or purlin repairs Sistering or replacing timbers found rotten once the covering is off, agreed before we proceed £350 to £1,400

Typical ranges for Leeds and the surrounding area , reviewed September 2026. Every quote is written and fixed before work starts.

Re-roofing questions

How long does a re-roof on a terrace take?

A straightforward mid terrace is usually five to eight working days on site, plus a day either side for the scaffold. Stone slate takes longer because every slate has to be lifted, sorted and often re-holed by hand. Weather moves dates. We sheet the roof each night, so rain pauses the job without putting water in your house.

Do I need planning permission for a re-roof in Leeds?

A like for like re-roof on a normal house is permitted development, so no planning application is needed. Conservation areas and listed buildings are different, and Leeds City Council will expect the material to match what is there. Horsforth, Chapel Allerton, Headingley Hill and parts of Wetherby all have conservation designations. We check the address before quoting.

What about Building Regulations?

They apply separately from planning. A full strip and recover counts as renovating a thermal element, so the insulation has to be brought up to current standards where that is technically and economically feasible. The work is notifiable to building control. We tell you at the survey which route applies and what the insulation upgrade means for your loft.

Can you reuse my Yorkshire stone slates?

Usually a good proportion of them. We lift the roof by hand, stack the slates by size, and discard anything delaminating or broken at the peg hole. Expect to lose some. Shortfalls get made up with reclaimed stone in matching sizes, which is available across West Yorkshire. We agree the reclaim rate with you once the roof is stripped and sorted.

Who arranges the scaffold and who pays for it?

We arrange it and it is in your quote as a separate line, so you can see what it costs. Where the scaffold stands on a pavement or a highway we apply for the Leeds City Council licence and pay the fee on your behalf. On a shared drive or a neighbour's yard we ask permission in advance and put it in writing.

Will you replace the guttering at the same time?

It is worth doing. The scaffold is already up, the gutter comes off anyway to fit the eaves detail properly, and a fifty year old cast iron run rarely goes back on square. We price it as an option on the quote so you can decide. The same applies to fascias, soffits and any dormer cheeks.

What happens if you find rotten timber under the slates?

We stop and show you. On Leeds terraces the usual finds are rot at the rafter feet above a leaking gutter, and purlin ends decayed where they sit in a damp party wall. We photograph it, price the repair, and wait for your written go ahead before carrying on. Nothing gets added to the bill without that.

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