Roof Repair Cost UK 2026: Job Prices, Day Rates and When to Book
Drawn from published 2026 UK cost data. Use the figures to read a quote, not as a quote.
Two things set most roof bills. One is what has gone wrong. The other is how hard it is to reach. A cracked tile over a porch and a cracked tile on a three-storey gable are the same fault, but they are nowhere near the same price.
Below is the roof repair cost UK homeowners can expect in 2026, job by job. Every range here appears in at least two published UK price guides. Treat them as typical national figures, not quotes. Your own roof will land somewhere inside them, and now and then outside.
Most UK roof repairs in 2026 cost £150 to £2,000. Refixing a few slipped tiles is usually £150 to £400. A bigger leak, where a whole patch has failed, runs £400 to £900 or more. Scaffold on a two-storey house can add £400 to £1,500. Most roofers price the job, with day rates of about £150 to £430.
Roof Repair Cost UK: Prices by Job in 2026
The bands below come from the 2026 guides published by Costwise, MyJobQuote, BestBuilders, Havnwright and WhatToCharge. Where two guides disagree, the range runs from the lower start to the higher end so you can see the spread.
| Repair | Typical 2026 UK range | What the guides say |
|---|---|---|
| A few slipped or broken tiles | £150–£400 | Costwise and Havnwright £150–£400; WhatToCharge £150–£300; MyJobQuote £150–£350 |
| Minor leak | £150–£500 | MyJobQuote £150–£400; Costwise £150–£500 for a small leak, search included |
| Larger leak or failing section | £400–£1,200+ | Costwise £400–£900; MyJobQuote £400–£1,200+ |
| Lead flashing repair | £200–£700 | BestBuilders £200–£600; MyJobQuote £250–£700 |
| Chimney flashing | £300–£800 | MyJobQuote £300–£800; Havnwright £400–£800 |
| Ridge tile repointing | £200–£600 | MyJobQuote £200–£550; WhatToCharge £300–£600 for a 5 m run |
| Re-bedding a whole ridge | £500–£1,200 | Havnwright £500–£1,200; WhatToCharge £600–£1,200 for a full ridge |
| Valley repair | £200–£900 | WhatToCharge £200–£500; MyJobQuote £300–£900 |
| Flat roof patch (felt or EPDM) | £200–£800 | MyJobQuote £200–£700; BestBuilders £200–£800 |
| Emergency call-out to make safe | £150–£300 | MyJobQuote and TradeMatch, with the lasting repair priced after |
Those bands mostly cover labour, materials and a ladder or tower for a low roof. Costwise lists what a typical price includes: the roofer's time, the new tiles or flashing, sealing or re-bedding the area, and clearing the debris. Scaffold, VAT and waste are the lines most likely to sit outside the figure.
The typical roof repair cost UK homeowners actually pay is lower than the spread suggests. Costwise puts the typical UK repair at £500, and MyJobQuote puts its average at £650. So most homeowners pay a few hundred pounds, not a few thousand.
Why the Same Fault Gets Different Prices in 2026
Four things move a roof repair price more than anything else. Knowing them makes a quote easier to read.
The first is the size of the fault. WhatToCharge puts a few broken tiles at half a day for one roofer. Ridge tile repointing takes one to two days, often with two people on the roof. The bill follows the hours.
The second is the covering. Concrete interlocking tiles are cheap and easy to match. Natural slate is slower work, and both MyJobQuote and Quest Roofing price slate repairs above tile repairs per square metre. Old clay tiles can be hard to match, so a roofer may need to hunt for reclaimed ones.
The third is what sits under the tiles. BestBuilders names rotten battens or failed felt, found once tiles come up, as one of the two biggest swing factors on a repair. A roofer can't price what they can't see. A fair quote says how extra timber or felt will be charged if they find it.
The fourth is where you live. Costwise uses the Midlands and East as its UK average, with London about a fifth higher. TradeMatch and Havnwright both put London and the South East well above the rest of the country. Outside the South East, prices tend to sit near the national bands above.
Scaffolding and Access: the Line That Doubles a Small Bill
On many small jobs, getting up there costs more than the repair. That sounds odd until you set the numbers side by side.
Costwise says scaffold for a two-storey roof adds £400 to £1,200, depending on the footprint and how long it stays up. BestBuilders gives £500 to £1,200 for two-storey roofs. WhatToCharge puts a 3-bed semi at £600 to £1,500 for putting up and taking down, and notes that it is often a separate line. Against a £150 to £400 tile repair, the scaffold can be two or three times the price of the work.
Low roofs are the cheap ones. A porch, a garage, a bungalow or a single-storey extension is often low enough for a ladder or a small tower. Costwise counts ladder or tower access for a low single-storey job as part of the normal repair price. Once the roof is two storeys up, steep, or the work takes more than a day, BestBuilders says scaffold is usually needed.
Three habits keep the access cost in check:
- Ask what access each price assumes. BestBuilders makes the point that two quotes only compare if they use the same access method.
- Bundle jobs under one scaffold. TradeMatch suggests doing the gutters and the ridge in the same visit, not as two jobs with two lots of scaffold.
- Check who books the scaffold. Some roofers include it. Others pass you to a scaffold firm with its own bill.
Roofer Day Rates and Hourly Rates in 2026
Most roofers quote one price for the whole job rather than charging by the hour. WhatToCharge says so plainly, and a roofer quoted on MyJobQuote says the same: materials vary so much that a job price is fairer. When a roofer does talk in days, the figures cluster.
| Rate | WhatToCharge | Second source |
|---|---|---|
| National day rate | £150–£270 | TradeMatch £245–£430, average £290 |
| Midlands day rate | £145–£260 | Havnwright £200–£320 |
| London day rate | £220–£380 | Havnwright £300–£450 |
| Hourly rate | £19–£35 an hour | MyJobQuote £30–£45 an hour |
Watch the hourly figures. They disagree more than the day rates do, and some are not hourly at all. TradeMatch's own FAQ lists £150 to £600 as a roofer's hourly rate, which is the same spread it gives for a whole tile replacement job. A day rate is the safer number to compare.
A day rate buys labour for one person for one day. It does not cover the tiles, the lead, the scaffold, the skip or VAT. Havnwright quotes £200 to £450 per fitter and notes that teams of 2 to 3 fitters are normal, so a two-person day costs roughly double.
Timing moves the rate too. TradeMatch says emergency and weekend call-outs cost 25 to 50 percent more. The Roofing Calculator HQ tool adds a similar weekend premium. If the job can wait until a weekday, it usually costs less.
Roof Leak Repair Cost: Paying to Find It
A leak has two costs: finding it, then fixing it. Finding it is often the bigger half. Water runs along the underlay and the battens before it drips, so the stain on your ceiling is rarely under the fault. BestBuilders and Quest Roofing both make this point.
That is why leak prices spread so widely. MyJobQuote puts a minor leak at £150 to £400 and a major one at £400 to £1,200+. Costwise gives £150 to £500 when one slipped tile or a split flashing is to blame, and £400 to £900 when a wider patch has failed.
You can narrow the search before anyone climbs a ladder. BestBuilders suggests going into the loft on a wet day with a torch. Look for wet felt, damp timber or daylight, and take photos. Then look at the gutters. Quest Roofing notes that blocked gutters overflow and throw water where it shouldn't go, which can look just like a roof leak from inside.
If the leak followed a storm, check your policy and speak to your insurer before permanent work starts. BestBuilders and Costwise both say buildings cover usually deals with sudden damage, not wear and tear. Keep photos and the invoice for any make-safe work. This is general information, not insurance advice.
Best Time of Year for Roof Repair
An active leak can't wait for a cheaper month. Water in the ceiling soaks into the plaster and the timber, and that costs more than any seasonal saving. Book it now and pay the going rate.
Planned work is different. TradeMatch says roofer work is cheapest from November to February, when demand drops, and that spring and summer are the busiest periods. It puts the off-peak saving at 8 to 15 percent. Havnwright gives a similar 5 to 15 percent for winter jobs.
Winter has a catch, though. Havnwright points to shorter days and more rain from November to February. It also warns that some flat roof products, such as GRP and mastic, need warmer weather to cure. A roof may need a tarp overnight if the work runs over more than one day.
The best pattern for most homes looks like this:
- October: get the roof checked before the storms. TradeMatch suggests a pre-winter inspection in October to stay ahead of the queue that forms after a big blow.
- November to February: book non-urgent tile, ridge and lead flashing work into quieter weeks, if the roofer can be flexible on dates.
- Late spring to summer: plan flat roof work that needs a dry, mild day, and accept that diaries fill up.
When a Repair Stops Making Sense
At some point, paying for repairs costs more than replacing the roof. The 2026 guides give you tests you can run yourself.
BestBuilders says replacement is usually the better choice once three separate repairs have landed in five years, or the roof is over 40 to 50 years old. Roofing Calculator HQ sets the line at three or more leaks, or a repair priced above 30 percent of a re-roof. WhatToCharge adds signs you can spot: daylight in the loft, felt that has perished, and failures in several places at once.
To run the 30 percent test, you need a re-roof figure. WhatToCharge puts a 3-bed semi in concrete tiles at £5,000 to £9,000. BestBuilders gives £5,000 to £12,000+ for a semi. A repair quote at a third of that is a sign to price both options.
There is a rules point too. Costwise explains that re-covering more than half of a roof brings in the Building Regulations insulation upgrade, while a genuine repair does not. If a repair keeps growing towards a whole slope, get the re-roof priced as well. This is general information, not building control advice.
Roof Repair Cost UK Quotes: What to Check
A figure on a text message is not a written quote. Ask for a written quote from each roofer, and ask for at least three. Costwise, BestBuilders and Quest Roofing all advise three written quotes. Then check each one for these lines:
- Access: how the roofer will get up there, and what that part costs on its own.
- Materials: the exact covering by name, and Code 4 lead for any lead flashing. TradeMatch says to get Code 4 as a minimum in writing, because thinner lead lifts sooner.
- Timber and felt: how extra battens or felt, or rafter work, will be charged if the roofer finds rot.
- VAT: whether it is included. WhatToCharge and MyJobQuote both note that many sole traders are not registered for it, and that it adds 20% where it applies.
- Waste and payment: whether the skip is included, and what is due when. BestBuilders and TradeMatch both say never pay the full amount up front.
If one quote is far below the rest, find out what it leaves out. Often it is the access or the waste. Sometimes it is the lead.
Verdict on Roof Repair Prices in 2026
Plan on £150 to £2,000 for a repair in 2026, and expect most jobs to cost a few hundred pounds. The roof repair cost UK homeowners find hardest to predict is the access, not the tiles. Ask what access each price assumes, get three written quotes with the five lines above, and bundle jobs under one scaffold. Fix leaks straight away.
Book planned work for the quiet winter weeks, and get the roof checked in October. If the repairs keep coming, get a re-roof priced before paying for the next one.
Getting a Quote in Telford
These are typical UK ranges, not Telford prices. What your repair costs depends on your roof: the covering, how high it is, how the roofer gets up there, and what turns up once the tiles come off.
Tell us what's happening with the roof and your enquiry goes to an independent local roofing firm, which quotes you direct. We don't do the work, and we don't inspect or check the firm. The roof repairs page sets out how a repair enquiry works, and our how to choose a roofer guide lists the checks worth running before you agree a price. Enquiries outside working hours get a call back the next working day.
Common Questions
How much does it cost to fix a roof leak in the UK?
Fixing a small leak around one slipped tile or a split flashing usually costs £150 to £500, including the search. Where a wider patch has failed, Costwise gives £400 to £900, and MyJobQuote puts major leaks at £400 to £1,200+. Scaffold, where needed, is extra. Finding the source is often the biggest part of the bill.
What does it cost to put back a handful of slipped tiles?
A few slipped or broken tiles usually cost £150 to £400 to put right, if a ladder or tower can reach them. The tiles cost little. You are mostly paying for the visit, the access and a few hours of work. If the roof needs scaffold, that is priced on top and can cost more than the repair.
How much does a roofer charge per hour in the UK?
Few roofers work to an hourly rate; most give one price for the job. Published hourly rates run £19 to £35 on WhatToCharge and £30 to £45 on MyJobQuote. Day rates are easier to compare: £150 to £270 nationally on WhatToCharge, and £245 to £430 on TradeMatch. Materials, scaffold, waste and VAT are charged on top of labour.
Do I need scaffolding for a small roof repair?
Not always. A porch, a garage, a bungalow or a single-storey extension can often be reached by ladder or tower, which is normally part of the repair price. A two-storey or steep roof, or work lasting more than a day, usually needs scaffold. On a two-storey house that adds £400 to £1,200 on Costwise's figures.
When is the cheapest time to hire a roofer?
Planned roof work is usually cheapest from November to February, when demand drops. TradeMatch puts the off-peak saving at 8 to 15 percent, and Havnwright at 5 to 15 percent. Winter brings short days and rain, and some flat roof products need warmer weather. Active leaks should be fixed straight away, whatever the month.
Get a Free Roofing Quote
When you are ready, your enquiry goes to a roofing firm that covers your part of Telford.