Slate or Tile: Which Is Cheaper for a Taunton Re-Roof?

Read the table as a spread of national guide figures, not as a quote for your house, and note the dates, because prices move from one year to the next.

Why do the figures disagree?

Because the jobs differ. A guide that counts insulation and scaffolding will sit above one that prices the covering alone. A slate average and a general new-roof average are not the same sample. The HomeBuilding figure for a plain concrete tile roof is higher than the MyJobQuote slate average, so on these numbers you cannot say that slate always costs more.

That is why we do not tell readers one covering is cheaper before the roof has been looked at. The covering matters, but so do the size, the pitch, the state of the battens, the count of valleys and chimneys, and how easily a scaffold goes up. Our page on slate roofing explains the work, and our guide to how much a slate roof costs in the UK goes into the slate figures in more depth.

Covering is one line in a long list. The items below often matter as much as the choice between slate and tile.

Does the size of the roof decide it?

Largely. More area means more material and more days on site. Complex shapes cost more than a plain gable, because every valley, hip, dormer and chimney needs cutting, lead and care. A short, simple roof will cost less to cover than a long one broken up by features, whichever covering you choose. The pitch matters too, because a steep roof needs more safety equipment and slower working than a shallow one.

What about access and scaffold?

A scaffold is a real part of the bill. HomeBuilding allows approximately £1,000 for scaffolding with permits on a 3-bed semi, while MyJobQuote quotes £550 to £750 for a week's hire across a front elevation (HomeBuilding, Sep 2025; MyJobQuote, Oct 2026). Check that scaffold and VAT are in the price you are given. If the scaffold sits on the pavement or road it needs highway licensing under the Highways Act 1980, which Somerset Council prices at £124.60 per 28-day period (Somerset Council, April 2026). Find out from each roofer who applies for that and when.

Why do the timbers matter so much?

Battens are the timber laths that the tiles or slates are fixed to. If they have rotted, or the underlay beneath them has failed, both must be renewed. A re-roof is when you learn that, and the condition of the structure can move the total more than the covering does. Lead for valleys, chimneys and abutments is another line that depends on the roof you actually have, and so is the disposal of the old covering.

Dividing price by years is a fair way to compare, as long as the years are treated as typical ranges and never as promises. A warranty is one thing and expected life is another.

How long does natural slate last?

A figure of 100+ years is published for well-maintained slate (CORC, the Confederation of Roofing Contractors). That is the longest published figure for any common covering, and it is the reason slate is often judged on lifetime cost rather than first cost. It applies to sound slate laid well. A slate roof can still need repairs along the way, for example when the fixings give out before the slates do.

And clay and concrete tiles?

The Building Research Establishment figure of at least 60 years applies to clay tiles only, as Marley points out. For concrete, Marley says roof tiles are expected to last around 60 years, and adds that the number carries no guarantee. For old peg tile, a conservation source calls the 60-year figure unreliable as a guide.

So the published ranges run from about 60 years for tiles to more than 100 for well-kept slate. Set a higher first price against a longer life and slate can look good. Set a lower first price against a shorter life and a tile roof can too. The right choice turns on your plans for the house, how it looks and what planning allows.

Maintenance changes the picture. Moss, blocked gutters and slipped slates shorten the life of any covering, and a yearly look from the ground costs nothing. Binoculars from the garden will show slipped slates or a lifted ridge tile long before a stain appears on the ceiling.

Three groups of covering get lumped together, and they are not the same thing. Natural slate is rock that has been cleaved into thin, flat slates. Fibre-cement slate is a man-made product shaped to look like slate. Tiles are concrete or fired clay, in profiles ranging from small flat plain tiles to wide interlocking designs.

Is fibre-cement slate a cheaper route?

It can be, but the make, the quality and the supplier decide, so the survey prices the exact product you choose. Our guide to natural versus man-made slate compares cost, life and looks.

What suits a Somerset roof?

Somerset made clay tiles as well as using slate. South West Heritage Trust describes Bridgwater's yards making a wide range of clay products, and a local heritage leaflet says the Double Roman from Bridgwater was a later addition to that list. What any one street or estate is roofed in is something to read from the roof itself, which our guide to identifying your roof covering helps with. Our post on Double Roman and pantile roofs covers the clay side.

Minimum pitch also steers the choice. BS 5534 indicates a minimum pitch of 20 degrees for natural slate, and Marley's concrete Double Roman needs 22.5 degrees. A low roof may rule out one of the options before price comes into it, and the product data sheet is where to check. A shallow extension roof or a porch may sit below those pitches, so the answer for one part of a house can differ from another.

In some streets the choice is already made. If you live in a conservation area or a listed building, the covering is part of what the area or the building is protected for, and the planning team has views on a change.

Can you swap slate for tiles?

On an ordinary house, Class C of the General Permitted Development Order covers a change of covering, and a re-roof in matching material usually needs no application. A change of material alters the building's look, though, and a conservation area or an Article 4 direction can take the right away. Taunton has many conservation areas, from those designated on 15 January 1975 right up to one created on 14 March 2023. Our answer on changing from slate to tiles on a re-roof sets out what to ask, and our guide to natural slate in conservation areas and listed homes deals with the heritage side.

What changes for a listed house?

Class B and Class C permitted development stay available for a listed house, yet anything touching its character also needs listed building consent. In practice the original material usually stays, and sorting out the consent route comes before anything else. If the roof sits in a conservation area, a good photograph of the existing covering and its condition helps the planning team understand what is being replaced.

The weight of the new covering also matters. A new covering 15 per cent or more heavier than the one it replaces brings Building Regulations approval into play; the Planning Portal advises getting a structural engineer's or surveyor's view first. That is a Building Regulations point and not a planning one.

Before you settle on a covering, decide whether you need a new roof at all. A sound slate roof that has lost a few slates is a repair job; a tile roof with failed battens is not. Our post on repair or replace in Taunton helps you work out where you stand.

Does a re-roof need building control?

The Planning Portal sets the test: normally no application is needed while under 25 per cent of the building envelope is affected and under 50 per cent of the roof. A whole-roof change goes beyond that, so ask Somerset Building Control on 0300 303 7790 how it wants a re-roof handled. It names no threshold of its own, though its fee calculator does include a category for re-roofing a single home.

How do you compare quotes fairly?

Ask what covering and underlay each one uses, whether scaffold and VAT are inside, how the old covering is taken away and what happens to the battens and the lead. Compare totals for the same scope, not headline numbers for different jobs. Citizens Advice recommends gathering at least 3 written quotes before choosing a trader.

When you ask us, we start with a survey and photographs of your roof that you can look at yourself, and one written price follows, fitted to the covering you pick. If you are torn between slate and tile, we can talk both through against your roof, its pitch and the setting of the house.