The short answer
No single method is cheap. Cost guides price a standard re-roof on concrete tiles and put slate higher: MyJobQuote shows around £7,800 on average for slate against around £5,250 for a new roof (Oct 2026). Roof area, scaffold access and whatever lies beneath the old covering shape your figure, and the smallest first outlay is rarely the smallest cost across the roof's working life.
A low opening price and a low cost over the life of the roof are different things. Here is how coverings compare and where savings turn into bills.
What the cost guides say about a new roof
Cost guides disagree, and the gap is worth understanding. On MyJobQuote's numbers a new roof averages around £5,250 (Oct 2026). HomeBuilding prices a 65 square metre 3-bed semi, covered in plain concrete tiles, at between £10,000 and £15,000 with labour, scaffolding and insulation all included (Sep 2025). Both are typical UK ranges for national averages, and neither is a Taunton Prestige price.
Why do two guides give such different figures?
They describe different houses and bundle in different extras. One example carries scaffold and insulation inside its total, another may leave them out. Dates differ too, and so do the roofs: a plain two-slope bungalow is a different task from a semi with hips, valleys and a chimney stack. A table can only point you in a direction, which is why we climb up and read your roof before talking money.
Standard VAT of 20% applies to re-roofing an existing home (GOV.UK), so whenever a figure appears, ask whether VAT sits inside it. Our page on what a new roof costs in the UK sets the guides side by side, and the roof replacement hub gathers the rest.
Concrete interlocking tiles, slate and clay compared
Concrete interlocking tiles lock edge to edge, so a roofer covers wide slopes briskly, and many profiles suit gentler pitches. A smooth Marley Double Roman needs 22.5 degrees, a Mendip 15 degrees (smooth) and a Wessex 15 degrees, while a Marley plain tile needs 35 degrees. Those limits decide which tiles your roof can take before price enters the picture.
How long does each covering last?
Marley expects around 60 years from its roof tiles, though it is plain that this figure is no warranty. The BRE minimum of 60 years covers clay tiles only. CORC reports that well-kept slate can run past 100 years. A covering that lasts twice as long can cost less per year even when it costs more on day one.
Can I simply pick a different covering to save money?
On a house, Class C normally lets you re-roof without planning permission, though a covering weighing 15 per cent more or beyond calls for Building Regulations approval. In a conservation area, or on a listed home, the setting often fixes the covering. Our answer on changing from slate to tiles goes through those limits.
Where early savings cost more later
The savings that backfire hide beneath the covering. Old battens, the cross-laths under the covering, reused with rot in them let new tiles slip. Underlay, the membrane beneath the battens, patched rather than renewed leaves a weak layer under a fresh roof. Ridge tiles bedded on mortar alone ignore Marley's point that mortar strength cannot be relied on, whereas a dry-fix ridge, a mechanically held system, avoids that weak spot.
Is a repair the better buy?
Sometimes, and a good survey tells you straight. MyJobQuote gives around £650 as an average roof repair, and £150 to £200 for five tiles (Oct 2026). Where a roof is sound apart from a single fault, mending it beats replacing it. Where slipped tiles are spreading across a slope, or the battens crumble in the hand, patching becomes a running bill and a re-roof turns out the cheaper road.
Look at the roof inspection page if you cannot tell which side of that fence your roof sits on. A written survey, with photographs of each slope, makes the repair-or-replace choice plain before a pound is spent on scaffold.
Comparing quotes sensibly
Citizens Advice recommends collecting 3 or more written quotes from separate firms prior to deciding. Put identical questions to each. Does the quote name the covering by maker and product? Is scaffold in the total? HomeBuilding gives approximately £1,000 for scaffold, permits included, on a 3-bed semi, and MyJobQuote gives £550 to £750 for seven days of hire on a front elevation (Sep 2025 and Oct 2026). Is VAT in the total? And what happens if the old battens turn out to be rotten?
What moves the price on a roof like yours?
The area of the slopes, the covering you pick, how many hips, valleys and chimneys the roof carries, how easily scaffold goes up, plus the state of the timbers once the old covering is off. None of that shows from the road. That is why we photograph your roof first and walk you through the pictures.
You then receive one total price in writing. If access is your main worry, start with re-roof scaffolding before you phone anyone.
More on keeping re-roof costs sensible
Does scaffold cost extra on a re-roof?
It has to be paid for somewhere, so check whether a quote already includes it. HomeBuilding gives approximately £1,000 for a 3-bed semi with permits, and MyJobQuote gives £550 to £750 for seven days on a front elevation. On a Taunton street, any highway licence is something we arrange with the scaffolder.
Is patching ever smarter than paying for a whole new roof?
When the roof is sound apart from one fault, such as a slipped ridge tile or a worn valley, patching is the sensible route. MyJobQuote gives around £650 as an average repair (Oct 2026). If tiles are slipping over an entire slope, or the battens crumble in the hand, a re-roof will make better use of your money.
The full picture: Roof replacement and new roofs in Taunton · More short answers