Do I Need Planning Permission for a New Roof in Nottingham?

When a new roof needs planning permission

For a house, the answer is usually no for planning permission, and yes for building regulations approval if the whole roof is being replaced. Planning Portal guidance is that work to the roof of a house, re-roofing included, will usually not need planning permission if it does not materially affect the house’s external appearance.

A planning application is required where the work does not meet the permitted development limits, or where permitted development rights have been removed in your area. The permitted development rules apply to houses, not flats or maisonettes.

They are national rules, and local rules can apply on top. If the new roof will look different from the old one, for example a different colour or type of tile, ask your local planning authority before you order the materials.

Planning permission vs building regulations approval

Planning permission decides whether a change to a house is allowed, while building regulations approval covers whether the roof work meets building standards, so a re-roof can need one without the other.

	Planning permission	Building regulations approval
What it is	Permission for a change to the house, including how the roof looks from outside	Approval that the roof work meets building standards, including structure, fire performance, weight and insulation
Who grants it	Your local planning authority, which is Nottingham City Council inside the city	Building control, unless a roofer registered with a Competent Person Scheme self-certifies the work
Usually not needed when	The work does not materially affect how the house looks	Less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected
Needed when	The work does not meet permitted development limits, or those rights have been removed in the area	Either limit is exceeded, the structure is altered, fire performance is significantly different, or the covering is 15 per cent or more heavier
A whole roof re-covered to look the same	Usually not needed	Needed, because all of the roof is affected

When a re-roof needs building regulations approval

The Planning Portal says a building control application is not normally needed to repair or re-cover a pitched or flat roof if less than 25 per cent of the total building envelope and less than 50 per cent of the roof is affected. The building envelope is the walls, floor, roof, windows, doors, roof windows and roof-lights together.

Approval is required if any of these applies:

• The work exceeds either of those limits
• The work includes structural alterations
• The fire performance of the new covering is significantly different
• The new covering increases the weight of the roof covering by 15 per cent or more

A full re-roof affects all of the roof, so it exceeds the 50 per cent limit and needs approval even when the new covering matches the old one. Beyond the limits there may be further considerations too, such as making sure the thermal insulation is sufficient.

A partial re-cover can still need approval through the weight and fire tests. If the covering is changing, for example from felt to EPDM on a flat roof, ask the roofer whether the new one is 15 per cent or more heavier or has a significantly different fire performance.

Who signs off building regulations on a new roof

A roofer registered with the NFRC Competent Person Scheme can self-certify roof refurbishment work, and you receive a Building Regulation Compliance Certificate automatically. It is the only roofing-specific scheme that lets roofers in England and Wales do this, and UKAS accredits it and audits it every year.

If the roofer you choose is not registered with a Competent Person Scheme, approval comes through a building control application instead. The scheme was called CompetentRoofer until NFRC brought it in-house and renamed it in 2022, and some roofers still use the old name.

Conservation areas and Article 4 directions in Nottingham

Nottingham City has 33 conservation areas, including The Park, the Lace Market, Sneinton, Wollaton Park and Clifton Village.

Article 4 directions, which restrict minor building work, apply in six areas of the city: Devonshire Promenade, Foxhall Road, Sneinton, Strelley Village, Waterloo Promenade and Wellington Terrace. The details of each direction vary, so before work in those areas the council advises using its Minor Works Enquiry Service, which will tell you whether the direction covers a change to your roof covering.

West Bridgford, Beeston, Arnold and Carlton sit outside the city council’s area, in Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and Gedling, which run their own planning departments. A house there needs an answer from its own council, not the city’s.

Listed buildings and bat surveys

Listed building consent is needed for any alteration to a listed building that is likely to affect its character, and it is a criminal offence to carry out that work without getting consent first. Among the ten Nottingham roofing firms we compare, Wrights Roofing in Bulwell has worked on listed Nottingham buildings including St Mary’s Church and the Galleries of Justice, and Proudlove Roofing in Long Eaton holds a Level 3 heritage roofing qualification.

A bat survey is needed where there is a reasonable likelihood that bats are present, and local authorities define that differently, so ask your council whether your roof needs one before work starts.