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Roofers in East Wittering

East Wittering is a coastal village of bungalows and chalets built up in the last century, open to Bracklesham Bay. We go up on its roofs and photograph whatever the weather has done.

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Three kinds of East Wittering roof, from bungalow to bell-cote

  • A hipped bungalow roof

    Bungalows and chalets near the beach

    The Victoria County History says the coastal district, once the separate parish of Bracklesham, is now largely occupied by modern bungalows and small houses.

    Read more about Bungalows and chalets near the beach

    Pevsner's phrase was "a jumble of bungalows and chalets near the beach".

  • A tiled post-war house roof

    Post-war houses and holiday facilities

    Chichester's Earnley appraisal calls East Wittering a 20th-century development with many post-war houses and more holiday facilities. Roofs from those decades are reaching an age where underlay, fixings and flashings deserve a proper look.

  • A tiled church roof and spire

    The old church and its tile

    The old church of the Assumption has a 12th-century nave, a tiled roof and tile-hung bell-cote sides under a shingled broach spire.

    Read more about The old church and its tile

    On any tiled roof beside the sea, the fixings and the lowest courses tell us most.

Street map of East Wittering, west of central Worthing, with a pin on the town.

: what is protected and what is not

Planning authority
Chichester District Council
Councils
Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
None listed for East Wittering village in Chichester District Council's appraisal list
Article 4
Somerley Conservation Area, partly in the parish, takes away rights to change roof coverings or alter chimneys at the front of houses; the village itself lies outside
Churches
St Anne's, Church of England, consecrated 14 May 1959; the old church of the Assumption has a 12th-century nave
From central Worthing
29.3 road miles, west, about 44 minutes by car

East Wittering roofs

Bungalows on the open coast

A village built up in the twentieth century brings three roofing questions, from hips to flat extensions to a council boundary.

Chapter one

Ridges and hips on seaside bungalows

A bungalow carries its whole roof in the open, and a hipped one gives the sea wind a ridge and four hips to test.

East Wittering is a place of bungalows. The Victoria County History says the coastal district, once the separate parish of Bracklesham, suffered severe erosion and is now largely occupied by modern bungalows and small houses. A bungalow puts all of its roof in front of the weather. There is no upper storey to shelter any of it, and a hipped design, with a ridge along the top and a hip running down to each corner, gives sea wind plenty of joints to pull at.

At a glance

  • Water finds junctions before it finds open slopes
  • Mortar by itself no longer holds a ridge
  • Dry-fix ridges are tested to BS 8612:2018
Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer
Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer

1.1 Where the first leak starts

On a bungalow it is rarely the middle of a slope. Water finds the junctions: the ridge, the hips, the valley where an extension meets the main roof, the lead around a small chimney, and the gutter that runs just above a window. We start at the top and follow the water down, because a stain on a lounge ceiling can sit metres from the break. Up in the roof space we check for chinks of daylight along the ridge, wet timber, and underlay that is torn or missing altogether.

Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer
Dormer bungalow with a tiled roof and flat-roofed box dormer

1.2 Fixed to today's standard

Ridge and hip tiles used to be set in a bed of mortar and left alone. Since the 2014 revision of BS 5534, mortar by itself is not relied on to hold them, and they are mechanically fixed as well. Dry-fix is the alternative. There, ridge tiles sit on clips over a ventilated roll, with no mortar bed at all, and BS 8612:2018 is the specification those systems are tested against. Mortar is not banned. Sound original tiles can be cleaned, re-bedded and screwed back. We also check the metal strap at the foot of each hip that stops the bottom tile creeping off, since it is easy to miss from the ground.

1.3 Choosing the ridge repair

A short run of loose ridge tiles may need only re-bedding and fixing. A ridge that is cracked along its length, or has been patched in mortar year after year, is usually better replaced with a dry-fix line, which also ventilates the roof void. Our ridge tile repairs page lays out the options. Our recommendation comes with photographs of your own ridge and a single written price once the survey is done.

Chapter two

Post-war roofs, holiday lets and Somerley's boundary

Roofs from the decades after the war are ageing together, and one conservation area nearby changes the rules for some houses.

Worthing rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea
Rooftops of slate and tile running down to the sea

Chichester's Earnley appraisal describes East Wittering as another 20th-century development with many post-war houses and more holiday facilities. Roofs from the years after the war are now getting on. The felt under the tiles may have perished, battens may have gone soft where moisture sat on them, and nails may have rusted in the salty air. Pevsner's "jumble of bungalows and chalets near the beach" is a fair prompt for what we expect to meet: small roofs, built at different times, covered in different materials and patched by different hands.

At a glance

  • Chichester's appraisal lists no village conservation area
  • Somerley's Article 4 covers front-elevation roof coverings
  • Check which side of the boundary an address is on

2.1 Empty houses and holiday homes

With holiday facilities in the village, some owners are landlords or second-home owners who are not on site when a roof fails. A slow leak in a house that stands empty for weeks soaks insulation and timbers before anyone sees a stain. For owners who live elsewhere we survey the roof and send dated photographs of the ridge, the valleys and the flashings, so the report can be read on a phone from wherever you are. A check after the winter gales is worth having on a house that nobody is living in.

2.2 The Somerley direction, and what it leaves out

Chichester's notice places the Somerley Conservation Area partly in the East Wittering and Bracklesham parish. Its Article 4 directions take away permitted development rights to swap a roof covering or alter a chimney on the front of a house, and to put solar panels on roof slopes that look onto a road, open ground or a watercourse. The directions do not reach East Wittering village itself, and Chichester's appraisal list names no conservation area for the village. So for an address near the boundary, the first job is to check which side of it the house stands on. An Article 4 direction does not ban work; it means planning permission is needed for the matters it lists. Our roof planning permission guide covers roof windows and dormers.

2.3 The two churches

St Anne's, the current Anglican parish church, was consecrated on 14 May 1959. Should an Anglican church in use be listed, the Church's own faculty process covers its repairs, not the council. The old church of the Assumption is roofed in tile, with tile-hung sides to its bell-cote. Before any roof work near either, ask Chichester District Council or the parish what applies.

What people sayAn Article 4 direction on a nearby conservation area means no one may repair a roof.

What is trueA direction does not ban work. It means planning permission is needed for the specific matters it lists, and it applies only inside its own boundary.

Chapter three

Flat roofs on bungalow extensions and garages

Bungalow plots tend to grow outwards, and extensions, porches and garages usually mean a flat roof facing the sea weather.

Bungalow plots tend to grow outwards, and an extension at the back, a porch or a garage often gets a flat roof. Flat roofs are not flat. They need a fall, a gentle slope that carries water to an outlet, and a roof that keeps a puddle for days ages much faster than one that drains. The recommended minimum finished fall is 1:80 under BS 6229:2018, and IKO advises designing for 1:40 so that tolerances and sagging still leave 1:80 at the end. When we survey a flat roof we look for standing water, blistered covering, open laps, and the upstand, the short vertical lip where the roof meets a wall.

At a glance

  • Design falls of 1:40 give a finished 1:80
  • Felt, EPDM and GRP each age differently
  • Salt deposits collect where rain cannot rinse
New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea
New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea

3.1 Felt, EPDM or GRP

Published lifespans differ by covering. Less gives felt at 10 to 20 years, GreenSpec gives EPDM at 20 to 30 years, and Less gives GRP at 25 to 40 years. EPDM is a rubber membrane laid in one sheet. GRP is glass-reinforced plastic, laid wet and cured in place. Which suits best turns on the roof's outline, how many pipes or lights break through it, and what lies beneath. Our flat roofing page compares them. If the deck beneath is sound, a patch or a new covering can be enough; where the boards are soft, they come up first and are replaced before anything else goes down.

New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea
New single-ply membrane flat roof with a welded upstand and edge trim near the sea

3.2 Salt on the roofline

HomeBuilding notes that in marine air, soffits and fascias attract salty deposits, and rain cannot reach the sheltered undersides to wash them off. We rinse these surfaces when we are up there, and check that gutters on a low flat roof run freely. Edges and outlets get the same attention. Outlets clog with grit and leaves, drip edges lift, and a flashing along a house wall can pull away where the wall has moved, so each one is examined before we decide whether the whole covering has failed or only its details. A flat roof over a warm room can also suffer condensation, where damp air from indoors meets a cold deck and wets it from beneath. That stain looks like a leak, yet no repair on top will cure it, so we study the underside of the boards and the ventilation instead of guessing from the ceiling.

3.3 Cost and the written quote

The survey comes first and the written quote follows it, giving a single price for the whole job, with the photographs of your flat roof attached. The ranges below come from a national guide, not from us.

Flat roofing prices in national guides, per m²

  • Felt£70 to £100 per m²
  • EPDM£90 to £130 per m²
  • GRP£95 to £150 per m²
  • Single flat garage roof£700 to £1,000

Once the survey is done, one total in writing covers your own roof; anyone else's figure should say whether VAT is in. Source: MyBuilder flat roof and garage roof price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Roofing help for properties

East Wittering roof questions, from Bracklesham Bay inland

How should a hipped bungalow near Bracklesham Bay be fixed against sea wind?

Every tile is nailed or clipped, and the ridge and hips take mechanical fixings on top of any mortar bed, which is what BS 5534 now expects. Wienerberger requires at least one mechanical fixing for every single-lap tile, set out in a specification for the site. On a bungalow we check the hip straps and the verge, where the slope ends at a gable, since gales lift from the edges first. A repair copies the pattern of fixing already on the roof.

Does the Somerley Article 4 direction affect a house in East Wittering village?

Chichester's notice places the Somerley Conservation Area partly in the parish, but its directions do not cover the village itself. Inside the boundary, changing a roof covering or altering a chimney on a front elevation needs planning permission. If you are near the line, ask Chichester District Council to confirm the address. We photograph the roof first, then match whatever covering is there.

Can a flat roof on an East Wittering bungalow extension be patched?

Sometimes. If the covering has a few blisters or one split seam and the deck below is dry and firm, a repair can give years more. If water stands for days, the laps are open across the roof, or the boards feel soft underfoot, a new covering is the honest answer. We show the findings in photographs before recommending either, with the cause of the leak traced first.

Who deals with planning and building control for a roof in East Wittering?

Planning for the village sits with Chichester District Council. For Building Regulations, you can use the council's building control team or a registered building control approver. A like-for-like re-covering normally needs no application when less than 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof is affected, per the Planning Portal. Where the work is notifiable, we take care of the notification and say which body fits.

Roofers near East Wittering

Tell us about your roof

Describe what is happening and we will call you back to arrange a visit.

  • Photographs of what we find
  • A written quote with one total price
  • Or call 01903 299063

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