01903 299063 Get a quote

Roofers in Littlehampton

Littlehampton grew as a port and resort on the Arun, from Regency terraces on South Terrace to brick-and-flint houses and listed churches. We survey each kind of roof and photograph the fault we find.

Get a quoteCall 01903 299063

Three Littlehampton roof types, from South Terrace to the river

  • A tall terrace roof

    Georgian and Regency houses

    The oldest seafront buildings are three-storey Georgian and Regency houses, built in pairs and short rows along South Terrace.

    Read more about Georgian and Regency houses

    Brick and clay tiles predominate there, so tall slopes, party walls and stacks fill a survey.

  • A slate roof beside flint walls

    Brick, flint, stucco and slate

    Arun's conservation area statements record Nos. 11 to 13 Irvine Road as brick and flint under a slate roof, and Nos. 12 to 15 Granville Road as stuccoed with a partly slated roof.

    Read more about Brick, flint, stucco and slate

    Slate wants matching care.

  • Old terraced roofs by a river

    River Road and Ferry Row

    River Road, parallel to the Arun, was developed in stages in the first half of the 19th century, and Ferry Row dates from the 1830s.

    Read more about River Road and Ferry Row

    Roofs that old have had time to collect repairs, and a survey separates sound work from temporary.

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

Rules that sit over a Littlehampton roof

Planning authority
Arun District Council
Councils
Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation areas
Seafront (designated June 1975, extended July 1994), River Road (June 1989) and East Street (July 1994)
Article 4
None for Littlehampton; Arun lists one only for Craigweil House
Listed examples
St Mary the Virgin parish church, Manor House on Church Street, and St Catherine's Roman Catholic church, all Grade II
From central Worthing
9.2 road miles, west, about 17 minutes by car

Littlehampton roofs

From South Terrace to Ferry Row

Three conservation areas, two churches and a long run of Regency roofs shape how repairs here are planned.

Chapter one

Regency terraces along South Terrace

Three-storey houses in pairs and short rows leave tall slopes, shared party walls and stacks that need scaffold access.

Arun District Council's conservation area statement says the oldest buildings in the Seafront area are three-storey Georgian and Regency houses, built in pairs and short rows as part of a longer terrace along South Terrace. It records that the area was designated in June 1975 and extended in July 1994, and that brick and clay tiles are the predominant materials. A roof three storeys up is a different proposition from a bungalow. Reaching it safely means a scaffold, and that access shapes the price of even a single replaced tile.

At a glance

  • The Seafront area was designated in June 1975
  • Brick and clay tiles predominate there
  • Scaffold over the road or pavement needs a licence
Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing
Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing

1.1 Scaffold on the pavement

Section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 puts scaffolding that obstructs a road or pavement under a written licence. West Sussex County Council issues it for Littlehampton, and the firm that erects the scaffold makes the application. The council's published notice period is 10 working days, so any booked start has to allow for that, and it is sensible to ask whether a quote counts the licence fee. Party walls rise between the houses, and the chimney stacks that sit on them are the most exposed brickwork on the roof, so they get the same close inspection as the slopes.

Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing
Victorian terrace chimney stacks with spalled bricks and old lead flashing

1.2 Clay tiles, pairs and rows

Plain clay tiles hang from battens by nibs and nails, and on an old roof the nails are what give out. We lift a sample on each slope to check them, photograph the battens beneath and look along the ridge and hips for mortar that has cracked or dropped. Houses built in pairs and rows mean valleys and abutments where one roof meets another, and each is sealed with lead that needs to be sound over its whole length. The sea is close, with salt in the air, so our roof repairs are detailed to last in that weather. A re-roof of a whole slope raises the Building Regulations question. Under the Planning Portal tests, a building control application is normally unnecessary below 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof, and beyond them approval applies, which is also the case for a covering that is 15 per cent or more heavier. Where the work is notifiable, we handle the notification, and the quote that follows the survey is one written total.

Typical UK repair and access costs

  • Moderate roof repair£500 to £1,000
  • Re-bedding or replacing ridge tiles£300 to £600
  • Chimney repointing£500 to £2,000
  • Scaffold, standard two-storey house£850 to £1,200

A three-storey terrace needs more access than the two-storey figure assumes, so your own total follows the survey and reflects the scaffold the house needs. Source: MyBuilder roof repair, slate roof, chimney repair and scaffolding price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Roofer on a chimney scaffold repointing an old brick stack

Chapter two

Brick, flint and slate near East Street

Stucco, flint, slate and plain clay tile meet in the East Street and River Road areas, so matching the existing covering comes first.

In the East Street conservation area, designated in July 1994, the council's statement names stucco, brick and flint for walls and slate and plain clay tiles for roofs. Nearby, Nos. 11 to 13 Irvine Road are brick and flint with a slate roof, and Nos. 12 to 15 Granville Road are stuccoed with a partly slated roof. River Road, which runs parallel to the Arun, was built up in stages through the first half of the 19th century, with Ferry Row dating from the 1830s, soon after the chain ferry started across the river. Roofs in streets like these have been repaired for generations, and the layers of repair tell you a lot.

At a glance

  • The East Street area was designated in July 1994
  • The River Road area was designated in June 1989
  • Arun lists an Article 4 direction only for Craigweil House

2.1 Stucco, flint and lead

Stucco is a render laid over brick, and where it cracks or loses its bond near a roof junction, water finds the gap behind it. We look at the flashing, the stucco above it and the abutment together, because mending one and not the others lets water straight back in. On flint, the lead is chased into the mortar joints and pointed over, and an uneven face leaves little margin for a poorly cut chase. Lead flashing is put at over 80 years by MyJobQuote, so a sound run is kept and dressed back, not replaced for its own sake.

2.2 Slate that is worth keeping

Slate is long-lived. MyBuilder says Welsh slate regularly lasts beyond 100 years, and Checkatrade gives a spread of 50 to 200 years, with most easily passing 100. That is why a roof with a handful of slipped slates is repaired slate by slate, not stripped. A cracked slate can be replaced in place, and the nails that hold them are the usual weak point. Cupa Pizarras notes that hook fixings should not be used below a 25 degree pitch, which matters on shallower lean-tos and extensions. Where a slope is failing across its whole area, we tell you so, and show the nails and battens that prove it.

2.3 Asking the council first

Planning here is Arun District Council's job. It records three conservation areas for Littlehampton, and lists an Article 4 direction only for Craigweil House. Putting back the same slate or clay tile seldom raises a planning question. A new material, a listed building or a change to the roof's shape does, and we take the question to the council before work starts. Our roof planning permission guide sets out the wider rules, including those for roof windows and dormers.

What people saySlate roofs on old seaside houses wear out and have to be replaced as a whole.

What is trueSlate commonly outlasts the century; MyBuilder reports that Welsh slate regularly lasts beyond 100 years, so slipped or cracked slates can be replaced in place.

Inside a conservatory with a new insulated plastered ceiling and a roof window
Inside a conservatory with a new insulated plastered ceiling and a roof window

Chapter three

Two churches and the Manor House

St Mary the Virgin, St Catherine's and the Manor House are all Grade II, yet roof work on each goes through a different door.

Littlehampton's parish church, St Mary the Virgin, is Grade II listed and belongs to the Church of England. St Catherine's, the Roman Catholic church, is also Grade II, and the Manor House on Church Street is listed at the same grade. They show three different routes for roof work on a listed building, and knowing which applies is the first step to any repair. Port and resort growth took the town's population from 584 in 1801 to 5,954 in 1901, and River Road and the Regency seafront both date from that century, so roofs in the older streets have had well over a century of weather behind them.

At a glance

  • St Mary the Virgin is a Church of England church
  • St Catherine's is Roman Catholic
  • The Manor House on Church Street is a listed house

3.1 Which door to knock on

The ecclesiastical exemption covers a Church of England church that is still in use, and works to it are decided through the Church's own faculty jurisdiction. A Roman Catholic church in use is exempt too, with the denomination's own approval process in place of listed building consent. The exemption stops when a church closes, and it never covers scheduled monuments. A listed house such as the Manor House has no exemption at all, so works affecting its character need listed building consent from Arun District Council. We ask which applies to a given building, in writing, before a slate is moved. Should work ever touch a scheduled monument, say one in a churchyard, the Secretary of State must give scheduled monument consent in any case, because the exemption never covers it. For a house, the list entry sets out what the listing protects.

3.2 Church and heritage roofs in practice

Roofs on buildings like these ask for patient work: lead valleys and flashings where aisle meets nave, rainwater goods that keep water off old walls, and a covering matched in size, colour and thickness to the one beside it. Bats can roost in church and old-house roofs, and nesting birds use gutters and eaves, so we look for both before stripping. Access for tower or parapet work needs its own scaffold plan. For lead, our lead roofing page explains the codes, the lifespan of the metal and how a valley is dressed.

Consent routes for listed roof work in Littlehampton

BuildingRoute for roof works
St Mary the Virgin (Anglican, in use)The Church's own faculty process under the ecclesiastical exemption
St Catherine's, Roman Catholic, in useApproval through the denomination's own procedure
Manor House, Church StreetListed building consent from Arun District Council
Any church once closedListed building consent applies again
Source: Ecclesiastical Exemption (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Order 2010; Department for Culture, Media and Sport guidance, July 2010; Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990

What a Littlehampton roof might need from us

Littlehampton roof questions, from the seafront to the Arun

How do you reach a three-storey Regency roof on South Terrace?

By scaffold. Where the poles stand over the pavement or road, section 169 of the Highways Act 1980 needs a licence, which West Sussex County Council grants on the scaffold firm's application with 10 working days' notice. The start date is built around that wait; we survey from the scaffold or by camera, and say in the quote whether the licence fee is counted.

Will Littlehampton's Seafront Conservation Area stop a change of roof tiles?

It does not ban a change, but it raises a question. Arun District Council describes brick and clay tiles as predominant in that area. Putting back the same tile seldom needs permission; a new material is where you ask Arun first. Arun lists Craigweil House alone under an Article 4 direction, and not the Seafront area, so the question is about the change itself.

Can slipped slates on a flint-and-brick house near East Street be replaced one by one?

Yes, if the battens and nails behind them are sound. Slate lasts a very long time, so replacing individual slates in matching size and thickness is usual. Cupa Pizarras recommends no hook fixings on pitches under 25 degrees, so the fixing method matters on shallow roofs. Where the nails have rusted across the whole slope, we show you the photographs and explain why replacing the roof is the better choice.

Who approves roof repairs to a listed church such as St Mary the Virgin?

For an Anglican church that is in use, the Church's own faculty process applies, which stands in place of listed building consent. A Roman Catholic church in use follows its denomination's own procedure. Once a church has closed, the exemption ends and listed building consent from Arun District Council applies. A listed house with no church use always needs that consent for works affecting its character.

Roofers near Littlehampton

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

10-year workmanship guarantee, in writing.

Call Get a quote