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Roofers in Rustington

Rustington stayed a small farming village until the late 19th century and has grown fastest since the First World War. Its roofs run from flint barns under plain tiles to a century of newer houses.

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Three kinds of Rustington roof, from barn to bungalow

  • A 1930s hipped house roof

    Houses built since the First World War

    Arun's conservation statement says Rustington's most intense development has come since the First World War. A roof from that growth is now at an age where fixings, battens and underlay all deserve a proper look from the loft as well as the ladder.

  • Plain clay tiles above a flint wall

    Flint walls under plain clay tiles

    North Barn and Manor Barn, an early or mid-19th-century building, is flint under plain clay tiles, and flint walls mark the conservation area as a whole.

    Read more about Flint walls under plain clay tiles

    Plain tiles are small and lapped in many courses, so a repair must match size and camber.

  • Tile-hung walls meeting a roof

    Decorative vertical tiling

    Ffynches Lodge, a mid or late 19th-century building of two and three storeys, has decorative vertical tiling. Lead flashings carry the water at the point where a tile-hung wall finishes against a sloping roof, and we inspect that junction before any other.

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

Before you re-roof in Rustington: the record

Planning authority
Arun District Council
Councils
Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council
Conservation area
Rustington Conservation Area, designated March 1986 and extended July 1994, covering the western end of The Street
Article 4
None for Rustington; Arun's direction applies at Craigweil House in Aldwick
Listed examples
Knightscroft, Grade II*; St Peter and St Paul's Church, Grade II
From central Worthing
7.5 road miles, west, about 14 minutes by car

Rustington roofs

Flint, clay tile and a century of growth

Three roofing questions raised by when Rustington was built, working outwards from The Street.

Chapter one

Plain clay tiles on Rustington's flint barns

A plain tile roof is built from hundreds of small tiles, and keeping one sound means matching each repair to what surrounds it.

The Arun conservation statement for Rustington singles out flint walls as a characteristic of the whole conservation area, and it names North Barn and Manor Barn, an early or mid-19th-century building, as flint under plain clay tiles. Plain tiles are the small, slightly curved clay tiles that overlap in many courses, each one hung from a timber batten, a narrow strip fixed across the rafters. Because each tile is small, a roof holds hundreds of them, each a spot where a crack or a slipped nib can let water in.

At a glance

  • Plain tiles are small and laid in overlapping courses
  • Pitch limits depend on the individual tile
  • Old peg-tile roofs defy the usual lifespan figures
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs

1.1 Pitch and the individual tile

A tile will only shed water properly above its minimum pitch, and the figure differs from tile to tile. Marley lists its Canterbury clay plain tile at 40 degrees, Ashdowne at 35 and Hawkins at 30. Natural slate, for comparison, is put at 20 degrees by BS 5534. Before we agree any re-covering, we measure the slope and check it against the data sheet of the tile proposed. A tile laid below its limit leaks however well it is fixed.

Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs
Row of concrete sectional garages with weathered grey corrugated roofs

1.2 How long they last, and what a repair involves

Marley quotes a minimum life expectancy of 60 years for clay tiles. A Building Conservation Directory article says the 60-year figure is no safe yardstick for old peg-tile roofs, a fair warning for a barn roof that has stood since the 19th century. We judge by condition: how many tiles have cracked or lost their nibs, how sound the battens are, and whether the nails have rusted through. Sound tiles are lifted, sorted and reused, and gaps are filled with tiles matched for size, colour and camber. Our pitched roofing page covers re-covering in more depth.

1.3 Tiles on the walls as well

Ffynches Lodge has decorative vertical tiling, meaning tiles hung on the wall as a cladding. Where that cladding meets a roof slope, the water is carried by lead soakers, small folded sheets bent under each tile course, and by flashings above them. These details sit in shade and are rarely looked at, so they fail unnoticed. We trace damp in an upper-storey room back along the wall before we blame the roof, and the survey photographs in your quote show where the water was getting in.

Minimum pitch for some common coverings

CoveringMinimum pitch
Marley Canterbury clay plain tile40 degrees
Marley Ashdowne clay plain tile35 degrees
Marley Hawkins clay plain tile30 degrees
Marley Lincoln clay pantile15 degrees
Natural slate (BS 5534, moderate exposure)20 degrees
Source: Marley minimum pitch guidance; Cupa Pizarras on BS 5534:2014+A2:2018, fetched October 2026

Chapter two

The Street, Knightscroft and the parish church

The western end of The Street holds the village's main cluster of listed buildings, so a roof there starts with a consent question.

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

Arun's conservation area guidance says the Rustington Conservation Area covers the western end of The Street and holds the main concentration of listed buildings in the village. It was designated in March 1986 and extended in July 1994. For an owner, the label that matters more than the conservation area is the list entry on the building itself. Knightscroft is listed Grade II*, and St Peter and St Paul's Church, which dates back to the 12th century and is partly built of Caen stone from Normandy, is listed Grade II.

At a glance

  • The conservation area dates from March 1986
  • Knightscroft is listed Grade II*
  • No Article 4 direction applies on The Street

2.1 What listing means for a roof

Under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, works that would affect a listed building's character need listed building consent. The Adur and Worthing councils' guide gives repairs not made in matching materials as one example, and says prudent maintenance and general repairs need no special action. In plain terms, refitting a slipped tile is maintenance, while stripping clay and laying something else is a change. We photograph the existing covering, match it, and tell you when a question belongs with Arun District Council. Rainwater goods and lead on a building of that age are part of its fabric, so they are matched as carefully as the tiles. A Grade II* building, the second of three listing grades, deserves a photographic record of the roof before work, a sorted pile of reusable tiles during it and a written list of what changed afterwards.

2.2 The church, and the wider conservation area

A Church of England parish church that is in use for worship comes under the Church's own faculty process in place of listed building consent, so ask the parish before anyone books a scaffold. Outside the church, the conservation area changes less than people expect. Repairing a roof in the same materials is rarely treated as development, and no Article 4 direction applies to Rustington, so no extra roof restriction comes from one. Extra care begins once the covering itself changes, or a roof window or dormer is proposed, which our roof planning permission guide covers.

Old roofs are also homes. Bats roost in older buildings and are fully protected, and an active nest is too, so work on a church or barn roof begins with a look for either.

What people sayA listed roof cannot be touched without consent, even for a slipped tile.

What is trueCouncil guidance says prudent maintenance and general repairs need no special action; consent is for work that affects the building's character.

Chapter three

Re-roofing the houses built since the First World War

As the village grew from the 1920s onward, its roofs were laid under the old ridge-mortar rules, and many now need re-fixing or replacing.

Before the 2014 revision of BS 5534, Marley says, mortar bedding on its own was still commonly accepted for ridge and hip tiles. A house built after the First World War was laid to that habit, so the top course relied on mortar alone, and mortar cracks as it ages. Since the revision, bedded roof tiles and fittings are mechanically fixed too, held down with screws or clips into the timbers beneath. Mortar is not banned. Dry-fix systems, which hold the ridge on clips over a ventilated roll, are tested to BS 8612:2018.

At a glance

  • The 2014 revision of BS 5534 expects mechanical fixing
  • Re-bedding a ridge is the smaller job
  • Hipped roofs cost more to re-cover than gables

3.1 Re-fix, or re-roof

A ridge in trouble is not the same as a roof in trouble. If the tiles beneath are sound and only the ridge has loosened, re-bedding with proper fixings is the smaller job, and our ridge tile repairs page sets out the choices. If tiles are slipping across every slope and the nails and battens are failing, a re-roof gives better value than another patch. We show you the evidence, tell you which we advise, and leave the decision to you. A sound roof with one bad ridge will not be stripped. Underlay is the second line of defence, and lifting a few tiles shows whether a house of that age has any, and whether it has perished. Shape moves the price as well: a hipped roof carries extra ridge length and more cut tiles than a gable, which is why MyBuilder's semi-detached guide gives £8,000 to £12,000 for hipped against £5,000 to £8,000 for gable.

3.2 Approval, VAT and clearing the old roof

On Building Regulations, the Planning Portal draws its line at 25 per cent of the building envelope and 50 per cent of the roof. Work that stays below both limits, be it a repair or new covering, normally needs no application. Pass either, or pick a covering at least 15 per cent heavier, and you need approval, and a Part L thermal upgrade may follow. For notifiable work we file the notification. Standard-rate VAT of 20 per cent applies to a re-roof, so check that any quote states if VAT and scaffolding are included in the price. Our roof replacement page covers the full job. When the job is done, what is left of the old roof leaves with us and the ground is swept.

Typical UK costs for ridge work and re-roofing

  • Ridge re-bedding£300 to £600
  • Dry ridge, typical job£500 to £1,000
  • Gable re-roof, semi£5,000 to £8,000
  • Hipped re-roof, semi£8,000 to £12,000

Treat these as national guide figures rather than our own prices. Your figure follows the survey, written as a single sum. Source: MyBuilder slate roof, dry ridge and new roof price guides, updated 21/08/2026.

Our services, for Rustington roofs

Rustington roof questions, from flint barns to 1930s ridges

Can plain clay tiles on a Rustington flint barn be repaired, or must the whole roof be re-tiled?

Usually a repair is possible while the battens and most tiles are sound. We lift the tiles, sort the good ones for reuse and fill the gaps with clay tiles matched for size, colour and camber. Re-tiling becomes the answer when the battens have failed or the nails have rusted through across several slopes. Either way, photographs of your own roof come first, and the quote is a single written total.

Does the Rustington Conservation Area change how I re-roof a house on The Street?

Mostly it adds a question to ask, not a ban. Putting back the same materials is rarely development at all, and Rustington has no Article 4 direction. A listed house is different, because changes that touch its special character call for listed building consent, so confirm with Arun District Council before you change a covering. A new roof window is its own subject and is covered in our planning guide.

How do you find a leak behind decorative vertical tiling?

We work back from the stain. Damp in an upper room is traced up the wall to the point where the tile hanging runs into a roof slope, a window head or a chimney, because lead soakers and flashings at those meetings are the usual weak points. Once we find the gap, we photograph it and fix that junction, rather than re-hanging a whole wall of tiles that may be sound.

Is re-bedding the ridge on a 1930s Rustington house better than fitting dry ridge?

It depends on the ridge tiles. Where they are sound, re-bedding with mechanical fixings preserves the roof's appearance, and MyBuilder puts re-bedding at £300 to £600. Dry ridge suits a roof whose old bedding keeps failing, typically £40 to £60 per linear metre, with a typical job at £500 to £1,000. We recommend whichever properly solves the fault, and we explain why.

Roofers near Rustington

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