Question answered
Is a slate roof more expensive than tiles?
The short answer
Yes. Natural slate generally costs more than clay or concrete tiles. Checkatrade's June 2026 repair table puts natural slate at £150 to £220 per m² against £90 to £120 for concrete and £110 to £160 for clay, all excluding VAT. Slate also tends to last longer, which narrows the gap over time. Your own figure turns on roof size, pitch, access and the survey findings.
Slate usually costs more per square metre than concrete or clay tiles, though the gap narrows once lifespan is counted. Here are published UK ranges side by side, and what moves a quote.
Published ranges side by side
No two cost guides measure quite the same job, so the fairest comparison puts them in one table. These typical UK figures come from Checkatrade's roof repair guide (table updated June 2026, exclusive of VAT) and MyBuilder's slate guide (updated 21 August 2026).
| Covering | Typical UK range per m² | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete tile, repair | £90 to £120 | Checkatrade |
| Clay tile, repair | £110 to £160 | Checkatrade |
| Natural slate, repair | £150 to £220 | Checkatrade |
| Natural slate, re-roof | £100 to £180 | MyBuilder |
The two slate rows differ because they price different jobs: one is patch repair, the other a full re-roof. Whole-roof figures run wider still. MyBuilder gives £5,000 to £12,000 for a typical re-roof of any covering, and Checkatrade an average of around £8,000. Neither guide is Watertight's own price list, so treat both as a rough scale for your sums.
Why slate costs more at the start
The stone itself costs more than a pressed concrete tile, and clay sits between the two. Labour is the larger difference. Slates are small, so a roof needs many more pieces than it would with large interlocking tiles, and each one is nailed or hooked to a batten, the timber lath the covering hangs from. Valleys, hips, chimneys and dormers all call for cutting and dressing by hand.
Older roofs add to the sum. A slate roof laid with no underlay, as many Victorian ones were, normally gets one when it is re-slated, along with new battens. Our page on torching on slate roofs explains the lime layer that used to do part of that job. Matching a historic slate adds cost as well; see matching old slates. Scaffold, access to a steep or tall elevation and the number of awkward details all push the total higher, whichever covering goes on top. Pitch and height change the access a crew needs, and access is a real cost driver on any roof.
How lifespan changes the sum
A cheaper covering that is replaced sooner can cost more across the life of a house. Lifespans in guides are ranges, not promises. MyBuilder puts a well-fixed slate roof at 80 to 100 years or longer, with Welsh stone often passing a century. On clay, Marley reports that research by the Building Research Establishment set its minimum life at 60 years. For concrete, MyBuilder says replacement usually falls between 30 and 50 years, while Marley mentions about 60 and stresses that this figure is no guarantee.
Exposure, workmanship and upkeep all move those numbers, and a maker's warranty tells you little about service life. Seen over decades, one replacement fewer is a large saving, even when the first bill is bigger. The sums only favour slate if the roof is well fixed and looked after, which on this coast means the right fixings and regular checks of ridges, flashings and gutters. The slate roof lifespan page goes further.
If you are thinking of swapping slate for tile
Changing the covering is where a bill can jump. A tile that weighs more than the slate it replaces raises a structural question. Planning Portal guidance names a covering weight increase of 15 per cent or more as the trigger, while Approved Document A words it as a load increase of more than 15%. The rafters may then need strengthening.
A full re-cover also goes beyond the limits the Planning Portal gives for work that normally needs no building control application: under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof. Past either limit, approval is needed, and the insulation in the roof may need upgrading too. On a listed building, or in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction, changing the material can need permission, so check with the Adur & Worthing planning team first. More detail sits on changing from slate to tile.
Ways to keep the figure sensible
Where a small fix removes the fault, start there. A slate roof with a few slipped slates or a worn flashing does not need replacing; why slate roofs leak shows how the cause is traced. Man-made slate is another route, and natural against man-made slate sets out the trade-offs.
Check what any quote includes. MyBuilder puts a scaffold for a typical two-storey house at £850 to £1,200, and VAT adds 20%, so check that scaffold and VAT are both counted in the price you are given. Our own sequence is simple: the survey comes first, with pictures of your roof, then a written quote that states a single sum, priced fairly. The wider choice of coverings and repairs sits under slate roofing.
Reading slate prices: two more questions
Why do two guides give different prices for slate?
They price different jobs, in different places, on different dates. One may describe patch repairs and another a full re-roof, and one may exclude VAT while another does not say. Use a guide as a rough scale and let the survey of your own roof set the actual figure.
Do the Checkatrade figures include VAT?
Checkatrade states that the repair costs in its table are exclusive of VAT. The standard rate is 20%, so add that when comparing with a quote. Whether any relief reaches part of a job depends on how the supply is structured, so ask about it before you agree a price.
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