New-build brick and render estate houses with grey tile roofs

Roofers in Park North

Park North is a municipal estate of low-rise homes and three tower blocks, built between 1957 and 1965. Its roofs are now at the age where tiles, felt and flat coverings all need a proper look.

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Park North's roofs, low-rise to tower block

Rows of low-rise homes with tiled roofs — The low-rise homes

Park North is a municipal housing estate built between 1957 and 1965, and one local account describes it as built in the early 1960s. Homes put up by a council in that window were designed to a budget and to repeat, so streets share a few house types. At sixty years or so, a roof of that period is at the point where original fixings, underlay and mortar have usually done their work. Concrete interlocking tiles are one covering you may find, though the survey, not the era, tells us what you actually have. Ridge bedding, verges, eaves boards and the felt beneath the tiles are the places to look first, along with any flat-roofed porch or garage that was part of the original layout.

A tower block rising above low-rise housing — The three tower blocks

The estate also has three 10-storey tower blocks. Their roofs belong to a landlord, and a building that tall is maintained on a different scale from a house, with the flat roof, lift housing and parapets all part of the building's maintenance. For an owner in the low-rise streets around them, the tower matters mainly as a shelter and a wind-funnel: tall buildings change how gusts reach the houses beside them, so a roof close to a block can show more loosened ridge tiles and lifted verge edges than one a street away. None of the towers is a reason to worry about a roof, only a reason to check the fixings more carefully on the houses nearby. We keep that in mind when we judge how hard the fixings need to work.

Interwar semi-detached houses with bays — Walcot beside the estate

Next door is Walcot, the private housing between Queens Drive and Drove Road, developed mostly between the wars and into the 1950s. Walcot East, built mostly in the 1950s, gave homes to many Londoners after wartime housing losses. Houses from those decades often have hipped or gabled roofs with bay windows, chimney stacks on the party walls and small roofs over bays and porches. Many have had their coverings renewed since, sometimes with a different tile from the original, and wherever a newer covering meets an older one, the seam is a regular cause of leaks. Chimney stacks that serve two houses add lead work that has to be kept sound on both sides. Where a bay or porch roof sits against the wall, the flashing is a frequent weak point.

Where Park North sits

Distance: 2 road miles east-south-east of central Swindon
Council: Swindon Borough Council
Council: Swindon Borough Council, for planning and building control
Conservation area: None; Park North is not among the council's 27
Setting: A 1957 to 1965 municipal estate with three 10-storey tower blocks

Roof questions for the Park North estate

Is Park North in a conservation area?

No. Swindon Borough Council's list of 27 conservation areas does not include Park North, and its Article 4 directions apply elsewhere. A repair in matching materials is routine work here.

Who looks after the roofs of the Park North tower blocks?

The landlord or freeholder does. If you own a flat, your lease sets out who pays for the roof. House owners around the blocks are responsible for their own.

Could a 1960s roof here contain asbestos?

Possibly. HSE guidance says to assume asbestos is present in a building constructed or refurbished before 2000, so we identify suspect materials first and do not break or drill them. Where a test shows asbestos cement, careful removal follows the proper rules and the waste goes with the right paperwork.

What fails first on a 1960s estate roof?

New white uPVC fascia, soffit and black gutter on brick eaves

Roofer fixing new red ridge tiles along a concrete tile roof

The short answer

At this age the weak points are seldom the tiles. Ridge bedding, verge mortar, the felt under the tiles, and the timber at the eaves and verges tend to give way first. A repair that renews those leaves a sound covering in place and avoids a full re-roof.

A roof that has stood for sixty years deserves a careful look, not an automatic replacement. What matters is which parts are spent and which still have years in them.

How long do the tiles, ridges and verges last?

Concrete tiles are durable, and published guides put their life at around 30 to 60 years, depending on the source. The mortar that bedded the ridge tiles and the verge ends has a shorter life, and since BS 5534:2014 the standard has treated mortar alone as insufficient for the highest courses, which now get a mechanical fixing too. A dry-fix ridge system, built to BS 8612, avoids the cracking mortar entirely. See ridge, verge and dry-fix.

What is happening under the tiles?

Under the tiles, the original sarking felt, the layer that catches wind-blown water, can perish. Battens that have stayed damp can soften and let nails pull. At the eaves, fascia and soffit boards take the worst of the weather. Soffits of that period are one place where asbestos insulating board can turn up, though painted board is hard to tell from modern material by eye, and HSE advises treating it with caution, so we do not drill or break suspect board. Our gutters, soffits and fascias page covers the replacements.

Should it be a repair or a re-roof?

Where the tiles are sound but the felt and fixings are tired, a strip and re-batten can retain the existing tiles. Where a large share are cracked, a new covering gives better value over the years. The survey photographs show which case you have, and we explain the choice in plain terms before you decide. Estate roofs often have the same tile throughout, so a limited repair rarely leaves a mismatch, and spare tiles from the garage roof or porch can sometimes be used to patch the main slope.

Is a flat porch or garage roof worth patching?

The answer

A patch is worth it when the covering is sound and a single fault has let water in, such as a split seam or a lifted edge. If the membrane is blistered, brittle or ponding across a large area, patching only buys time and a new covering is the honest answer.

Flat and low-pitched roofs over porches, garages and kitchen extensions are common on estates like this one. They age on a different timetable from the main roof, and they are usually the first thing to leak.

What decides between repair and replacement?

We look at three things on every flat roof. First, water that sits for a day or more after rain, which means the falls are wrong. A flat roof should be designed to a fall of 1:40 so that, after allowing for tolerances, it finishes at no less than 1:80, according to guidance citing BS 6229:2018. Second, the condition of the surface: cracking, blistering or a chalky, brittle feel. Third, the edges and upstands, where most leaks begin.

Which covering suits a flat roof?

Felt, EPDM and GRP each have a place. EPDM is a rubber membrane that goes down as a single sheet; GRP, short for glass-reinforced plastic, cures on site into a continuous shell; felt is bitumen sheet, often applied with a torch. Details are on our flat roofing page. The right one depends on the size, the shape and what comes through the roof, such as a rooflight or a pipe.

Where does the flat roof meet the house?

Where a flat roof meets the wall of the house, lead flashing or an upstand has to turn the water away. This junction is the commonest source of a damp patch on the ceiling next to a porch. A repair at the junction is often enough, and costs less than renewing the covering. Rooflights and extractor vents are the other places to look, because the seals around them dry out and split. If the ceiling stain is directly under one of them, the fault is likely to be the seal, not the membrane.

What it typically costs

Bitumen felt£70 to £100 per m²
EPDM£90 to £130 per m²
GRP£95 to £150 per m²

Typical national replacement figures, not our prices. The size of the roof and what penetrates it change the figure, and the written quote comes after the survey. MyBuilder flat roof cost guide, updated 21 August 2026.

What approval does re-roofing a Park North house need?

Scraped-back rafter beside thick spray foam under a slate roof

Torch beam lighting slate undersides and timbers in a loft

The short answer

Often none. A repair or a small re-cover is normally outside Building Regulations. A bigger re-roof, a heavier covering or a change to the structure brings in approval, and swapping a covering for a much heavier one needs the rafters checked first.

Park North is outside every conservation area on the council's list, so the questions are about Building Regulations and the roof structure, not about the appearance of the street.

How big does a job have to be?

According to the Planning Portal, a building control application is not usually required while under 25 per cent of the building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Stripping and re-covering a whole house exceeds the roof limit, and approval follows. In that case, Part L of the Building Regulations may require the roof insulation to be brought up to standard, and we cover that in the quote.

Does the weight of a new covering matter?

Approved Document A calls an increase of more than 15 per cent in roof loading significant, while the Planning Portal puts the line at 15 per cent or more. Replacing concrete tiles with natural slate usually makes the roof lighter, while the reverse changes the load on the rafters. We check the timbers and say so in the written quote.

Who deals with building control?

Swindon Borough Council runs its own building control, and registered building control approvers offer a private route. Where a job is notifiable, we arrange the notification. See roof repairs for jobs that stay under the limits.

If you hold a flat in one of the tower blocks, none of this applies to you directly, because the roof is the landlord's. A leaseholder who sees water coming through should report it to the managing agent, and keep photographs and dates of what has happened.

Insulation is the other thing to plan around, especially in a 1960s house where the loft layer may be thin. A loft that was built with a thin layer, or with none, may be topped up while the roof is open, and the extra depth changes how the eaves are ventilated. Ventilation needs to stay clear at the eaves, so the insulation is held back from the edge and does not block the airflow. We raise this at the survey, and the written quote deals with the loft side as well as the roof.

MythA council-built roof can be re-covered in any material without a check.

FactSwapping to a covering 15 per cent or more heavier needs approval, and the rafters are checked before anything is ordered.

Roofing services in Park North

Nearby towns we cover

Questions from the Park North streets

Why do ridge tiles on 1960s estate houses come loose?

They were bedded on mortar, which cracks and crumbles as the roof moves, and a tall block nearby can make the gusts worse. BS 5534 was revised in 2014 to stop relying on mortar by itself, so we fix them with clips or screws, or fit a dry-fix system, whichever suits the roof. The choice depends on the exposure of the slope and what the tiles will accept.

Do you work on houses beside the tower blocks?

Yes. The roofs of the blocks themselves belong to their landlord, but houses and flats around them are within our area. Access beside a tower can be tight, with parking and walkways to consider, so we plan ladders and scaffolding on the survey before pricing.

Where does Walcot end and Park North begin?

They are neighbours, with Walcot's private housing between Queens Drive and Drove Road and Park North's municipal estate beside it. We cover both, and the age of the house, not the name of the district, decides what the roof needs.

What comes with a roof survey in Park North?

A written quote arrives with pictures from your own roof and names the least work that will fix the problem. Our work is backed by a written 10-year workmanship guarantee, and the site is cleared afterwards. Call 01793 626096, use WhatsApp or the enquiry form.

Ask us about your roof

Tell us what’s happening and we’ll call you back.

Photos of what we find
A written quote
10-year workmanship guarantee

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