Should I fix my roof before selling my house?

A surveyor often works from the ground first: the street, the garden, sometimes binoculars. Then they go into the loft with a torch. What they record is what a buyer reads and worries about.

From the outside, they note slipped, missing or cracked tiles and slates, a ridge that looks uneven, moss in thick patches, sagging along the slope, cracked or loose mortar on the chimney stack, and flashings that have lifted. Inside, they check for staining on the underside of the roof, damp or darkened timbers, daylight through gaps, and old or poorly fitted insulation. A flat roof gets a closer look for ponding and blistering.

None of this is exotic. Almost everything on that list is visible to you in advance, so look for it before you list. A cheap first step costs nothing at all, and Skyline Swindon Roofing can follow it with a proper survey. Walk round the outside with a pair of binoculars on a bright day, and take photographs of anything that catches your eye. A short list of faults you have found yourself is far better than a long list found by someone else, because it lets you decide what to do about each one before the sale is under way. It also helps with the estate agent, who will want to know what to say when a viewer looks up.

Fix anything that lets water in, because a leak is the item that turns a survey note into a price negotiation. That means replacing slipped or broken tiles, renewing failed flashing, clearing and repairing valleys and gutters, and repointing a loose chimney stack. These are usually small jobs. MyBuilder's roof repair guide, updated in August 2026, puts minor repairs at £100 to £300 and moderate ones at £500 to £1,000, though your own roof may differ.

Leave alone what is only cosmetic. A mossy but sound roof does not need a full clean at the cost of the sale price, although a clean-up can help how the house looks in photographs. A full re-roof is a bigger decision, and a roof that is old but doing its job is often better sold as it is, with the facts disclosed. Our answer on whether roof repairs are worth it goes through the same sums.

A roof inspection tells you what a surveyor is likely to find. MyBuilder's inspection guide, updated in August 2026, gives a typical national range of £150 to £500, depending on the method. A written report with photographs is worth having in the folder for viewings, because it replaces rumour with evidence.

Our roof inspections and surveys hand you photographs of the covering today, with a written quote for anything that needs fixing. A clean report costs little and is something to show every viewer. If it finds something small, you can fix it on your terms rather than under pressure between offer and exchange. Keep invoices, guarantee paperwork and any record of a Building Regulations notification for work that needed one, because your conveyancer may ask to see them. Gathering them now, in one folder, saves a scramble later when the buyer's solicitor sends enquiries.

Sometimes a repair is not worth doing before a sale: the buyer plans a loft conversion, or the house is a project, or the sale is quick. Then be open about the fault and set the price with it in mind. Disclosing a known problem and quoting for it works better than hoping nobody notices. A buyer who finds an undeclared leak reads it as a sign of other things not said.

Get a written quote for the repair and offer it to buyers, or reduce the asking price by a sensible amount. A figure from a survey beats a vague promise. Some buyers prefer a lower price to a repaired roof, because they want to choose the covering themselves.

Some roof features raise questions that a quick repair cannot answer. Spray foam on the underside of the roof is one. The RICS consumer guide says its presence could affect a surveyor's opinion of value. As of November 2024 some lenders had turned down such homes, and others looked at each case separately. Our spray foam insulation removal page covers the options.

Old cement sheeting on a garage roof is another, and a patched flat roof of uncertain age is a third. In each case a clear report and a quote are the best answer you can give. If you cannot tell what is up there, have it checked before the buyer's surveyor does. For a building built or refurbished before 2000, HSE tells owners to assume asbestos is present, which is reason enough to ask before anyone disturbs old sheeting.

This page is for the seller. Should you be the buyer instead, our guide to roof checks before you exchange explains what a buyer should ask. Knowing both helps, because the questions a buyer puts to you are the ones that guide suggests they ask. For the regulations that apply when work does go ahead, read roof work and Building Regulations, and for a plain-English list of the terms in a survey report, see roofing terms explained. For safety on site, is roofing a dangerous job? is worth a read before you send anyone up there.