Flat roofs in a conservation area

No. A conservation area is a part of a town or village that a council has marked out because its character or appearance is worth keeping. Designation adds controls over some work, such as demolition, tree work and certain changes to the outside of a building. It does not forbid ordinary maintenance.

Section 55 of the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act says that maintenance, improvement or alteration works which leave a building's exterior looking much as before are not development. Stripping a worn flat roof and laying a new covering that looks much the same generally sits on that side of the line, so a planning application is not normally part of it.

The words that matter are similar appearance and materially. Once the roof looks different from the street or from neighbouring land, the answer can change, and that is the point to pick up the phone to the council.

The common triggers are the following.

• The building is listed. The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 sets a stricter rule for a listed home: any change touching its special character requires listed building consent first, and skipping that step is an offence. A flat roof, a parapet or the place rainwater is sent can all be caught.
• An Article 4 direction applies. The council has withdrawn some permitted development rights in an area the council has mapped out, so work that would otherwise be allowed needs an application.
• The appearance changes. A new parapet, a raised edge, a different colour of finish in a spot where it can be seen, or a roof light added to the roof may need a planning application.
• The property carries other conditions, such as a planning condition on an earlier extension.

None of these is common on a hidden flat roof behind a parapet. Check anyway, because the cost of getting it wrong falls on the owner.

Swindon Borough Council's conservation areas page lists 27 entries, among them Swindon Old Town, Wroughton, Highworth and the Swindon railway conservation area. It notes Article 4 directions for Bishopstone and for the Swindon railway village.

The council's railway conservation area appraisal says the direction there covers painting the outside of a building, extensions or alterations, outbuildings and new vehicle crossings, and that it was adopted in 1980. The council's 1980 leaflet adds that most properties in the railway village are listed, so a flat-roofed addition there deserves extra care. The conservation team can be reached through the council's conservation areas page.

If your home is in a village outside the borough, that area's own planning team holds the local picture. We do not guess which designation covers you; the council's website or a short email will tell you.

Changing the waterproofing material on a flat roof is often invisible from outside. A roof behind a parapet, or at the back of the house, is not seen from the street, and the finish makes little difference to how the building looks.

It matters where the roof can be seen, where the new finish has a distinct colour or texture, or where the building is listed and the roof is part of its character. A mineral-surfaced felt cap sheet, a grey EPDM sheet and a coloured GRP topcoat do not look alike from above. If the roof is overlooked from a neighbour's window or a garden, a conspicuous change might be treated as material.

Our page comparing EPDM and GRP explains how the two finish differently. When the roof is visible and you are in a conservation area, ask the council before choosing one.

Planning and Building Regulations are different systems. A flat roof can need no planning application and still touch Building Regulations. According to the Planning Portal, a roof can usually be re-covered without a building control application while under 25 per cent of the total building envelope and under 50 per cent of the roof is affected. Go beyond either one and approval is required.

Approved Document L lists the replacement of a flat roof's waterproof membrane as renovation of a thermal element, which can bring insulation requirements into play. The height effects are set out on the page about insulating a flat roof from above.

Where work is notifiable, the Building Regulations notification is filed by us, and we explain the consent side beforehand. Planning questions go to Swindon Borough Council's planners, or at the council covering your address if you are beyond the borough.

Begin by finding out whether your home is listed or inside a conservation area, and whether an Article 4 direction applies. The council's website and the Planning Portal are the places to look. If anything is unclear, ask the council's planners before accepting a quote, since a short email can save weeks of delay later.

Our survey notes the roof's make-up, what shows from outside, and which points deserve a question to the council. Photographs of the roof go with the written quote that follows. If a repair solves the fault we propose that, and a written 10-year workmanship guarantee covers the job.

Call 01793 626096; WhatsApp and the contact form both work, and we will book a visit to your flat roof.