New roof cost per m2
How much does a new roof cost per square metre?
The short answer
A new roof costs different amounts per square metre depending on the covering. Checkatrade puts slate at £160 to £210 per m², averaging £184, and Spanish slate at £95 to £125 per m². Those are typical UK figures from September 2026. A per m² rate is only a yardstick, because the scaffold, the shape of the roof and the work underneath all sit outside it. The written quote follows the survey.
What the published per m² rates for a new roof show, where they stop being useful, and how to read a whole-roof price instead.
The per m² rates that are published
A square metre price is a quick way to compare coverings. Checkatrade's slate roof guide, whose table was last updated in September 2026, gives £160 to £210 per m² for natural slate, with an average of £184. Spanish slate, a less costly import, comes in at £95 to £125 per m². The same guide puts slate roofers at £280 to £360 a day.
Those rates describe the covering and the labour of laying it. They do not describe your roof. Ask whether any new-roof rate you are given includes VAT. The standard rate is 20 per cent, and the difference is large on a roof-sized job.
Clay and concrete tile roofs are normally priced as whole jobs, which is why the next sections turn to totals. Our answer on repair costs per square metre covers repairs, which follow a different scale from a full new roof and should not be mixed with it.
Roof area is not floor area
A per m² rate applies to the area of the roof slope, and that is bigger than the footprint of the house. A pitched roof rises, so each slope is longer than the floor beneath it. The steeper the pitch, the more roof there is to cover. Overhangs at the eaves and verges add more.
Roofs also come in complicated forms. Hips, the sloping external angles where two slopes meet, and valleys, the inner angles where slopes join, mean extra cutting and extra lead or valley liner. Dormers, chimneys, rooflights and a flat-roofed extension each add detail that a flat rate does not capture.
This is why one house of a given size can cost very different amounts to re-roof than the house next door. The area is measured on the survey, from the ground and the roof itself, and the quote is worked out for the actual roof. A guess from the floor plan can be wrong by a wide margin.
What the whole-roof guides add up to
For a complete new roof, the national guides give totals rather than a rate. Checkatrade's roof replacement guide, updated in October 2026, gives a UK average of around £8,000, with most roofs between £4,000 and £19,000. By roof form, its table lists hip roofs at £9,250 to £18,000, gable roofs at £7,000 to £16,250 and flat roofs at £2,800 to £7,500, with VAT added on top.
For a three-bedroom semi the same guide gives around £12,000. Roofs differ in size, shape and covering, so treat every figure as a rough band and not as a rule.
What we send is a single total in writing, which is how the cost of the covering, the scaffold, the repairs to timbers and the clearing away all come together into a number you can compare. Our guide to roof replacement cost goes through the bands in detail.
Costs that sit outside the square metre
Several parts of a re-roof do not scale with area at all. Scaffolding is the main one: Checkatrade's roof guide puts it at £700 to £1,300, and its scaffolding guide shows a two-storey semi at about £875 a month. Where the scaffold stands on the pavement, a highway licence adds a fee.
Timber repair is another. Once the old covering is off, rotten battens, rafters or wall plates can be seen for the first time. They are replaced as needed, and the survey can only estimate that from the loft. Underlay, ventilation, lead for flashings and valleys, and new fascias and gutters are all separate decisions that move the total.
Then there is the paperwork. A re-roof can be notifiable under the Building Regulations, and the Planning Portal says a new covering that is 15 per cent or more heavier is one of the triggers. Insulation can come into play under Approved Document L. We explain which applies to your roof, and deal with the notification if work is notifiable.
How to use a per m² figure sensibly
Use it to sense-check, not to budget. Divide a slate quote by the roof area and see where it lands against the published band. If it lands far below, ask what the price leaves out. If it sits far above, ask what extra work is included. The question is the scope, and the answer is usually in the details.
Always compare like with like. A roof priced with a breathable membrane, mechanically fixed ridge tiles and new lead flashings is a different job from one that reuses the old materials. Our answer on why roofing quotes vary lists the differences, and the answer on a new roof on a three-bed semi shows a worked case.
We survey, photograph your roof and put a single total in writing. The roof replacement and new roofs page describes the job stage by stage.
Related questions
Per metre price questions
Is Spanish slate good enough to put on a house?
It is a real slate and many roofs carry it. Checkatrade prices it at £95 to £125 per m², below the natural slate average. Differences lie in the stone, the thickness and how it is quarried. Ask for the technical data sheet and what it says about pitch and fixings.
Does the per m² rate include the scaffold and skip?
Not unless the quote says so. Rates for a covering usually cover materials and fitting only. Ask whether scaffolding, waste removal and VAT are in the total. Our written quote names what is included and gives one total price.