How much does slating cost per square metre?

Per-square-metre rates are how cost guides compare coverings. Checkatrade's table, last updated in September 2026, puts natural slate at £160 to £210 per m², with £184 as the average. Spanish slate, a cheaper imported stone, sits at £95 to £125. The same guide lists a slater's day rate between £280 and £360.

It does not say exactly what each rate takes in, so do not read one as a quote. Check whether any figure covers VAT, scaffolding, waste removal, battens, underlay and lead. Our page on Welsh and Spanish slate explains why two stones at different prices can both be natural, and what that difference is likely to mean once the slates are on the roof. A rate is a place to start asking questions and never the end of the conversation. Ask what thickness and grade the slate is, who supplies it, and whether spare slates are included for future repairs.

To use a per-metre rate you need the roof area, and that is larger than the footprint of the house because the slopes lean. A steeper pitch has more surface than the same house with a shallow one, and hips, valleys, dormers and chimneys add cutting and flashing around them. Those details cost more than the open slope, and a roof broken up by many of them works out dearer per square metre than a plain gable.

This is why a rate times an area gives a starting figure, not a price. The dependable route to a price is a survey of the roof you own, with photographs, and the figure that comes back is a single total for the entire job. For a full re-roof in slate, see new slate roof cost, which sets out the typical ranges in full. Take care with roofs that have been altered over the years, because patched areas, mixed slate sizes and older extensions all change how much of the old covering can be kept.

Repairs are priced on their own scale. Checkatrade's repair guide, updated in October 2026 with a table last updated in June 2026, shows natural slate at £150 to £220 per m², concrete tile at £90 to £120 and clay at £110 to £160. Fixing ridge tiles and mending lead flashing are each shown at £50 to £70 per metre. The guide adds that VAT is not included in any of its numbers, so it has to be added.

Those numbers show a premium on slate repairs, because the work is slower and needs a skilled slater. They also show why replacing a few slates costs less than renewing a whole section. When a roof has one fault, such as a run of slipped slates, a targeted repair can be right, and our guide to slate roof repair explains when. If the damage is spread across the roof, a re-slate may cost less over the years than patching.

Several things move the total. Access comes first: a roof that needs full scaffold costs more than one reached by a tower, and Checkatrade's scaffolding guide gives about £875 monthly for a two-storey semi. Where scaffolding takes up the pavement, the highway authority issues a licence, which needs advance notice.

The rest is the roof itself. How sound the battens and underlay are, whether old slates can be reused, the slate size, the fixing method, the number of chimneys, valleys and dormers, and whether lead is renewed all shift the figure. Reclaimed stone is priced differently from new, as our reclaimed roof slates page explains, and the slate's origin matters because Welsh, Spanish and other stone differ in cost and in how they age. Exposed roofs near the sea may also need heavier fixing choices than a sheltered street would, and the survey records which applies to yours. A roof with a long run of ridge or verge needs more fixing work too.

We survey the roof and photograph each fault, so you see the same things we do. The verdict comes first: repair, patch for now, or re-slate, and the lightest job that truly puts it right. The price follows in writing, as one total. Our pricing is good and fair, and the written total lets you judge it.

Do not choose a slater on rate alone. Ask what the price includes, whether the fixings meet the current standard, and how the ridge and verge are finished. BS 5534 covers slating and tiling. Since its 2014 revision, ridges and hips get mechanical fixings instead of relying on mortar alone. When the job ends, the site is left clear. The slate roofing page explains the whole service, from first look to final tidy, and none of it is done from the pavement.