How do I choose a roofer?

Is a national roofing firm better than a local roofer?

We are Vision Roofing Services, one of the four routes here, the local roofer, so this is not an independent review. No company is named, and nobody paid to appear or to be left off. Published by Vision Roofing Services, owner Tommy Smith, on the tools since the age of 15. The two price guides below were read on 30 August 2026 and re-checked on 31 August, with an AI assistant used to gather and summarise them. If anything here is wrong, email [email protected] and we will change it.

A national firm prices the whole roof in one visit, usually with a long guarantee and the option to spread the payments. Ask whether the people quoting are the people fitting, and who those fitters work for. Ask what the guarantee covers, what voids it, and who honours it if that firm stops trading.

With a local roofer you are often dealing with the person who will be on the roof, so ask whether that is the case. The guarantee is that one business, so if it stops trading the guarantee stops with it. This route has the widest spread between good and bad, which is why the checks below matter most here.

Should I use a directory or a builder instead?

A directory passes your enquiry to roofers in your area. Nobody in that chain does the work, so the guarantee comes from the firm that turns up, not the website that sent them. Ask the directory how it is paid, and whether the firms it lists pay for your enquiry. What you buy is speed. Enquire once rather than on three sites.

A builder will bring a roofer in, which is the sensible route when the roof sits inside a bigger job, an extension or a loft conversion. Ask who is doing the roof, and which of the two guarantees the covering. What you pay for is one person answerable for the whole job.

What should I check before hiring a roofer?

Get the price in writing, with the covering named, and whether the tiles or slates are new or salvaged.

Ask whether scaffolding is inside the number, and who strips the old covering and takes the waste away.

Ask whether the ridge and the verge go back dry or in mortar, because that decides how soon somebody is up there again.

Ask what the guarantee covers, how long it runs, what voids it and who honours it.

Ask whether building control needs notifying for the amount of roof being recovered, and who notifies them.

Get more than one price, and make both quotes describe the same job before you compare the numbers.

Be careful with anyone who knocked at the door, wants cash up front, or has spotted a fault from the pavement that you cannot see.

How much does roof repair cost in the South East?

Access decides the number more than the repair does, so we do not publish our own prices. Only one guide we read splits its figures by region: MyJobQuote puts roof leak repair at £150 to £1,200 as a UK average against £250 to £1,300 in London and the South East. Which? publishes no regional figures, but says prices "are likely to be at the upper end of the scale if you live in London or the South East". Neither publishes a Surrey or Sussex figure, so a quote here above the national middle is not on its own evidence of overcharging.

The two headline figures behind those guides are national. Which? surveyed 11 of its own Trusted Traders across the UK in November 2025 and put replacing one to six standard tiles at £75 to £400, labour and materials included, VAT excluded. MyJobQuote, last updated 27 August 2026, puts the average roof repair at around £650 in 2026, without saying whether its figures include VAT, so the two cannot be lined up. Neither is our price: ours is a free estimate, charged only if we do the work.

What can you check about Vision Roofing?

Vision Roofing Services is run by Tommy Smith, a sole trader, not a registered company, working across Crawley, Brighton, Horsham, Reigate, Redhill and Dorking. We price the work ourselves, some jobs on a visit and some over the phone. A price holds for 30 days, and payment is due when the job is finished. Repairs are guaranteed for 5 years, which we have taken as covering the job in total. On a new roof or a reroof the work is guaranteed, and we do not put a number of years on it.

We hold no customer reviews, so there is no rating on this site and no count of jobs done. We belong to no trade body and display no scheme badges. We publish one price, gutter cleaning from £30, and nothing else. Weigh that honestly: a firm with a public register entry you can look up gives you something to check that we do not. What we give instead is that the person pricing your job runs the business. To ask about a job, ring 07477 536 273.

Where these figures come from

Every price on this page is quoted from a published cost guide, named in the text beside it. Nothing here is averaged or estimated.

Which?, How much do roof repairs cost?, https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/finding-a-tradesperson/article/how-much-do-roofers-cost-aHH2S2r0xnGA, prices gathered November 2025 from 11 Which? Trusted Traders across the UK, figures read 2026-08-30, wording re-checked 2026-08-31

MyJobQuote, Roof Repair Cost Guide 2026, https://www.myjobquote.co.uk/costs/roof-maintenance, page states last updated 27 August 2026, figures read 2026-08-30, publication date and VAT wording re-checked 2026-08-31