The short answer
For a typical pitched house, concrete interlocking tile is the cheapest covering that will do the job properly. Natural slate costs more, clay tile costs more again, and metal or specialist coverings sit at the top. The real savings come from keeping what is sound, such as the structure or your own tiles, and from competing like for like. Cutting out new battens, underlay or flashings is not saving, just deferring the cost.
Concrete tile is the budget baseline
On most UK houses the cheapest covering that gives a long, reliable life is the concrete interlocking tile. It is made in large pieces, so fewer are needed per square metre and they lay quickly. They come in a range of profiles and colours, and the better ones are a sound, durable roof. It is the covering on a large share of houses built since the 1960s. If your roof is already concrete tile, a like-for-like replacement is the easiest to price and quickest to fit.
Cost guides report a full re-roof of a three-bedroom semi in concrete tile at about £6,500 to £10,500, and a new roof on a standard semi or detached house at about £4,000 to £13,000 depending on size and complexity. Those are figures from third-party sites, not our prices, and the number you pay is the fixed quote written after the survey.
How the other coverings compare
Natural slate sits above concrete. Typical ranges are about £120 to £180 per square metre all-in for natural slate, and £90 to £130 per square metre for man-made slate, with Welsh slate toward the top of the range and Spanish slate lower. Slate gives a long life and a classic look on the right house, but it is not the cheap option. Clay tiles are dearer again, particularly hand-made plain tiles, which are also slow to lay.
Flat roofs have their own order: felt is usually the cheapest per square metre, then EPDM and then GRP, though the cost per year of life often reverses the order. The trade-offs between them are laid out in our materials comparison. A word on shingles: asphalt shingles, which dominate American roofing, are rare on UK houses, and felt shingles are a light-duty covering for sheds and outbuildings, not a normal option for a home.
Where savings are real
The first real saving is to repair, not replace, when the roof still has years left. A survey that tells you so is cheaper than any new roof. The second is to keep sound material. If your tiles are in good order, reusing them can cut the material bill, with the trade-offs set out in the answer on reusing old roof tiles. The third is timing work to share scaffold, for example with a roofline job or chimney repair.
The fourth is plain comparison. Get quotes on the same specification, with the same underlay, battens, ridge system, flashings, skip and scaffold, so the totals can be compared. A low figure that leaves out the roofline or the skip is not a saving. The article on how much a new roof costs explains what makes up the price.
What a quote should list
To compare cheap options fairly, ask each firm to list the same things: scaffold, strip and disposal, new battens, underlay type, tile or slate name and colour, ridge and hip fixing, lead or other flashings, roofline if included, and the guarantee. If one quote is a single line, ask for the breakdown. Two prices are comparable only when they describe the same roof.
False economies
Some cuts look attractive and cost more. Re-using tired battens saves little on materials and leaves nail-sick timber under a new covering. Thin or cheap underlay can fail before the tiles do. Skipping the lead flashings and using sealant instead gives a roof that leaks within a few seasons. Bedding ridge tiles in mortar alone, when current practice under BS 5534:2014 expects mechanical fixings, leaves the highest part of the roof the weakest. Laying new tiles over old ones, known as overlaying, adds weight and hides defects, and it can breach rules on the weight of a new covering. These items are cheap on day one and expensive by year ten.
Beware too of a price that is much lower than the rest. It usually means something has been left out, or that the contractor expects to make it up in extras once the roof is open.
Cheapest over the life of the roof
The cheapest roof on the day is not necessarily the cheapest over thirty years. A covering that lasts twice as long at one and a half times the price is the better buy, if you plan to stay. If you plan to sell soon, a sound, plain roof with a clear guarantee is what a buyer wants to see. Think about how long you will be in the house, and about maintenance: a slightly dearer material that needs no attention can beat a cheap one that needs regular repair.
At the survey we give you the options on your roof with prices side by side, starting with the plain budget one. The quote is fixed, and the wider service sits under roof replacement.
Every roof is different. A free survey with photos settles it for yours.
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