The short answer: A conservation rooflight costs more than a standard rooflight of the same opening, because of the finer glazing, sizes that are often made to order and the care taken over the roof around it. The exact figure depends on your roof, the size, the access and the paperwork. We do not quote guide prices from a desk. The free survey gives you one fixed written quote for your roof.
People searching for the conservation rooflight cost, or the price of a heritage skylight, usually want a number. We understand that, but a number without a survey would be a guess, and a guess is how quotes grow later. What we can do is show you every factor that moves the price, so you can read any quote you receive, ours included, with confidence. This page sits under our conservation rooflights hub, which covers the product itself.
Why one figure never fits
Two houses on the same street can need very different jobs. One has a shallow slate roof reached from a rear garden. The other has a steep pitch above a narrow pavement with no space for a scaffold in the garden. The rooflight might be the same model, yet the work around it differs by days. That is why a conservation rooflight cost is always a figure for a particular roof.
What goes into the price
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Size of opening | Larger units mean more glass, a heavier frame and more handling |
| New opening or swap | A new hole needs rafters trimmed and a new trimmer; a swap reuses the opening |
| Roof covering | Slate, clay and stone-slate roofs take longer to lift and relay |
| Glazing bars | Bar patterns and finishes vary the unit and the lead time |
| Access | Scaffold type, licences and parking bays shape the whole job |
| Opening mechanism | Fixed units cost less than opening or electric versions |
Each row is something we check on the survey and write into the quote line by line.
Size, bars and finish
The unit itself is the part buyers think about first. Conservation rooflights come in standard sizes and are often made to order. The pane size, the number and spacing of glazing bars, the frame finish and whether the unit is fixed or opening all change what is made in the factory. A wide pane with a single central bar behaves differently, on price and on the roof, from a narrow one with several. If the heritage look is the point, our guide to glazing bars and flush fitting explains the choices.
The roof around the glass
On older buildings a lot of the labour is not in the rooflight at all. Period slates and clay tiles are lifted, set aside and relaid, and sometimes a few are lost and need matching. The flashings and soakers around the opening must be formed to fit, since the unit sits flush and has little margin for error. Where the rafters need trimming for a new opening, that structural work goes into the figure. A like-for-like swap into an existing opening costs differently from a new opening for exactly that reason.
Access, scaffold and consents
Brighton and Hove has tall terraces, parapets and steep streets where scaffold is not simple. Scaffold on a pavement or road requires a licence granted by the highway authority, and a parking bay may need suspending. We make those applications, and each one is built into the job. The steps are described under scaffold licences and parking suspensions. Every quote includes the access plan, one written page that names the way up to the roof, who applies for what, the Building Control route and the price.
Planning can also affect cost, since a flat, an Article 4 area or a listed building adds an application step. Read whether conservation rooflights need planning permission to see where you fit. The unit is installed to current Building Regulations, and any Building Control notification the job requires is ours to make. The energy limit for a new or replacement roof window is 1.4 W/m²K or Window Energy Rating band B, and meeting it feeds into the glass specification.
Reading any quote you are given
A good quote for a conservation rooflight names the size of the unit, the bar pattern, the finish, the glazing specification and what happens to the existing roof covering. It states whether scaffold, licences and Building Control notification are inside the figure or extra. If a quote is a single line with a total, ask what sits behind it. Comparing like with like is the only fair way to compare, and a lower figure that leaves out the scaffold or the relaying of slates is not lower at all.
Ask too what happens if the roof turns out different once the covering is lifted. A written quote should say how any change would be handled before it is agreed, not after the roof is open to the weather. Ours do, and the survey is where we look hard for the likely surprises so the written figure holds.
How the quote works
- Free survey. We visit by appointment and look at the roof, the room below and the route up.
- Measure and specify. We agree size, bars, finish and whether it opens.
- Fixed written quote. One figure, with the access plan attached.
- Your decision. There is no pressure, and no hidden extras added afterwards.
A 10-year workmanship guarantee comes with the work, and its terms are on the guarantee page. For general pricing ideas across all our products, see our costs overview. If you are weighing options, you may also want to see whether a conservation rooflight can open, since that choice shifts the price. Head back to the conservation rooflights hub or request your free survey for a fixed figure.
