Slate and concrete tile across Pontefract, with skylights and rooflights for its terraces, flats and estates

Fronts to the street, slopes out of sight

Buildings in the centre stand shoulder to shoulder, so the rear slope of one is often screened by the building in front of it. A rooflight on that slope does little to the street scene. A front slope is another matter, because every passer-by sees it and the unit has to be justified.

Slim frames for slate

On slate in a conservation area we put forward a conservation rooflight: a thin black frame, usually with one central bar, lying low among the slates. It keeps the line of the roof unbroken from the pavement, and a single unit raises fewer questions than a pair.

Checking for a listing

Consent for listed buildings is a separate process. If the building is listed, a new rooflight cannot go ahead on permitted development alone; listed building consent has to come first. The National Heritage List for England can be searched online by address, and we look an address up before suggesting a unit.

Beyond the old centre

Brick terraces, inter-war semis and the newer estates are ordinary house roofs. The usual permitted development limits apply to them, and the front slope still matters, since it faces the street.

Taking the roof as it stands

A roof in the old centre may have been re-covered over the years with slates of different ages and colours. We note the condition of what is there, because it affects how cleanly the covering can be lifted and relaid round a frame, and a mismatched patch of slate is better avoided on a visible slope.

One slope or two

Where the room below could be lit through either the front slope or the rear one, the quieter slope is the one to weigh up first. A stair in a tall town-centre building can be lit from the back of the roof as well as the front, and that choice often simplifies the planning side. The application can then describe one named unit and its exact position.

Flat or pitched

A wing with a flat roof takes a flat roof rooflight on a timber kerb, with the covering dressed up its sides. A pitched wing covered in slate or tile takes a roof window, set between the rafters like any other.

What the wing is roofed in

Flat roofs in the town carry bitumen felt, a rubber sheet or a fibreglass skin, and each is finished at the kerb in its own manner. Which covering lies on the wing is the first thing noted, because the kerb has to be dressed to match it.

Reading a kerb size

Makers publish sizes in two ways: some give the inside of the kerb and some the outside. A frame ordered against the wrong measure ends up a few centimetres out, so the size on paper is always tied to the kerb it refers to.

When a lantern is worth asking about

A roof lantern climbs to a glazed pitch of its own and sends more light to the centre of a wide wing. It generally stands well above the 150mm that permitted development tolerates, so the council has to be asked, unless the permission for the extension itself already includes the lantern.

Finishing indoors

Under the new rooflight the opening is lined, plastered and left ready for decorating. A wing ceiling is often plasterboard, which cuts cleanly, and the dust is contained with sheeting before work starts.

Light for the rest of the kitchen

A rooflight over the far end of a long wing leaves the near end, by the door to the house, lit by the old window. Placing the unit partway along the wing instead of at its middle is sometimes the better answer; that depends on where the worktops and table sit, and on where the rafters or joists fall.

Who to ask first

Because permitted development stops short of flats where roofs are concerned, the first call is to Wakefield Council. The second is to whoever holds the freehold or manages the building, since the lease normally says who consents to work on the roof. Our planning page explains where permitted development stops for flats.

What suits an upper-floor flat

• A sun tunnel for an inner bathroom or hall with the roof directly above and a clear route down.
• A roof window in a sloping ceiling over a bedroom or living room.
• A flat rooflight where the flat has its own flat roof section.

Agreeing access with the building

The unit usually travels up a shared stair, so the route is agreed with everyone who uses it. Landings are sheeted and the stair is swept after each day. A frame that is long or awkward may be lifted by hand up the outside of the building instead, if the roof can be reached from a safe stand.

When a lower flat cannot be reached

A flat with another flat above it has no roof of its own. A tube would have to cross someone else's home, so that case is a conversation with the owners above, and in some buildings the answer is that the roof cannot serve the room.

The commercial roof as well

A shop, office or workshop in the centre can be given the same rooflights as a home, and the same services apply. A commercial flat roof is covered and finished in the same way as a domestic one.

Shared walls and noise

Work above a flat means work above someone's head. We agree working hours with the people living below, and keep the cutting to the roof side as far as it can be kept there. A neighbour who knows the day and the hours is a neighbour who is easier to work beside, and a note through the door costs nothing.