Gable, hip or flat: the main roof shapes on UK homes

A gable roof has two slopes that meet at a ridge along the top, with a triangular wall of brick or stone, the gable end, at each side. Along that gable wall runs the verge, the sloped edge of the roof. This is the shape most people draw when they sketch a house, and it is common on terraces, semis and cottages.

It is simple to build and to cover, and that shows in price. For a whole new roof, MyBuilder (2026) quotes £5,000 to £8,000 for a gable house and £8,000 to £12,000 for a hipped one. Water runs off two slopes into two gutters, so there are few awkward junctions.

The weak points are the ridge and the verges. Both are fixed with clips or screws as well as mortar, because BS 5534:2014 stopped treating a mortar bed as enough for the ridge. A gable end that faces the prevailing weather takes more of a battering, and the verge is the first place we check when a roof loses tiles in a storm.

On a hip roof every side slopes down to the walls. The hip is the sloping ridge-like line at an outward corner, running from the top of the roof down to the eaves. Bungalows and detached houses are often built this way, and a hipped front with a gable behind is a familiar mix.

Hips look tidy and sit lower to the wind because there is no flat gable wall to catch it. The price is more cutting and more joins. Each hip needs a run of ridge-style tiles or a lead roll, and every valley, the inward fold between two slopes, adds a place where water collects. A hipped roof therefore costs more than a gable of the same area: Checkatrade's October 2026 guide gives hip re-roofs as £145 to £285 per m², against £110 to £260 per m² for a gable, both before VAT.

If you are pricing work to a hipped roof, check the quote covers the hips. A dry-fix hip system typically costs £70 to £100 per metre before VAT, according to Checkatrade.

A flat roof is not level. Under BS 6229 guidance the design fall is 1:40, which leaves a finished slope of 1:80 or better once the deck has settled and the build tolerances are used up. That slope carries water to a gutter or outlet. Where a flat roof ponds, the cause is usually the deck, the falls or a blocked outlet.

Flat roofs suit extensions, garages, dormer cheeks and porches. The coverings are bitumen felt, EPDM (a synthetic rubber membrane), GRP (fibreglass), single-ply membranes and lead. Typical lifespans are shorter than for pitched coverings: MyBuilder gives flat roofs generally 15 to 30 years. MyBuilder prices felt at £70 to £100 per m² and lead at £150 to £200 or more per m².

Repairs usually centre on edge details, upstands against walls and the outlets. That is where the survey spends its time.

Mansard roofs break each side into a steep lower slope and a shallow upper one, which makes room for living space inside. They are most often seen on town houses and in loft conversions. Dormers, the small windowed projections that break a roof slope, are not permitted development on land in a conservation area or the Cotswolds National Landscape, so a mansard or dormer conversion in a Stroud conservation area is a planning question first. Check with Stroud District Council's planning team.

A lean-to (mono-pitch) roof is one slope propped against a taller wall. You find it on outbuildings, side extensions and conservatories. Water tends to run toward one gutter, and where the slope meets the house wall, flashing does the work.

Mixed roofs combine these shapes, such as a hipped main roof with a flat-roofed rear extension, a gabled porch or a lean-to scullery. Each shape has its own weak points, and each join between two of them adds one more. Each junction between shapes is a point to look at. On a mixed roof, a leak in one part often shows up somewhere else, which is why photographs and a proper survey are worth having.

Shape affects three practical things, and all of them show up in the quote. Cost follows the number of hips, valleys and abutments, not just the area. Wind exposure follows the form: gable ends meet the wind squarely, hips shed it. Repair patterns follow the junctions, so valleys, chimneys and verges get the most attention.

Pitch matters as well. Manufacturers state a minimum for each covering: Marley gives 35° for concrete plain tiles and 15° for its Mendip tile, and natural slate on BS 5534 is 20° for a 500 mm slate in moderate exposure. A shallow roof may rule out a covering you like.

You can read more on the local scene in Stroud's houses and their roofs, and on materials in the most durable roofing material in the UK. When you have a quote, what a roofing quote should include helps you check it covers the awkward parts. To have the roof surveyed and photographed, start at Supreme Roofing Stroud.