Roofing Scams: 2,205 Reported to Citizens Advice in a Year

Three things from the past week for anyone with roof work coming up. Citizens Advice says roofing is now the most common scam it hears about, the latest official figures show repair work holding up while new building shrinks, and the construction training board wants to change how a roofer’s skills are recognised.

Roofing is the most common scam Citizens Advice hears about

Citizens Advice published new figures on 12 October showing that roofing complaints to its consumer service rose by around 10% in a year, from 8,136 to 8,985 in the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026. Of those, 2,205, roughly one in four, were suspected scams, up from 2,098 the year before. The charity told the BBC that one in ten of all the scams it recorded over the year were about roofing, more than any other type, and that three quarters of the fraudsters used doorstep sales tactics.

The cases follow a familiar pattern. One woman, 65, in north-east England, found two tradesmen online to fix a leaking gutter for £250; they then said more work was needed, and after an hour she paid £3,500 for work she could see no sign of the next day. Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty put it plainly: “Scammers exploit the fact that roofs are out of sight and reach, knowing most people can’t easily inspect the work themselves.”

The National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC) used the figures to warn that some firms claim membership they do not have. Its advice is to find a member only through the directory on its own website, check that the company name, address and phone number match the directory entry exactly, and ring the NFRC on 020 7638 7663 if anything does not line up. Citizens Advice adds: get everything in writing, take photos and keep receipts if a job goes wrong, and remember that a trader must give you your cancellation rights in writing. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, work not done with reasonable care and skill must be put right or refunded.

The simplest rule is the one that beats almost every case above: never agree to roof work from someone who knocked on your door or rang you first. Our guides to roofing scams and rogue roofers, how to find a good roofer and questions to ask a roofer cover the checks. The figures are reported by BBC News and the NFRC’s advice is at Roofing Today.

Repair work grows while new building slips

The Office for National Statistics published its construction figures for August on 15 October. Total output fell 0.2% in the month, the fourth monthly fall in a row, and 1.0% over the three months to August. The fall came entirely from new work, down 0.7% in August, led by private new housing, down 1.9%. Repair and maintenance went the other way, up 0.4% in the month, although it was still 0.3% lower over the three months.

For homeowners this is a mixed picture. Builders short of new-build work are more likely to price keenly for repairs and re-roofs, which fits last week’s cost figures showing contractors absorbing some of their rising costs. But repair work is the one part of the market that is growing, so good roofers will not stay short of jobs, especially once autumn storms arrive. If you know your roof needs work, get it quoted now rather than after the first gale. Our roof repair cost guide and how to read a roofing quote help you check a price. The figures are in the ONS bulletin.

The CITB consults on recognising roofers’ on-the-job skills

On 12 October the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) opened a consultation on recognising what it calls “functional competence”: formal recognition for a single task a worker can already do, without taking a whole new qualification. Its own example is installing solar panels within roofing. The new route would sit alongside NVQs and apprenticeships rather than replace them, and would be held to industry-approved, independently reviewed standards. The consultation runs until 15 January 2027, and work on the requirements for each trade would start from April 2027 if the industry approves it.

Nothing changes for you yet, but it is worth knowing how a roofer’s competence is evidenced today: a relevant NVQ or apprenticeship, a skills card, and membership of a trade body that inspects its members’ work. Ask which of these a firm holds before you hire, and ask the same question of anyone fitting solar panels to your roof. The proposals are reported by Roofing Today.