Written by Andrew, Lead Roofer
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CORC Certified
Public Liability Insured
Emergency Roof Repairs 24/7
Fascia and soffit replacement costs £115 to £185 per metre fitted, or £2,000 to £5,000+ for a London home. Prices by material and property type.
Fascia and soffit replacement costs £115 to £185 per linear metre supplied and fitted in the UK in 2026, or roughly £2,000 to £5,000 for a typical London property, depending on the material, the length of the roofline, and how the work is accessed. Material-only board prices are far lower, which is why online quotes vary so widely.
This guide covers what fascia and soffit replacement costs per metre, what it costs for common London property types, the difference between material-only and supplied-and-fitted prices, how uPVC compares with timber and aluminium, and the extra costs most quotes leave out, including scaffolding and asbestos-cement soffits on older homes.
Fascia and soffit replacement costs £115 to £185 per linear metre for uPVC supplied and fitted, including labour and waste removal. Most whole-house jobs in London fall between £2,000 and £5,000, and larger detached properties run higher.
The single biggest reason quotes differ is what the price actually includes. A merchant selling uPVC boards over the counter quotes £20 to £30 per metre for the material alone. A roofer quoting to supply and fit the same boards, strip the old roofline, hire access and remove the waste quotes £115 to £185 per metre. Both figures are correct. They are answering different questions.
| What you are pricing | Typical cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| uPVC fascia and soffit boards, material only | £20 to £30 per metre |
| uPVC fascia and soffit, supplied and fitted | £115 to £185 per metre |
| Whole terraced house (uPVC, fitted) | £2,000 to £3,500 |
| Whole semi-detached house (uPVC, fitted) | £3,000 to £5,000 |
| Whole detached house (uPVC, fitted) | £4,500 to £8,000 |
The figures in this guide are for uPVC supplied and fitted unless stated otherwise, and they assume standard access, London labour rates and old material removal included.
Fascia and soffit replacement is priced per linear metre of roofline because the work follows the eaves along each elevation. A roofer measures the total run of fascia and soffit around the property, adds access and waste, and prices from there.
Fascia boards and soffit boards are fitted together on the same run, so the combined rate is lower than adding the two separate rates. A fascia board on its own costs £80 to £150 per metre supplied and fitted. A soffit board on its own costs £50 to £80 per metre. Because the scaffold, the labour and the strip-out are shared when both are replaced together, the combined fascia and soffit rate settles at £115 to £185 per metre rather than the sum of the two.
| Component | Material only (per m) | Supplied and fitted (per m) |
|---|---|---|
| uPVC fascia board | £9 to £11 | £80 to £150 |
| uPVC soffit board | £10 to £14 | £50 to £80 |
| Fascia and soffit together | £20 to £30 | £115 to £185 |
| Bargeboard (per gable) | £15 to £25 | £300 to £950 |
| Capping over existing boards | n/a | £40 to £85 |
There is one situation where fascia work costs much less per metre. When guttering is already being replaced and the scaffold is up, adding fascia board replacement to the same job costs around £25 to £40 per metre as a marginal extra, because the access and much of the labour are already paid for. That marginal figure is the one quoted in a gutter replacement job, and it is not the same as a standalone fascia and soffit replacement. The gutter replacement cost guide covers guttering prices in detail.
Fascia and soffit replacement cost by property type depends on the length of roofline and the access each property needs. A terraced house has less roofline than a detached house, but a third-floor London terrace needs more scaffold than a bungalow. Both length and access move the price.
| Property type | Approx roofline | uPVC, supplied and fitted (London) |
|---|---|---|
| Victorian or terraced house (front and rear) | 15 to 20 m | £2,000 to £3,500 |
| 1930s semi-detached | 20 to 30 m | £3,000 to £5,000 |
| Detached house | 40 to 50 m | £4,500 to £8,000 |
| Bungalow | 25 to 35 m | £2,800 to £4,500 |
| Mansion-block or period-conversion flat | per elevation | usually a freeholder cost, see below |
A bungalow has a surprising amount of roofline for its size because the whole perimeter sits at one level, but the easy ground-level access keeps the total down. A detached house is the opposite, with a long roofline and, on two or three storeys, a full scaffold on every elevation.
Flats in London are a special case. The fascia and soffit on a mansion block or a period conversion belong to the building, not to a single flat, so replacement is almost always a freeholder or management-company decision priced for the whole roofline rather than a small standalone quote for one leaseholder. Anyone in a converted London flat who has been quoted for roofline work in isolation should check the lease before agreeing, because roofline maintenance usually sits with the freeholder and the cost is shared through the service charge.
The biggest single variable on a London job is the London premium itself. London roofline work runs roughly 15 to 30 per cent above national averages, and the reason is straightforward. London roofer day rates sit at £250 to £350 per day, compared with £180 to £250 in the Midlands and £150 to £220 in the North. Add parking suspensions, permit costs, tighter access between terraces and higher tip fees, and a London fascia and soffit replacement costs noticeably more than the same job in a market town.
Access and scaffolding come next. Ground-floor soffits on a bungalow need nothing more than a tower or a ladder, which adds very little. Third-floor soffits on a Victorian terrace need a full scaffold, and scaffold hire runs £300 to £600 per elevation per week. On a mid-terrace with a rear return, that can mean scaffold on two or three faces at once.
| Additional cost | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Scaffolding (per elevation, per week) | £300 to £600 |
| Access tower (single storey) | £100 to £250 |
| Waste removal and disposal | £50 to £100 |
| Asbestos-cement soffit removal | £15 to £40 per m plus licensed tip fees |
| Bargeboard replacement (per gable) | £300 to £950 |
The condition of what sits behind the boards matters too. On many older London properties the fascia timber has rotted where the guttering has been leaking for years, and rotten rafter feet or wall plate need attention before new boards go on. That work is not part of a straight board swap and adds to the cost, which is one reason a proper survey beats a phone quote.
uPVC, timber and aluminium are the three materials used for fascias and soffits, and the right choice depends on the property as much as the budget. uPVC is the default for most modern and post-war London homes because uPVC is low maintenance and never needs painting. Timber suits conservation areas and period properties where appearance matters. Aluminium is the premium option for exposed or high rooflines that are hard to reach for maintenance. Merchant board prices bear this out, and the Federation of Master Builders lists aluminium as the dearest of the three materials, with uPVC and timber cheaper per board.
| Material | Supplied and fitted (per m) | Lifespan | Maintenance | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| uPVC | £115 to £185 | 20 to 30 years | Wipe clean, no painting | Most modern and post-war homes |
| Timber | £120 to £200 | 15 to 30 years with upkeep | Repaint every 3 to 5 years | Conservation areas, listed and period homes |
| Aluminium | £150 to £250 | 30 to 40+ years | Minimal | Exposed, high or hard-to-access rooflines |
This is where a roofer’s view matters more than a price list, because uPVC is not always the right answer on a London property. On a listed building, or in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction, swapping timber fascias for white plastic can breach the rules and look wrong against original brickwork and sash windows. Many period streets in Wimbledon, Clapham and Barnes were built with painted timber rooflines, and replacing that timber with matching timber, or with a timber-effect finish, keeps the character intact. uPVC saves money and maintenance, but it is a false economy if it damages the look of a period home or forces a fight with the conservation officer later.
Capping is the other option worth understanding. Capping, sometimes called over-cladding, means fixing new uPVC over the existing timber fascia rather than removing it, at £40 to £85 per metre. Capping is cheaper and quicker, and it works when the timber underneath is sound. Capping over rotten timber is the mistake to avoid, because it seals the rot in, hides the problem and shortens the life of the whole roofline. On a lot of older London homes the timber behind the gutter has already gone, and full replacement is the honest option even though capping looks cheaper on paper.
Fascias and soffits need replacing when the boards are rotten, sagging, or letting water and pests into the roof space. The clearest sign on a timber roofline is soft, flaking or discoloured board, often worst directly behind a leaking gutter joint.
Peeling paint and visible timber are early warnings on a painted fascia. Birds or wasps getting into the roof through a gap in the soffit mean the board has failed or pulled away. Water stains running down the wall below the eaves, or damp appearing at the top of an upstairs room, often trace back to a failed fascia or soffit rather than the roof covering itself.
Repair is sometimes enough. A single rotten section of timber fascia can be cut out and spliced, and fascia and soffit repair costs from a few hundred pounds where the damage is localised. Replacement makes more sense when the boards are failing along a whole elevation, when the timber is uPVC’s age all at once, or when the roofline has already been patched several times. A roofer who inspects the run rather than quoting blind can tell the difference between a £300 repair and a £3,000 replacement.
Asbestos-cement soffits are common on London homes built or extended before the year 2000, and they change both the cost and the method of a fascia and soffit replacement. Older soffit boards that look like grey cement sheet, rather than timber or plastic, are often asbestos-cement, and they cannot simply be ripped down.
Asbestos-cement is dangerous only when it is broken, drilled or cut, because that releases fibres. The Health and Safety Executive sets the rules for handling it. Asbestos-cement soffit is classed as non-licensed work, which means small quantities can be removed carefully without a licensed contractor, but the boards must be kept whole and damp, taken down without breaking, double-wrapped, labelled and disposed of at a licensed facility that accepts asbestos. Many homeowners choose a licensed asbestos contractor anyway, because the safety and the paperwork are then handled properly.
Asbestos-cement soffit removal adds roughly £15 to £40 per metre for careful removal plus the licensed tip fees, and more if a licensed contractor carries out the work. It is not an optional extra to skip. Anyone quoting to replace grey cement soffits without mentioning asbestos should be asked how they plan to remove and dispose of the material, because getting that wrong is both a health risk and an offence.
Replacing fascias and soffits does not normally need planning permission or building regulations approval when the work is a like-for-like replacement. Roofline maintenance counts as permitted development on most houses, and the Planning Portal confirms that replacing fascia board or soffit will not normally need building regulations approval.
There is one building-regulations point that catches people out. Fascia and soffit boards carry the ventilation that keeps the roof space dry, so the replacement must not reduce the ventilation the roof already had. If the old soffits had vents, the new ones need matching vents, because blocking that airflow causes condensation in the roof void and eventually rots the timbers. The National Federation of Roofing Contractors publishes technical guidance on roof ventilation, and a good installer fits ventilated soffits as standard for exactly this reason.
Planning permission is a different matter on protected properties. Listed buildings, conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty all carry extra controls, and swapping timber roofline for uPVC on a listed building or in a conservation area can need consent from the local planning authority. Bernard Andrews works on period and conservation properties across London and can advise on what needs approval before any work starts. The heritage and conservation roofing service covers this kind of sensitive work.
Replacing fascias, soffits and guttering together usually costs less per element than doing each job separately, because the scaffold only needs to go up once. The guttering is fixed to the fascia, so a fascia replacement means taking the gutter off anyway, which makes it the natural moment to renew old guttering at the same time.
A full roofline replacement of fascias, soffits and guttering on a London semi typically runs £3,500 to £6,000 in uPVC, depending on access. That combined figure is usually better value than replacing the fascias and soffits now and coming back for the guttering in two years, when the scaffold and the labour would both be paid for a second time. The gutter replacement cost guide sets out guttering prices by material and property type, and the gutter maintenance service covers guttering work on its own where the fascias are still sound.
uPVC fascias and soffits last 20 to 30 years, timber lasts 15 to 30 years with regular painting, and aluminium lasts 30 to 40 years or more. Lifespan depends heavily on maintenance and exposure, and a north-facing London elevation that never dries out will always wear faster than a sheltered one.
uPVC needs almost nothing beyond an occasional wash, though older white uPVC can yellow and go brittle towards the end of its life. Timber lasts well only if the paint is kept up, because bare timber behind a leaking gutter rots within a few years, which is why a repaint cycle of three to five years matters on a period property. Aluminium outlasts both and shrugs off corrosion, which is why it earns its higher price on exposed or hard-to-reach rooflines where nobody wants to be putting scaffold up every decade.
Replacing fascias and soffits is worth it when the boards are rotten or failing, because sound fascias and soffits protect the roof edge, support the guttering and keep water and pests out of the roof space. Failed roofline lets water track into the timbers and the wall, and the damage from ignoring it costs far more than the replacement. New roofline also lifts the look of a tired property.
Fascia and soffit replacement on a semi-detached house costs £3,000 to £5,000 in London for uPVC supplied and fitted, including labour, access and waste removal. A 1930s semi has roughly 20 to 30 metres of roofline, and the final figure depends on how many elevations need scaffold and whether any timber behind the boards has rotted.
The fascia is usually more expensive to replace than the soffit, at £80 to £150 per metre supplied and fitted against £50 to £80 per metre for the soffit. The fascia carries the guttering and takes more of the structural load, so it is the heavier board and the more involved fit. Replacing both together costs less per metre than either on its own.
Scaffolding is usually needed to replace fascias and soffits on a house of two storeys or more, and scaffold hire adds £300 to £600 per elevation per week. A single-storey bungalow can often be done from an access tower for £100 to £250, but any work along a first-floor or higher roofline needs a proper scaffold for safe access.
Fascias cannot be replaced without removing the gutters, because the guttering is fixed to the fascia board. The gutter has to come off to fit the new fascia and then goes back on, which is why fascia replacement is the natural time to renew old guttering as well while the scaffold is already up.
Fascias and soffits should be replaced roughly every 20 to 30 years for uPVC, or sooner for neglected timber. Timber roofline that is painted on a three to five year cycle lasts decades, while timber left to weather can fail in ten. The honest answer is that fascias and soffits are replaced when they fail rather than on a fixed schedule, so regular checks matter more than the calendar.
Replacing fascias, soffits and guttering at the same time usually makes sense when the guttering is also old, because the scaffold and labour are shared and only paid for once. If the fascias and soffits are failing but the guttering is newer and sound, the guttering can be refitted to the new boards and left in place.
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