Redland 49 Roof Tiles: Problems, Lifespan and What Buyers Should Know

Why this matters when buying

A re-roof is one of the biggest single bills a homeowner ever faces. Unlike a tired kitchen, it adds nothing you can enjoy — it simply keeps the building dry. So the real question on a house with an original Redland 49 roof is not whether the tiles look tidy from the street. It is how much serviceable life remains in the whole covering: tiles, underlay, battens and fixings together.

Sellers rarely know the roof’s true condition, and viewings never reveal it. A roof can look presentable from the ground while the felt beneath it hangs in shreds. The reverse is also true: a faded, mossy roof of 49s can have years left. The difference between the two is a significant sum of money — exactly what a proper roof inspection establishes before you commit.

What are Redland 49 roof tiles?

The Redland 49 is a concrete interlocking tile launched by Redland in 1949 — the name records the year. It arrived at exactly the right moment. Post-war Britain needed cheap, fast roofing, and a machine-made concrete tile laid in a single lap cost a fraction of slate or clay. As a result, Redland 49 roof tiles became one of the most common coverings in the country. You find them on interwar terraces and semis re-roofed in the 1950s to 1970s, and on post-war estates built with them from new.

Identifying them is straightforward with practice:

• Large rectangular concrete tiles laid single-lap in a broken bond, with a gentle roll to the profile
• Interlocking side channels — far fewer tiles per square metre than plain tiles or slate
• A granular, sand-faced finish when new — red, brown or grey, now often faded or blackened
• Context — a pre-war house under a clearly mid-century concrete roof is very often wearing 49s or a close relative

How do Redland 49 roof tiles age and fail?

Surface erosion and granule loss

The sand-faced finish weathers away over the decades. Rain, frost and pollution strip the granules, and the colour fades with them. The evidence collects in the gutters as a gritty sludge. Erosion starts as a cosmetic issue, but it exposes the concrete body of the tile to the weather.

Porosity, frost damage and delamination

As the surface goes, older concrete tiles absorb more water. Saturated tiles grow moss readily and suffer in freezing weather: trapped moisture expands and spalls the face off the tile. On older production runs the face can delaminate in layers — a defect surveyors see repeatedly on mid-century concrete roofs. Once faces start going, deterioration accelerates and patching becomes a losing game.

Brittleness underfoot

Age makes the tiles brittle. Every trade visit — aerial riggers, chimney sweeps, solar installers — cracks a few more. Many “roof leaks” on these roofs trace back to foot traffic rather than weather.

The matching problem

Original Redland 49 tiles are long out of mainstream production. Replacements come from reclamation yards, from stripping less visible slopes, or from modern near-equivalents — and none match a weathered original. That is why so many of these roofs wear a patchwork of odd colours. The mismatch is not just cosmetic: a heavily patched roof has been failing, tile by tile, for years.

The parts that age with them: felt, battens and nails

Here is the point buyers most often miss. The underlay is usually the same age as the tiles — and mid-century bituminous felt becomes brittle, tears at the laps and crumbles around nail holes. Battens rot where leaks have run, and the original nails corrode. In practice, the felt and fixings frequently end the roof’s life before the tiles do. Once the felt has gone, the covering must come off either way — even if sound tiles are reused.

Weight, rafters and the roofs they were laid on

Concrete interlocking tiles are heavy — often heavier than the slate they replaced on Victorian and interwar houses. Where rafters were sized for a lighter covering, the extra load can show as deflection, an undulating roof line and, in some cases, roof spread. An experienced surveyor reads the roof line for exactly this history.

What should you look for?

From the street and the loft

• Slipped, cracked or clearly mismatched tiles — patch repairs in odd colours are a history of failure
• Gritty granule sludge in the gutters, and heavy moss growth on the slopes
• An undulating or sagging roof line, especially on a pre-war house re-roofed in concrete
• In the loft: daylight through the covering, torn or crumbling black felt, staining on timbers, corroded nails on the boards
• Buckets, trays or stained insulation — evidence of leaks being managed rather than cured

Questions to ask the seller or agent

• How old is the roof covering, and has it ever been re-covered or partially stripped?
• What repairs have been carried out, when, and by whom?
• Are there invoices, or any transferable guarantee for previous roofing work?
• Has the loft ever shown damp, staining or daylight through the tiles?

Which situations are lower and higher risk?

Lifespan and condition by age

Every roof weathers differently with exposure, pitch and maintenance, but the pattern by age is consistent enough to plan around:

Roof age	Typical condition	Sensible action
Re-covered within the last 25 years (reused or reclaimed 49s on new felt and battens)	Generally serviceable; condition depends on how well tiles were selected	Confirm paperwork and any guarantee; normal maintenance
40–55 years	Colour fade, granule loss and moss; occasional slipped or cracked tiles; felt ageing	Monitor, keep gutters clear, and budget ahead for eventual re-covering
55–70 years	Patch repairs accumulating; felt brittle at laps; nail and batten corrosion beginning	Commission a drone roof survey (see when you need a roof survey) before purchase; expect re-covering within your ownership
70+ years, or heavily patched at any age	At or beyond expected life; porosity, spalling and repeated leaks likely	Budget for full re-covering; obtain roofer quotations before exchange

Decision framework

Your situation	Sensible next step
Roof looks even and true; loft dry with intact felt; paperwork for past work	Monitor — normal survey coverage and routine maintenance
Patch repairs, granule sludge or heavy moss, but no internal symptoms	Drone roof survey to map the slopes tile by tile
Buying an older house wearing original 49s — especially pre-war and re-roofed	Level 3 Building Survey, with a drone survey where slopes are concealed
Torn felt, daylight in the loft, widespread spalling or an undulating roof line	Level 3 Building Survey plus roofer quotations before exchange
Survey confirms the covering is at the end of its life	Itemised re-roofing quotations — then renegotiate with the evidence

How Flettons assesses a Redland 49 roof

Flettons is an independent surveying firm, regulated by RICS. Any standard survey inspects the roof visually from ground level and accessible vantage points — honest, but limited, because the slopes that matter often face away from the street. That is why we operate drone roof surveys, from £399. The drone photographs every slope, ridge, valley and chimney in high resolution, turning “fair condition where visible” into a tile-by-tile record.

On a Level 3 Building Survey (from £550), the roof covering gets analytical treatment. The report considers the age and type of tile, the underlay and battens as seen from the roof void, past patching, the structure’s load history — and what it all means for your budget and negotiation. Level 2 starts at £450 and Level 3+ at £850; see our survey costs page and our guide to what a building survey costs.

What happens if the survey finds problems?

1. Establish what is actually failing — tiles, felt, battens, flashings or structure. The remedy differs for each.
2. Separate cosmetic ageing from functional failure — faded tiles are not a defect; torn felt and spalling faces are.
3. Decide patch-repair versus re-covering — repeated patching of a covering at the end of its life is money thrown after bad.
4. Obtain itemised quotations from reputable roofing contractors — the NFRC, the UK’s largest roofing trade association, lists vetted members.
5. Ask your solicitor the right questions — guarantees for past roofing work, and whether any of it needed consent.
6. Renegotiate, proceed or walk away on evidence — a costed roof liability is a fair basis for a price reduction.

This is the framework every Flettons report is built around: what we found, what it means, what it could cost, and what to do next.

An example from practice

Frequently asked questions

Surveyor’s conclusion

Redland 49 roof tiles were a triumph of post-war practicality, and many have outlived the expectations of the people who laid them. But a covering from the 1950s or 1960s is now an old roof, whatever it looks like from the street — and the felt, battens and nails beneath it are just as old. When buying, treat a roof of original 49s as a system nearing the end of its design life until inspection shows otherwise. The tiles, the underlay and the pattern of past repairs together tell you whether you are buying years of quiet service or your first decade’s biggest maintenance bill. Establish which before exchange, not after.

This article is general guidance based on inspection experience, not advice on a specific property. Tile identification and lifespan vary with manufacture, exposure and maintenance. Every survey is a visual, non-invasive inspection subject to the scope, access and limitations stated in the report. Always commission an independent RICS-regulated surveyor before committing to a purchase.