How I lost nearly £10,000 to a cowboy roofer

The exterior of Julia's semi detached Victorian home in London
Julia lives with her family in a Victorian terrace (pictured with green bin outside) in Bromley, London (Image credit: Google Street View)

Anyone can call themselves a builder or a roofer in the UK ⁠— a fact, Julia Champion wishes she had paid more attention to when choosing who to fix her leaking roof at her Victorian semi-detached home in Bromley, London.

Like many homeowners, she found a roofer through a website for tradespeople. The website claimed the roofing company was verified and it had plenty of good reviews so she was comfortable with her choice — something she now regrets.

Amy Willis
Web Editor

Amy spent over a decade in London editing and writing for The Daily Telegraph, MailOnline, and Metro.co.uk before moving to East Anglia where she began renovating a period property in rural Suffolk. During this time she also did some TV work at ITV Anglia and CBS as well as freelancing for Yahoo, AOL, ESPN and The Mirror. When the pandemic hit she switched to full-time building work on her renovation and spent nearly two years focusing solely on that. She's taken a hands-on DIY approach to the project, knocking down walls, restoring oak beams and laying slabs with the help of family members to save costs. She has largely focused on using natural materials, such as limestone, oak and sisal carpet, to put character back into the property that was largely removed during the eighties. The project has extended into the garden too, with the cottage's exterior completely re-landscaped with a digger and a new driveway added. She has dealt with de-listing a property as well as handling land disputes and conveyancing administration. 

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