Thatched roof homes are back

Westley Marriott is one of those rare, happy men who loves his job. He spends most of his days up on the roofs of rural England, in the fresh air, employing his centuriesold skills as a thatcher.

It is peaceful, creative and fulfilling work – and recently, increasingly busy. A thatcher for 10 years, Westley started his own business six years ago and has had to employ an extra apprentice a year since then, to keep pace with demand.

It is not that, coincidentally, all the thatched cottages of England need reroofing at once – much of the extra call for Westley's skills comes from developers building new houses with thatched roofs.

"Ten years ago I may have thatched one or two new builds a year, now they make up around 70 per cent of my work," says Westley, who is based in Northamptonshire (www.thatchcraft.com).

"There is more demand for thatching now than at any time in the last 70 years."

"Better building regulations means fire hazards have been reduced and there are far more competitive insurance premiums. Thatchers are better trained, resulting in higher quality than you might have got in the Seventies. These roofs holds their value today. Thatch is definitely back."

There has been confusion about whether or not, for the purposes of Energy Performance Certificates in the new Home Information Packs, thatch constitutes roof insulation.

The latest advice is that insulation is calculated to be half the thickness of the thatch, so if for example a thatch is two feet thick, the insulation is considered to be one foot thick. This means that virtually all thatched houses should out-perform minimum insulation standards.

The Energy Savings Trust has full details of the calculations on their website (www.est.org.uk) or ring 0800 512012 for free advice.
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