By Sergio Olea, owner of Monkeys Roofing and qualified roof plumber (Certificate III in Roof Plumbing). Published 8 October 2026. Last checked 8 October 2026.
A lot of the Inner West is protected streetscape, and on a protected street the roof is part of what council is protecting. Before anyone quotes for re-roofing, repointing or a new skylight on an Inner West terrace or cottage, it is worth knowing which rules apply to your street, because some changes are simply not allowed.
How do I know if my house is in a heritage conservation area?
Inner West Council maps its heritage conservation areas suburb by suburb. Haberfield is the clearest case: the whole suburb is a conservation area, recognised as Australia’s first planned garden suburb, with a period of significance from about 1900 to the 1940s. Annandale is another, with its own statement of what makes its roofs and streets significant.
The definitive check for any address is a Section 10.7 planning certificate. A neighbour saying the street is not heritage is not a check.
Which roofing materials are allowed in Haberfield?
The Haberfield chapter of the Inner West DCP limits replacement roofing to four materials:
- Unglazed terracotta Marseilles tiles
- Terracotta shingle tiles
- Welsh slate
- Non-reflective corrugated galvanised steel, and only at the rear or on skillion roofs
Original finials and ridge capping have to be kept and reinstated. In practice that makes almost every Haberfield roof job a heritage job, including ridge repointing, where the original capping goes back on rather than being swapped for something new.
What makes Annandale roofs different?
The Annandale conservation area records terracotta, slate and some iron roofing, with a skyline of chimneys, decorative fire-wall dividers between terraces, ridge capping and finials. Those fire walls between attached terraces matter for more than looks: they are a recurring source of flashing and box gutter leaks, which is why a gutter repair on a terrace often starts at the party wall.
Can I add a skylight, a dormer or solar hot water?
In Haberfield, skylights are not permitted on the front or side of the main roof, and dormers are not permitted at all. Hot water and solar tanks cannot sit on the roof either: they go inside the roof space or out of public view. If a skylight is part of the plan, its position needs settling before the roof work is quoted.
Do I need a permit to cut back a tree over the roof?
Often, yes. In the Inner West any tree 4 metres or taller is a prescribed tree, and pruning more than 10 per cent of its canopy needs a permit, or a full application if the property is heritage listed. Clearing a gutter by lopping a branch that overhangs from next door is exactly that situation.
Could my roof or gutters contain asbestos?
If the house was built or renovated before the mid 1980s, they might. Inner West Council advises that almost any home of that age is likely to contain asbestos, commonly in fibro sheeting, roofing and guttering. More than 10 square metres, or anything friable, legally needs a licensed removalist. If we suspect it on a job, we stop and tell you before anything is cut.
What permits does the job itself need?
If a skip bin has to sit on the street, it needs a council permit. Inner West gives two free skip bin permits per property per year in unmetered streets and one in metered areas, and the permit has to be in hand before the bin arrives, which takes two business days.
The short version
Check the planning certificate first. In Haberfield, expect the roofing material, the skylight position and anything on the roof to be controlled, and in Annandale expect the fire walls and ridge details to matter. Allow for tree and skip permits in the timeline, and for an asbestos check on any home from before the mid 1980s.
Sources: Inner West Council, C54 Haberfield HCA, Inner West DCP 2016, Chapter E2, controls C11 to C21 and C89, Inner West Council, C1 Annandale HCA, Inner West Council tree management DCP, Inner West Council, asbestos, Inner West Council, skip bins.
Need a roof looked at on a heritage street? See our Inner West roofing services or call 0452 223 327 to get a free quote.
