The accidental landlord: how can I find a reliable local roofer in south London?

Why am I so stressed? I’m lying on the floor of the yoga studio, trying to “Om” along with the teacher, but I can hear the rain pounding against the windowpane and my body is as rigid as an ironing board. Breathe, breathe, I tell myself, but it’s no good, I can’t relax.

It is all because of the roof at one of my rental properties. It’s leaking. And every time it rains I know that water is seeping through the ceiling and dripping on to my tenant. This has been going on for months, all through the winter, but I haven’t been able to get it fixed, despite hiring two separate roofers to sort it.

The first charged almost £1,000 to felt over the gulley in the middle of the roof, where he was adamant that the water was getting in. At first, it seemed to have done the trick, but two weeks later the tenant reported it was leaking again.

The roofer returned six times, replacing the odd slate, repointing here and there, and after each visit I’d cross my fingers and hope for the best. But as soon as it rained, I would get a despondent text from the tenant telling me that water was again dripping through the ceiling.

The seventh time I tried to get the roofer to come back to take another look, he ignored me. I realised the job had defeated him.

The second roofer charged twice as much to redo everything that the first guy had done, but now, instead of the roof leaking in three places, it’s leaking in five. I have had two other builders round to assess the roof, but neither inspired any confidence. One spent a lot of time shaking his head while loudly sucking in his breath before telling me that the whole roof was rotten, which may or may not be true.

He said the roof would cost £8,500 to replace, but when I asked for a detailed written quote, he said: “Do you want it done, yes or no?” So that was a “No”. Another said he could “patch up it up” for £400, but wasn’t prepared to say what patches he was putting on, or where he’d put them, and freely admitted that the patches might not work.

After wasting just shy of £3,000 on this roof, I don’t want to throw any more money at the problem without a guarantee. But I haven’t a clue about where to find a reliable roofer.

Normally, I find tradespeople through review websites, where you can post your job, invite builders to pitch and read comments and ratings from previous customers. However, you have to be careful because you can get pitches from total chancers.

When I advertised this job on MyBuilder and Checkatrade, I was contacted by a guy who had had dozens of happy customers for repairs that he’d done to garden sheds, but I thought that replacing a roof on a three-storey Victorian terrace might be a bit of a step up for him.

I was contacted by another builder who had repaired quite a few roofs, but few customers had posted reviews, which made me think that they were dissatisfied but didn’t want to say so, because — well, because he knew where they lived. So I’m still hunting for a reliable roofer.

Luckily, my tenant is a saint and has barely complained, but I’m afraid that she is running out of patience. She has now resorted to sending me videos of water pouring through the ceiling.

So if anyone can recommend a great roofer in south London, I would love to hear from them.