Roof problems

Britannia12345

This is what the survey said...

Boohoo

Britannia12345 said:

This is what the survey said...

Head and shoulders inspection maybe their get out of jail card?

What type of survey did you want/pay for?

Britannia12345

Level 2 survey

WIAWSNB

Ok. The survey said...
No signs of significant deflection. Fair enough.
Possibly inadequate ventilation. Why did he say this? Based on what - signs of damp? Hmmmm.
The underside of the roof cover is hidden by insulation. WHAT THE HECK! He made no other comment on this? Lawdie. I'm a DIY layman, and I'd have collared the owner to ask about this.
It's like 'foam' insulation - not only utterly pointless, but prone to serious issues.
So, I repeat, step one - remove all the insulation that's under the pitched roof. Leave it outside on a dry day (snigger), and relay it on the loft floor if needed, but make sure the eaves are clear. Or, stick it on Fb Marketplace 'free to cold home'. 
Check your eaves are not covered with loft insulation. 
Examine the now-exposed rafters to see if they are damp. If they are, monitor this to see if they now dry out over a week. 
NB: it doesn't matter if it rains. These rafters should dry out regardless.
After a week - or two - see if any rafters are still wet. If they are, then track the source - that's what needs addressing.
Based on this, you can consider a 'repair' versus a full recover.

Chickereeeee

Strange: I have never come across insulation the roof level in a cold loft before,  and now there is this post AND another recent one where 2 roofers are recommending celotex between the rafters...

Wherryman

From your phots the majority of your roof tiles look in relatively good condition obviously the tiles at the gable end eves need some repairing and any broken tiles need replacing.
Do you know when your house was built?
Do you know if you have roofing felt underlay fitted under the tile batterns?

How many leaks do you have?  Where about are they?

Would the blackened insulation be anywhere near the solar panels?

“The underside of the roof is insulated and in a lot of places in the loft the insulation is blackened. He said it's from the constant leaking.”

As others have said that insulation should not be there and it servers no useful purpose, the blackened insulation would be better off being thrown away (mouldy) as for the good stuff just lay it over the loft floor wherever you can, "insulation blackened by constant leaking", possible but doubtful, have you had constant leaks?

Do you need your redundant chimney removing? Has it been partially removed and left unsupported?

Albermarle

Chickereeeee said:

Strange: I have never come across insulation the roof level in a cold loft before,  and now there is this post AND another recent one where 2 roofers are recommending celotex between the rafters...

This one?
Loft hatch, boarding and insulation questions — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Britannia12345

It was built in 1960. The blackened areas are random all over the loft. We've got two leaks at the moment that we can see. There is felt but it's rotted. We want to remove the chimney to avoid further problems as we've had 3 different houses with leaking chimneys in the past and they all ended up being taken down. 

Wherryman

I'm guessing that the tiles are the originals so that makes them about 65 years old, they look like Marley Modern concrete which have an expected lifespan in excess of 60 years, so they are getting a bit long in the tooth but that being said my roof is the same age and the tiles are a very similar style, I would expect to get at least another 20 years life out of mine.

Personally I would be asking some of the neighbours if they can recommend a roofer/builder so you can get some more quotes just to get all the broken tiles replaced and the tiles on the eves sorted out.

It’s a shame that your underfelt is in such poor condition but that doesn’t mean you have to have a new roof, our previous house had a 120 year old slate roof and no underfelt, the only time the roof ever leaked was when a slate fell off.

WIAWSNB

B12345, the rafter insulation needs to go.
Then you should be able to trace the source of the leaks.
Then you'll know what needs fixing.