Paddington vs New Farm — Brisbane heritage suburb roof comparison

Quick verdict: Both are heritage-dominant inner-city suburbs with similar work patterns and similar high-end pricing. Paddington has slightly heavier overlay coverage (80% vs 62%) and a moderately higher claim rate from October 2025. New Farm has higher floor pricing thanks to tighter peninsula access. Choose your roofer for either by their suburb-specific experience, not by the general price level.

Metric	Paddington	New Farm
Postcode	4064	4005
LGA	Brisbane City Council	Brisbane City Council
Heritage overlay	80%	62%
Pre-1946 homes	68%	55%
Post-war homes	22%	18%
Modern homes	10%	27%
Patch repair	$500 to $2.4K	$600 to $2.8K
Full re-roof	$18K to $55K	$22K to $58K
Oct 2025 hail	moderate	moderate
Dominant roof types	corrugated iron, terracotta tile, colorbond (modern replacements)	terracotta tile, corrugated iron, modern colorbond

## The character difference Paddington is the hilly, Federation-cottage suburb climbing the slopes between Latrobe and Caxton. New Farm is the flat-ish peninsula along a tight bend in the Brisbane River, with a noticeably larger slice of modern apartment infill mixed in among the heritage stock. Both are heritage-dense, but New Farm has more variety on a single street. ## Where pricing diverges The headline patch and re-roof numbers are close, but the *floor* of New Farm pricing sits about 10 to 15% higher than Paddington's, because peninsula access (tight streets, shared boundaries, frequent driveway sharing) makes scaffolding setup more time-consuming. Paddington's hills and two-storey verandahs add complexity but most blocks have at least one easy approach. ## Storm damage pattern Both suburbs took moderate hail damage in October 2025. Paddington's claim rate of around 23% sat slightly above New Farm's ~19% because the storm cell tracked more directly through Paddington's higher elevation. New Farm's southern edge caught the lighter tail of the cell. ## Heritage overlay friction Paddington's 80% overlay coverage means almost every job needs a DA. New Farm's 62% coverage means a meaningful slice of jobs (modern apartment buildings, recent rear additions) can proceed without one. If you're planning a re-roof and want to avoid the 4-to-6-week DA wait, check the [Brisbane City Council mapping tool](https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au) for your specific property before scoping the work. ## Choosing a roofer For either suburb, prioritise heritage-overlay experience. A roofer who's done 50 jobs in Paddington or New Farm will preempt the council questions, source matching materials faster, and handle the DA paperwork as part of the quote. A general residential roofer can do the work but will move slower and run into more "we'll need to resubmit that" moments. See the [heritage DA playbook](/blog/heritage-da-roof-brisbane) for a step-by-step on the council process.