Roofer wants 50% money upfront

Absolutely not. Any company like this has cash flow or credit problems. They shouldn’t be working hand to mouth. You have no guarantees they won’t pocket the money without any work.

Staged payments I would agree to, based on value of work completed.

I would pay for the materials myself and have them delivered to my house so they are mine if he doesn't turn up.

Having said that I know the roofer we would use and I'd trust him 100%

If it's for materials tell him that you will pay for the order. At least then you have them in your possession if he decides to walk off the job.

This ^^

On a big job I'll gladly pay in stages as the work progesses, but 50% upfront would be a complete no - and that's regardless of if they have hundreds of positive reviews which can too easily be fake

And if folk really want to pay for materials upfront, for pity's sake make sure they're delivered to you and not the tradesperson. At least that way you've still got them if they never show up again

I work for a building firm and we do roofs. Last year we did a lot of roofs around £45k each. We never ask for money up front unless it’s something bespoke like new windows. With roof jobs we price per elevation and will invoice for the first side once it’s completed before moving onto the next.

Dont.
I have been ripped off fit 4k which was 50%. He never started the job let alone finished it.

I'll happily pay their supplier direct for any materials up front. But no way am I handing over any money until the work is done.

Hubby and I are in trade and personally, we don't ask for any money up front. However lots of tradespeople do so they can buy materials. It's not unusual. We offer to buy the materials and give an invoice at the end of the job or the customer buys them themselves.

I did this once (with a roofer too!). He cut off all communication as soon as he had the money. Never again.

If you do pay upfront I strongly recommend a credit card.

I’ve done numerous house renovations over 25 years. I have never paid upfront. As other posters have pointed out, these trades people will have supplier accounts with long payment terms so will not be out of pocket. I have once gone to a supplier to pay directly for radiators that were expensive as my plumber didn’t want that amount on his account, but you can then see the delivery address. I would seriously reconsider using him.

This. We had a company do repairs who wanted money to buy supplies, they did a crap job and actually caused damage.

Conversely, when we bit the bullet and had the whole roof done for £11k, the genuine, skilled roofer didn’t ask for a penny until completion.

If your roofer needs help paying for materials, he gets a quote for you, you call the wholesaler and you pay for them to be delivered to your house.

They never belong to the contractor.

I had my whole roof replaced in 2021. I paid an invoice each week for the work completed until it was all finished and the scaffolding removed..

Did the roofer come recommended?
Check him out is the first thing.

Or they’ve been stung in the past by non-paying customers so now won’t book jobs/order materials without deposits.

Or they're busy enough they’re happy to lose customers who don’t want to pay deposits.

We take 50% before starting the job for materials.

There is a fb group called nightmare customers and non payers. It exists for a reason. Not saying you would be one, but soooo many trades person's I know have been ripped off or had to drag the customers through the courts to be paid.

I wouldn't just pay upfront, but if they ordered materials I would have them delivered to our property and pay the invoice for them directly.
Or buy them myself.

For example when we had our roof done the roofer sourced the extra slates from a reclamation place and then I rang them up and ordered, and went to collect them and paid the reclamation place directly.

Their business is not doing v well if they can't afford to buy materials upfront

My DD had a massive extension, she didn’t pay anything upfront, but settled each invoice for materials as soon as they arrived on site.
Never pay upfront!

No never. Friend of mine lost over £50k paying a tradesman up front for extension, then they went bust.
Offer 5 or 10% and they can take it or leave it.

They use their supplier accounts to get materials beforehand.

We have supplier accounts, but if someone backs out of a job after the materials and parts have been ordered, or simply don’t pay on completion of the job, we’ve still got to pay our suppliers.

We can usually use parts on other jobs or send stuff back, but if it’s something made to order we won’t get refunded by our supplier. If it’s something specific that we wouldn’t usually hold in stock, we don’t want to be paying out for something that would be sitting around unused and losing value for years.

We don’t start, or order anything in, without a deposit.

Half for the materials then rest on completion. That is often the norm with roofers, plumbers etc. they wouldn't exactly just have all the tiles etc knocking about waiting o be used, so it's fair they need to buy in a bunch of stuff. They may also need to get a subbie/young lad as an assistant.
If you really have a bad feeling about this because of the demeanour of the roofers then maybe you should go elsewhere. As it sounds like you've little faith in them. But most others would ask something similar.

If I hadn't used the tradesman before I definitely wouldn't pay upfront.

But just had some work done by trades I have used for years, and paid 50% on day 2 to cover materials, machine hire and waste disposal.

My DH was a self employed bathroom installer, he always asked for 50% deposit on day of commencement, balance on completion. In his 40 odd years working, only a handful said they were unhappy doing this. I would say that most of his work was on recommendation of previous clients or through a showroom.

Exactly. I did once go to a supplier and pay direct for a new gas boiler but I’ve never paid a penny upfront and the builder who did my kitchen told me off for paying him before he’d finished the job.