When you need more living space in your home, you may find that a conservatory is an attractive and effective way to achieve your goals. Conservatories are not only often more affordable than other types of extension, they also help you to connect the outdoors to the indoors, letting in plenty of natural daylight and improving your home’s ventilation.
Nevertheless, if you’re considering investing in a conservatory for your home, you will need to know how much you can expect to pay, so in this article, we will take a closer look at the costs involved and the factors that affect them so that you can be well-informed before embarking on your project.
What Is The Average Cost Of A Conservatory?
Of course, different conservatories come at different costs, and there are lots of options that will affect the price that you will need to pay for your own addition to your home. There are several styles of conservatory to choose from, and each one comes at its own cost.
On average, if you opt for a lean-to style conservatory, you can expect to pay around £11625 for your extension. If you prefer an Edwardian-style addition, you can expect to pay around £14250, while a P shape conservatory could cost around £16750.
If you’re planning to turn your conservatory into a kitchen, you will increase the costs significantly. A lean-to style conservatory that has a basic kitchen equipped with appliances will cost on average £17625 to complete, whereas an Edwardian-style conservatory, also with appliances and basic kitchen will cost around £20250.
Some homeowners choose to rebuilding an existing conservatory as a full traditional extension. You can expect the cost of this to average out at about £20000 although, of course, there are many options that could increase or decrease the final price.
Which Factors Affect The Cost Of Adding A Conservatory To My Home?
There are several factors that will impact on the final cost of your new conservatory. They include:
- How large your new conservatory will be – of course, a large addition will be more expensive than a small one.
- The conservatory’s design – there are lots of designs including P-shaped, Edwardian and lean-to to choose from. Some are more costly than others.
- The materials you choose – uPVC frames are cheaper than wooden ones, and polycarbonate glazing will cost less than glass.
- The location of your property – labour costs vary depending on your property’s location in the country. Usually, prices are lower in the North than the South.
- The extras you want to add – just like traditional extensions, conservatories need extras such as flooring and lighting, and depending on what you’re opting for, the price will vary.
Usually, a lean-to conservatory will be the most affordable design to opt for, costing on average £11625 to construct. The most expensive option is usually the P-shaped design which tends to come in at about £16750. These costs don’t include extras like underfloor heating or lighting.
Conservatory Kitchens
If you’re looking for a convenient and attractive way to make your kitchen larger, building a conservatory kitchen is an excellent idea. Large dining kitchens are more popular than ever before, and the extra light that comes in through the glass windows of a conservatory make this use of the space especially appealing.
Adding a kitchen conservatory extension to your home will vary in cost depending on whether you’ll be installing appliances and kitchen units into the new conservatory area of the space, or whether the conservatory will be used simply to open the existing kitchen space up, for example as a dining area.
If you’ll be installing appliances and units in the new conservatory, you will need to pay a lot more since a whole new kitchen will need to be installed. You’ll also probably need to use multiple contractors since it’s unlikely you’ll find a single tradesperson with skills in installing both kitchens and conservatories. Make sure, of course, to get plenty of quotes and to look at reviews before choosing professionals.
Can I Convert My Existing Conservatory Into A Traditional Extension?
If you already have a conservatory attached to your property, you may be wondering whether it’s possible to turn it into a regular room that can be used all year round. If you wish to do this, you’ll have to check if the foundations of the conservatory have been dug at a sufficient depth to bear the extra load that a solid roof structure would bring.
Many conservatories will not have a suitable foundation since they required no buildings regulation approval at the time of their construction.
If your conservatory foundations are suitable to be reused, it could cost just £5000 to build upwards around the conservatory’s plinth wall using insulated, lightweight studwork with brick slip facing. Should the foundations be unsuitable, though, the entire thing will need to be rebuilt as a more solid structure which could cost between £15000 and £25000.
Although this seems expensive, bear in mind that it could boost your home’s value considerably.
If your home’s conservatory is at the rear of the property, it’s likely you’ll require no planning permission but you should always carry out checks with your local authority and make a Certificate of Lawfulness application to your council to prove that no planning approval was required.
Should I Build A Conservatory Or A Traditional Extension?
A modern extension with a glass roof window design and aluminium well-framed windows can give you virtually the same amount of light into your space as a conservatory and may perform better when it comes to cooling and heating your space.
In fact, you may find that the costs are quite similar too. If you’re opting for a new conservatory, it’s always a good idea to get suitable foundations dug from the outset so you can convert it into a traditional extension at a future time should you wish to. This will save you time, effort, and money in the long run.