Conservatory vs Extension

gazfocus

We're looking for a way to extend our house to give us a dining area and are trying to decide between a conservatory and a brick built extension.

I'm aware that brick built extensions will add more to the value of the house but what is the price difference likely to be between the two?

Thanks in advance.

Doozergirl

An extension will cost in the region of £100 per square foot, but it does vary - mainly in an upward direction depending on how you choose to spec it.

Conservatories are considerably less but they don't add genuine value and are often difficult to live with. They don't require building regulations approval as an extension and have to be considered outbuildings - hence you need to keep decent quality doors between the existing house and the conservatory.

If you can raise money for an extension, it's a no brainer.

gazfocus

Doozergirl wrote: »

An extension will cost in the region of £100 per square foot, but it does vary - mainly in an upward direction depending on how you choose to spec it.

Conservatories are considerably less but they don't add genuine value and are often difficult to live with. They don't require building regulations approval as an extension and have to be considered outbuildings - hence you need to keep decent quality doors between the existing house and the conservatory.

If you can raise money for an extension, it's a no brainer.

Thanks for your post. We're looking at something approx 4m x 3m so an extension would be approx £13,000 given the £100/sq foot guide.

How much should we be looking at for a similar sized conservatory with a dwarf wall? I found a website that gives a 'guide price' for conservatories and the price came out at £13,600 for 4m x 3m victorian style conservatory with a dwarf wall, but this seems massively over the top if an extension is cheaper.

jackomdj

Our friends had a conservatory a couple of years go, they have regretted it since the first winter and will be changing it to a proper extension soon. The area is quite large and they found it expensive to heat in the winter and too hot in the summer.

gazfocus

jackomdj wrote: »

Our friends had a conservatory a couple of years go, they have regretted it since the first winter and will be changing it to a proper extension soon. The area is quite large and they found it expensive to heat in the winter and too hot in the summer.

Thanks, that is certainly one concern. We were hoping that we could get a conservatory with under floor heating for pre-christmas but if we had to spend £13k on a conservatory, we wouldn't bother and we'd opt for an extension instead, although this would take longer to raise the funds, etc.

GwylimT

If I wanted to somewhere to eat I would want a dining room, I would also be concerned about heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, I'm yet to find a conservatory that isn't boiling or freezing! Then you have to consider that a conservatory has a shorter lifespan than an extension due to the materials used, they can also look very grubby on the outside quite quickly.

Conservatories are cheaper, however an extension is a true part of the house and increases the house size, it also adds value to the house (unless the house is already near the higher range for properties in the area).

fluffymuffy

gazfocus wrote: »

We're looking at something approx 4m x 3m so an extension would be approx £13,000 given the £100/sq foot guide.

Single storey extensions are £1800 - £2000 per square metre. So about £23,000, then with the Unforseen, best have a budget of up to £30K ready.

Nilrem

If you need more usable space then if you can afford it a proper extension will be usable all year round and probably last far better than a conservatory.

If you want something pretty that you might use to watch the garden in the summer (well, the summer when the sun isn't making it too hot), a conservatory will do.

Best of both worlds is probably an extension with a nice big window/decent set of patio doors to watch the garden/let in a lot of light.

I'm not sure on the pricing difference between the two though I'm afraid.

notanewuser

Orangery.

Doozergirl

fluffymuffy wrote: »

Single storey extensions are £1800 - £2000 per square metre. So about £23,000, then with the Unforseen, best have a budget of up to £30K ready.

h

4x3 isn't much of an extension either so you'd go bigger without too much of a price difference. The price reduces with the ratio of wall to floor space.

£30k should get you all the way across the back of an average house.

gazfocus

geez it'd take me a lifetime to save £30k!! Looks like a conservatory it is then!