Rules relating to extending a home with a conservatory are more relaxed now than they were, but guidelines remain in place that must be obeyed.

Any conservatory design that adheres to the limits and conditions for it to be classed as a permitted development can proceed to be built without planning permission.

Get up-to-speed with these limits and conditions here.

For a conservatory footprint that will go beyond 50% of the area covered by your original house, a planning application will have to be drafted and submitted to your local authority.

Conservatories mooted for front and side home elevations also tend to need planning consent first.

It’s hard to give you an accurate figure without speaking to you first and having some knowledge of your home.

Your geographical location can influence the final price, as can the desired size and style of conservatory that you’re seeking to buy.

A rough price range can be anything between £8,000 and £40,000, which is subject to any extra customisation or additional features you have in mind.

It all comes down to sound planning and alerting your installer to how much you wish to pay.

At Hazlemere, we’ll work to your budget and promise transparent pricing from the very beginning.

Conservatory and orangery design has evolved to the point where it can sometimes be hard to differentiate the two extension types. But if you look real closely at them, the distinctions become clear.

Glass makes up the lion’s share of a conservatory structure, occupying at least 50% of its walls and 75% of its roof, which is why conservatories are so light-filled.

Orangeries have a more solid look to them because they encompass brick walls, supplemented by a lantern roof. In olden times, orangeries were used as a location for growing citrus trees, rather than as living destinations.

Put in the simplest terms, conservatories mostly contain glass, whereas an orangery has a combination of glass and solid materials.

Conservatories purchased from Hazlemere are financially protected for 10 years, so don’t hesitate to report any fault or issue to our aftercare team within the guarantee period.

But that’s not to say that our conservatories will only last for a decade!

Some customers are still benefiting from top-level thermal performance in their Hazlemere conservatory years after the guarantee has elapsed.

Regular cleaning and maintenance can extend the life of conservatories. Advice on how to go about conducting this will be provided in a document for safekeeping.

To save money, some conservatory builders will decide to not bother with any foundations if the conservatory is small in stature, but that massively increases the chances of subsidence and damp occurring.   

Conservatories are perceived as lightweight, however that isn’t the case, and they need sufficient ground support for the weight of them to be evenly distributed.

How far you go down with the conservatory footings is dependent on how large or small the design is and the state of the ground conditions.  

For a rough guide, you’d need conservatory foundations at least 1 metre deep if it is a small lean-to conservatory being erected, rising to 1.5 metres in depth for a sturdier build.

We’ll gain a clear picture of what footings are required once the survey is undertaken.