To buy a conservatory instead of extension

[Ineversaidthatactually]

We can't afford an extension. South East. Want a 5 metre x 2.5 metre extension and it's fucking unaffordable. Exorbitant.
8 years ago we were quoted £30,000. That felt like a lot then so we stalled. Then lockdown happened, we were hit hard and are only just getting back on our feet again over past year.
Now we are being quoted £70,000 - £80,000.
Obviously I'm now metaphorucally crying that we didn't bite the bullet and pay £30,000.
So this makes an extension off the table. Meanwhile we desperately need more space. Can't move.
So what do you think of this as an option?
Please no replies about how it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as a bricks and mortar extension. Obviously I know this and I wish we could have one. But we can't.
So for those who can understand my situation, what do you honestly think of this?
And where would I stand in terms of regs with removing the 2 sets of French doors on the rear wall of our house to make it open up in to this conservatory?

As far as I know there have to be doors between the main house and the conservatory. I am not sure of there was meant to be an image attached to your post but what are you planning to use the conservatory for?
It can be a nice addition but there is a lot to consider. If you are using it to expand you living space, this will only be usable for a relatively short season as they are far too cold in winter and boiling not on summer. I used mine as an office between April and October but still had to go inside in the afternoon between May and August and every time it rained (too noisy to be on a work call even if wearing headset). They are nice but are of limited use.

We had a conservatory. Loved it and used all year round. But it is worth spending a bit on the best you can afford, putting decent heating in and fans. You may also want to factor in an air con unit in the summer too, plus decent blinds. Big double doors too to get the air blowing through.

If you have a south facing garden they can get very hot though.

Conservatories get a lot of negative comments but if you are desperate for space and can make the added extras work, then they can be a good addition.

We have one.
it was like a furnace this summer and like a fridge and it’s only October.
This must inform your decision.
Keep French doors between the two

YABU. I have a conservatory and it's a completely useless space which now needs to be replaced with an actual extension. With climate change and summers getting hotter, it's not a great idea to be adding a big glass box to your house.

Oh my goodness it would help if I added the link to what I'm asking your opinion about!
Sorry😂
And I should have said, it would be to expand our living space (small house, genuinely need more space with 2 huge teenagers).
Here it is:
https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/addroom-garden-rooms/modular-extensions/addroom-conservatory-alternative-w5m-x-d2-5m

We use ours. Not all the time but it is a cheap way of getting extra space.

Hoping everyone can see my link now. Had meant to add it to my OP.
Got distracted by kids and posted without adding link🙄

Heating and cooling is the issue I’d be wary of removing doors due to this

my mum has on that she uses all year round
are your French doors uvpc or wood
if there wood you can get lift off hinges to temporarily remove them

This seems like a sensible idea as you don't have glass roof so should be able to use it for most of the year. You still need a door between conservatory and the main room, I believe. But best to check with your local building control to be sure.

Try a heavily insulated one which will perform better in hot and cold temperatures if you can pay more you'll get better quality: https://www.tcicliving.co.uk/conservatories/new-builds?utm_term=new%20conservatory&utm_campaign=Google+%7C+Search+%7C+Rebuilds+%26+New+Builds&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=7972368144&hsa_cam=23875937661&hsa_grp=197524786782&hsa_ad=825165358059&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-299262407668&hsa_kw=new%20conservatory&hsa_mt=p&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23875937661&gbraid=0AAAAAo4qhUqe7eKJYIVBOxnPj3I7EGIaA&gclid=CjwKCAjwlY3WBhANEiwApsNrLSWmHx_RRvGvIAVPXEEEOkMrVMkSuTIWvLIovdLCRDIfh7Mn6qxTyhoCc0MQAvD_BwE

If done well they can be great. Mil and Fil had one with a good roof on it ans it was usable all year round. We had one with glass roof in a south facing garden. It got very hot and very cold.

Yes, if you're thinking of staying there. No if you're thinking of moving, I think they devalue. Is there anymore internal reconfiguration you can do to get more space? Can you add us a floorplan?

My main concern would be the dimensions - could you go deeper than 2.5m? Long and narrow rooms with fixed doors can be a pain.

People snit about conservatories, but that one seems fairly sensibly shaped and walled. And sometimes it's about what you need, not what other people like. Ours came with the house and has been a valuable space - whether that's as a dining room or as a massive walk in fridge, or even as a form of passive heating in spring/autumn.

We bought our house nearly twenty years ago and it already had a conservatory. Most of that time it was merely used as a cut through to the back garden and a dumping ground. Far too hot especially in our now horrible hot summers and too cold in winter. So we spent on replacing the glass roof with a tiled roof and put in black out blinds. With hindsight would have been an idea to pull it down and just extend years ago.

It looks fine and the price seems great although beware of "add ons" pushing that up. That 'walk through height' of 1.84m is low though with your huge teens.....

Edited to add yes, you must keep the doors from the house in place or it's considered an extension.

That looks great, and not at all like the traditional conservatory. Good insulation in the roof will make a huge difference.

You could add a conservatory with a warm roof rather than a glass roof. Add value and no planning permission needed.

I think you know that there are many who would strongly advise against conservatories or you wouldn't be "asking" in a roundabout way.
I personally wouldn't because I see our neighbours paying through the nose every year to try to keep their 10yr old one waterproof. They also like their house covered in ivy though, so I suspect that hasn't helped. In the summer they have to go into their garden for large chunks of the day as they have an open-plan leading onto the conservatory so it heats the whole house and as a result they have had to plant multiple trees for a shady cool area at the other end of the garden so they can have some solace in the peak of summer. They get expressly angry at anyone doing work on the road as they are outside all of the time and hear the whirring on drills without any let up. That is my main experience of conservatories, for a long term perspective. Maybe you already have air-con or a shady area to sit in throughout the summer and have extra £ each year for maintenance though.

You can’t take the doors out from the main house. They need to remain. But I think it’s added security to be honest. Get the conservatory but with the insulated roof - I had this done and it is a game changer. It’s a useable room all year round now. Good luck.

We love our conservatory but we do only use it around 8-9 months of the year as it’s too cold in winter. We do have a heater so can still use it for the dining table if people come over. It’s given us the extra space we needed without costing anywhere near as much as an extension.

We’re on mark two on the same foundations, moving from a polycarbonate (all the problems cited) to a well insulated tiled roof. Now we only need to close the patio doors leading into the house for a maximum of 6 days a year to keep colder air out. The disadvantage is that the two rooms leading from it now receive less light.
We have always had a radiator plus windows in the roof for brightness and the release of hot air. The dust-gathering rotating fan has gone much to my delight.
Screen-free and giving maximum daylight, it’s my preferred room - has been for 30 years - but I grant that a conservatory is not for everyone.
If you go ahead, focus on the size, the arrangement of furniture*, maximum insulation in the roof and walls and radiator/s from your CH system.
*I’m not bothered by a sofa backing onto a fixed patio door but you might be.

If you remove the French doors you need to get a proper roof on it (cozy roof etc) and any walls plastered. Some form of heating. Then you need to get building regs done for energy efficiency. Or you’ll have issues when you sell one day.

I would actually have a look at getting a quote from a northern company and factor in for a b&b and it’ll still be £20k cheaper. Or an Eastern European led British company who are willing to build for builders wages. Materials are more expensive since Covid but tradesmen are charging as much as solicitors in some regions.

We have an conservatory/garden room. It's enormous so really expensive to heat in winter so it just becomes a dead space from about now until March. Luckily previous owner put a decent insulated roof on so we use it a lot in summer.

We are planning to knock it down and build a proper extension, but part of that is about carving up the space into more normal sized rooms that would be easier to heat.

We knocked down the manky old conservatory that came with the house and built on a garden room instead. It keeps the dining room beautifully cool and shady in the summer and I’m seeing that increasingly as an advantage.