Conservatories are a rather British trend.
Across the UK, there are hundreds of thousands of conservatories with glass and polycarbonate roofs, each one installed with holes of it being a great room for those summer months.
However, across Europe, where the summer months tend to be that bit warmer and sunnier, where you’d expect conservatories to be perfect, there are far fewer?
Why is that? Why are conservatories on the list with cups of tea and a sarcastic sense of humour as things that resolutely fail to take off on the continent?
There are, as always a few factors - these ranging from planning to common sense.
Local planning laws can be a barrier. In the UK, a conservatory will typically fall within the remit of being permitted development and so there is no rigorous planning application process to follow. It varies by nation, but in some European nations the red tape required to have a simple conservatory installed can be more than enough to put people off. Spain, we’re looking at you here…
Perhaps the weather is too good. If it’s hot and sunny, you might want to be outside relaxing or swimming, maybe conservatories are more suited to Britain where even the sunniest of days comes with the slight risk of it raining at any time. It’s best to have a room to retreat to when the weather turns.
Style of house might also be a factor - conservatories fit relatively well with the UK house designs, would they look so good next to the designs more common in France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere?
There are other reasons too, but really we think it boils down to one key reason - and boils down is unintentionally accurate here.
Most conservatories are terrible at regulating the temperature - they are too hot in the summer and too cold in winter - and this is a problem in Britain. Imagine what a conservatory is like when it’s 40 degrees outside, you’d leave your shopping in there for a few minutes and come back to a fully-cooked three course meal.
Conservatories aren’t popular because it would be a complete waste of money, you’d be paying for space that wasn’t usable for huge portions of the year.
That, though, is with traditional conservatories, those with glass and polycarbonate roofs. In the UK, the 1980s and 90s saw a surge in this type of conservatory being added to properties, their popularity then falling away as people became aware of their inherent flaws. Now, with it so easy to do research on the internet and a 30-second search highlighting the problems, it is thankfully far less common for people to waste money on this home ‘improvement’
In their place has come conservatories with solid, lightweight tiled roofs - they have the same structure as a standard conservatory, but the roof can keep the temperature within a pleasant range; the conservatory becoming a superb room all year round.
This type of conservatory creates a room that can be used as a home office, or a gym, or a second lounge or, indeed, for any other use. It is a room that is as suitable in Spain (if you can get the planning permission) as it is in Glasgow.
Whether conservatories will now become far more common all across Europe is a tough one to answer, however there is every chance they will. They offer the homeowner a chance to get all the benefits of an extension but at a fraction of the cost, a room that can withstand any conditions and be used for a wide range of purposes.
On this site, there is a wealth of information about the Guardian Roof - ours being the product that led to regulatory change and made it permissible for conservatories to have solid, lightweight tiled roofs.
These are a roof that save the homeowner an average of £200 per annum on their energy bill (independent research by AECOM) and can also pay for themselves in terms of increased property value.
There is also a Guardian roof style and colour to blend in with every type of property, no longer must a conservatory look like a bolt-on to the rest of the house.
The roofs are only ever installed by approved fitters and also come with lengthy guarantees.
To contact us, please call 0800 066 5832 or use our Contact Form.
