I got my NPPL(M) in IkarusC42 few months ago with about 32hrs total time. It cost me about half of what I would pay if I went for NPPL(SSEA) straight away. Plus I felt much better in a 2 year old Ikarus than in 30+yrs. old C152 I tried before ;-)
Now working on the SSEA rating. In addition to the 3 hrs minimum (which realistically is 5-7hrs if you go for something like PA28) you need to sit two EASA exams - Aircraft General and Flight Performance and Planning.
I have no doubts the above is a cheaper and more enjoyable way of obtaining LAPL.
As far as LAPL -> PPL upgrade, my understanding based on CAP 804, Section 4, Part C, Subpart 1, (b), is that you need 10 hrs. flight instruction at an ATO. For the additional 15 hours of flying time cited in (b), up to 10hrs you can get from your Microlight experience, given you did 100hrs in M, hmm...
So speaking bare minimums, you could get an EASA PPL(A) with:
- 25 hrs in Microlights = NPPL(M)
- 3 hrs in Group A + M or A hrs. to get you to 32hrs. minimum = NPPL(SSEA) = EASA LAPL(A)
- 10 hrs Group A + (15 hrs Group A - 10% of whatever time you got in Microlights after license issue up to 10 hrs) = EASA PPL(A)
+ pass the (M) exams for NPPL(M) + (A) exam from Aircraft General + FPaP
If you move pass the PPL stage forget all your Microlight hours as they won't count into anything apart from revalidating your M rating on your NPPL. However, keep in mind that a modern Microlight can really deliver with much less total cost of ownership than a group A. If you love flying I bet you will continue to fly one of these even on a CPL ;-)
My recommendation would be get your NPPL(M) to keep you aloft and see what the future brings.