Words: Jayne Barber

Our latest analysis of the UK fitted kitchen market paints a picture of an industry that is still working its way through a prolonged period of adjustment.

At first glance, the headline figures might seem like difficult reading as kitchen installation numbers fell during 2025, extending a trend that has seen many households delay major home improvement projects in the face of economic uncertainty.

But if you look a little deeper, however, a more balanced picture begins to emerge.

Consumers may be buying fewer kitchens, but they’re continuing to spend more on the ones they do purchase. Independent specialists have strengthened their position at the premium end of the market, refurbishment has become even more important than new build and, while recovery remains gradual, there are growing signs that trading conditions may finally be beginning to improve.

So let’s start with the figures. According to JKMR, just over one million new kitchens were installed during 2025, the lowest annual total since 2013. Over the two-year period covering 2024 and 2025, 9.5% of owner-occupier households either bought a new fitted kitchen or moved into a newly built home, compared with a slightly higher 11.8% during 2021 and 2022.

However, those figures need to be put into context. The exceptionally strong market seen in both 2021 and 2022 was influenced by Covid, which delayed purchases that would ordinarily have taken place during 2020. Inevitably, that has the unfortunate effect of making today’s market appear weaker by comparison.

More importantly, installation numbers tell only part of the story. Despite lower volumes, total end-client spending on fitted kitchen products – including cabinetry, worktops, integrated appliances, sinks and taps – exceeded £5.4 billion in buying prices during 2025. Although installation numbers were only around 80% of their 2022 peak, overall market value remained 3% higher than it was three years earlier.

And the result is that the average kitchen project continues to increase in value. Across the market, typical project spend during 2025 was around 30% higher than in 2022. Improved product specification, larger kitchens where space allows and general price inflation have all contributed to that increase.

That shouldn’t necessarily be interpreted as higher profitability though, like every part of the supply chain, kitchen retailers and manufacturers have faced rising costs over the same period. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that homeowners clearly remain prepared to invest significantly when they decide to replace their kitchen.

Different sectors

As ever, the kitchen market is far from uniform and looking solely at overall market value disguises some markedly different performances across individual product sectors.

Integrated appliances continued to perform well during 2025, with market value sitting 5.5% above 2022’s levels. Consumers are still specifying more appliances within each project, although increased sales of more competitively priced brands mean value growth has begun to moderate.

The strongest-performing category remains sinks and taps where market value has increased by more than 9% since 2022, reflecting continuing demand for multifunction taps and kitchens featuring multiple sink areas and there is little sign that trend is slowing.

Cabinetry presents a rather different picture, however. Because cabinet sales remain closely linked to installation numbers, the slowdown in project volumes has had a greater impact than elsewhere in the market. 

At the same time, many volume retailers shifted customers towards intrinsically lower-cost options during 2023 and 2024, leaving cabinetry value in 2025 marginally below 2022 levels.

For worktops, the position is sitting somewhere between the two.Overall value increased by just over 4.5% between 2022 and 2025. Premium projects have benefited from growing interest in niche materials and larger kitchen layouts, while falling relative prices for many non-laminate surfaces have made them accessible to a wider range of consumers.

Together, these figures help to illustrate how spending within the average kitchen project continues to evolve.

Refurbishment

Our latest report also highlights the growing importance of owner-occupier refurbishment. 

Today it accounts for 80% of total market income, underlining just how dependent the industry has become on homeowners choosing to improve their existing living spaces rather than move. More importantly,  however, it shows that the sector has continued to outperform despite lower installation numbers.

Owner-occupier refurbishment value during 2025 was 10% above 2022 levels, even though project numbers were actually 18% lower. In practical terms, that translates into a theoretical average refurbishment project value around 33% higher than three years ago.

The report attributes that growth to steadily improving product specification together with increased use of consumer finance. However, it also notes that the pace of value growth has slowed over the past year, suggesting the sharp post-pandemic rise in project values may now be beginning to moderate.

The picture for the new build market is less encouraging. The value of kitchens supplied into new homes during 2025 was 12.5% below 2022 levels, reflecting housing completions running at only around three-quarters of their 2022 level. 

While housebuilding is expected to improve over the longer term, refurbishment continues to be the industry’s primary engine of growth – which is excellent news for independent retailers, of course.

In fact, perhaps the clearest winner over the past three years has once again been the specialist studio sector.

Specialist studio income during 2025 stood 13.5% above 2022 levels, reinforcing its position as the largest route to market when measured by value.

And once again, that contrasts with other channels. Howdens remains the dominant player by volume, supplying around four in every 10 new kitchens installed into family dwellings, yet its market value was still less than 4% above 2022 levels. 

Wren, meanwhile, had yet to recover fully to its 2022 position following a difficult 2024, although we believe it currently looks best placed to deliver the strongest growth during 2026.

These differing performances underline an incredibly important point – although the overall market value has remained broadly resilient, not every route to market has experienced the same journey.

A recovery?

If the past three years have been defined by caution, the obvious question is whether 2026 finally marks the beginning of a recovery.

JKMR believes there are certainly reasons for optimism, although we are careful not to overstate the case.

One encouraging indicator comes from the housing market. Government figures show residential property transactions during 2025 were 10% higher than in 2024, and historically increased house moves have tended to feed through into stronger kitchen demand over the following months and years.

The relationship, however, is no longer as straightforward as it once was. Today’s kitchens are built to a much higher standard than those of previous generations, meaning homeowners are increasingly choosing to refurbish rather than replace. Better quality cabinetry allows existing kitchens to be updated with new doors, worktops or appliances instead of being ripped out completely.

That shift is creating growing opportunities within what JKMR describes as the ‘Facelift Sector’. Although not included within the core fitted kitchen market figures, it is becoming an increasingly important part of the wider home improvement market and another route to growth for the industry.

We also believe the housing market itself remains fundamentally resilient. House price inflation has slowed during 2026 and transactions are taking longer to complete, but a new kitchen continues to be viewed by many homeowners as one of the best investments they can make, both financially and in terms of improving everyday life.

Even so, today’s consumers face a very different financial landscape.Higher spending on private education and healthcare, combined with increasing reliance on the so-called ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, is placing greater pressure on the disposable incomes of the households that traditionally drive the fitted kitchen market.

Our report highlights research suggesting that more than half of all first-time buyers during 2024 and 2025 received family loans or gifts averaging more than £50,000. 

While that support helps younger buyers onto the property ladder, it inevitably leaves many parents with less capital available for major home improvement projects of their own. It’s another reminder that consumer confidence is shaped by much more than inflation or interest rates alone.

Steady growth

Against that backdrop, JKMR expects the market to begin moving in the right direction during 2026, albeit slowly.

Current forecasts suggest installation numbers will increase by less than 1.5%, leaving the market still below the levels seen in 2024. Political uncertainty and the possibility of future changes to council tax, inheritance tax and wider property taxation may also encourage some households to postpone major refurbishment decisions until there is greater clarity. While project numbers are expected to recover only modestly, market value is forecast to perform more strongly.

JKMR currently projects total fitted kitchen market value at end-client buying prices to increase by almost 4% during 2026, continuing the trend of value growth outpacing volume growth.

And part of that growth is expected to come from changing purchasing behaviour. Mass-market retailers are likely to place greater emphasis on more affordable product ranges while expanding their trade offers. 

At the same time, homeowners replacing kitchens installed 10 to 15 years ago can now access products that were once considered premium – including induction hobs, engineered stone worktops and sophisticated storage systems – at increasingly accessible price points.

Beyond the short-term outlook though, we believe the market is undergoing a more fundamental transformation and one of the clearest examples of this is the widening gap between the value of cabinetry and the value of the kitchen project as a whole.

Current projections suggest that, by the end of 2026, cabinetry manufacturer selling value will be around 50% higher than it was in 2007, while total market value will have risen by around 85% over the same period. 

Consumers are allocating a growing share of their budgets to appliances, worktops, sinks and taps as product innovation continues to reshape expectations of the modern kitchen. 

The report also charts the continuing shift towards trade-led purchasing. Trade accounted for around 44% of kitchens sold in 2000, rising to 60% by 2019, and has remained above that level despite weaker new-build activity in recent years.

Increasingly, however, trade businesses are serving the same owner-occupier refurbishment market traditionally targeted by consumer-facing retailers. In fact, owner-occupier refurbishment now accounts for almost 57% of all trade activity, compared with just 32% back in 2010.

But, we do believe the specialist studio sector will continue to evolve too. While independent retailers have clearly strengthened their market position since 2022, the report points to the continued growth of franchise operations and argues that studios will increasingly differentiate themselves through the advice, design expertise and personalised service they provide, rather than solely competing in the arena of price alone.

Market in transition

Viewed purely through the lens of installation numbers, 2025 appeared to be another difficult year for the fitted kitchen industry.

But the details show that consumers continue to spend more on each project, specialist studios have strengthened their position in the value market and owner-occupier refurbishment remains the industry’s driving force. At the same time, product innovation, changing buying habits and evolving routes to market continue to reshape the competitive landscape.

So, for this latest report, the message is one of cautious optimism. 

The market is unlikely to experience a dramatic bounce back, but the foundations for gradual recovery are beginning to emerge. The businesses best placed to benefit will be those that recognise the industry’s biggest challenge is no longer simply navigating a downturn, but adapting to a market that continues to evolve.

The full UK Fitted Kitchen Market from JKMR can be purchased by contacting Jayne Barber via email at: [email protected]