Words: Mark Waddy

The UK kitchen market has been through an exceptionally challenging period. Our new Kitchen Market Report 2026 shows that kitchen sales have declined by 20% since 2019, with five of the past seven years recording downturns.

But our research suggests that 2026 represents an important inflection point. We believe the post-Covid sales trough is coming to an end and that the market is beginning a slow and steady road to recovery.

This is not simply a cyclical downturn. We have identified a fundamental change in buying behaviour and a structural shift in demand, with changing consumer preferences, demographics, innovation and purchasing frequencies permanently influencing the kitchen market. Since the 2022 peak, sales have fallen by almost £1 billion at constant prices, demonstrating the scale of the challenge the industry has faced.

Some categories and retailers may already be experiencing the beginnings of a recovery, while for others it will take longer. Assuming a stable geopolitical outlook, however, we believe the dark skies are beginning to brighten.

Recent results from B&Q support this optimism. Parent company Kingfisher said in September that kitchen sales had outperformed other big-ticket purchases, with kitchens “becoming a more important part of our lives and a more important room in the house”.

Our 190-page report points to market stabilisation in the second half of 2026, despite a continuing year-on-year decline in real terms. We expect monthly sales to be running as much as 3% above the previous year later in H2 2027/H1 2028 as five years of pent-up demand is steadily released.

In our view, the first phase of the recovery is therefore already underway, although it is likely to be slow and potentially erratic in some sectors.

One of the most significant findings from our analysis of £5 billion of kitchen market sales is the increasingly important role of independent kitchen retailers.

We expect independents to lead the kitchen market “restoration” in 2027, benefiting from their market position, years of experience and higher-value service and product offering.

Our research shows that, while independent retailers lost market share during the past decade, that trend has reversed since 2022. In 2026, the channel is now selling more than £6 million of kitchen products every day.

We believe this reversal, accelerated by premiumisation and changing demographics, will be a key driver of value in the kitchen market in 2027 and beyond. By 2031, we actually expect it to generate more than £200m of additional market sales.

We are also seeing increasing polarisation between different routes to market. The internet and kitchen retailers are the only two channels that have consistently outperformed the wider market, with their sales exceeding £2bn in 2026.

This creates what we describe as a “dichotomy of demand”: lower-value products increasingly being purchased through e-commerce while consumers looking for higher-quality products gravitate towards specialist retailers. We expect this to remain an important feature of the market over the medium term.

The picture is less positive for the middle of the market. Multiple chain retailers and merchants may need to wait until 2027/28 before organic volume demand returns more strongly. Current trends also suggest DIY multiples could lose market share to more traditional routes to market in the near term, although our forecasts for the DIY kitchen sector remain positive, with an additional £150m of market value expected by 2031.

There are also important changes taking place within individual product categories.

In the higher-value kitchen furniture market, rigid unit sales have increased by more than £200m. We believe this reflects continuing labour supply and installation cost challenges, combined with a growing consumer preference for higher-value carcasses.

Product development and innovation have meanwhile supported £100m of growth in the built-in appliance market. Kitchen furniture and built-in cooking appliance sales together account for more than £2.5bn in 2026, and we expect growth to accelerate during 2027 and beyond.

Higher-value kitchen sinks and taps are another clear area of growth for the industry. Affluent, experienced and knowledgeable consumers are helping drive this part of the market, where daily sales now exceed £2m. Sales have increased by more than £30m in nominal terms, with innovation and technology continuing to influence consumer behaviour.

We are seeing a similar trend in worktops, although pricing pressure is more evident. Nevertheless, we expect this category to generate almost £100m of additional growth over the next six years.

Overall, we forecast £50m of growth in the kitchen retail market in 2027, with market values accelerating through to 2031.

That growth will not necessarily be immediately accessible to every part of the industry. But our medium-term outlook is positive for kitchen suppliers and retailers that understand how the market has structurally changed and, crucially, how they need to remain relevant within it.

Independent specialists remain the backbone of the kitchen market and, as the recovery begins to take shape, our research suggests they will be at the forefront of its return to growth. 

MTW Research is an independent specialist publisher of market research reports and databases for the UK construction and building products industry. The Kitchen Market Report 2026 is available for £595 from marketresearchreports.co.uk.