Kitchen Cost Estimator by Tier

A new kitchen's units and worktops are the two largest lines in any kitchen budget, and both swing widely with the supplier you pick. Budget ranges like IKEA and B&Q run £3,000 – £6,000 for units and worktops together; mid-range trade suppliers such as Howdens sit around £8,000 – £15,000; German and bespoke British ranges reach £15,000 – £30,000. This estimator turns those bands into a figure for your own kitchen: enter your unit count, layout, supplier tier, and worktop material, and it prices the units and the worktop run separately.

What drives the price

Two choices set most of the cost. The first is supplier tier, which really means carcass quality: material, edgebanding thickness, and whether units arrive flat-pack or rigid pre-assembled. Budget suppliers cut cost on the box; premium suppliers charge for a thicker carcass, better hinges, and a finished look. The second choice is the worktop, which can double the difference between two otherwise similar kitchens.

Howdens and DIY Kitchens are the two most searched mid-range names, and they price differently. Howdens is sold through a kitchen fitter with a trade account, so the discount off brochure price varies by depot and relationship. DIY Kitchens sells direct online at a fixed price. Neither is automatically cheaper, so get an itemised quote from each on the same unit schedule.

Worktops: supply-only versus installed

Worktop pricing splits into two camps. A laminate worktop at £80 – £200 and a solid wood worktop at £150 – £350 are both quoted supply only, per linear metre, and cut by your fitter on site. A quartz worktop at £250 – £600, granite at £300 – £600, and Corian at £300 – £500 are installed rates: the fabricator visits for templating only after your units are fixed, then delivers finished worktops two to four weeks later. Build that gap into your programme before you commit to stone.

A worked example

Take a 15-unit L-shape kitchen from a mid-range trade supplier with a quartz worktop. Roughly half those units are base units, each a standard 600mm wide, so the worktop run works out around 5 to 6 metres once you add the L-shape return. The units sit in the £8,000 – £15,000 band, and the worktop is priced at the quartz installed rate of £250 – £600 across that run. Swap quartz for laminate and the worktop line drops sharply; step the units up to a German range and they alone move into £15,000 – £30,000. The calculator above shows the combined total for whichever combination you choose.

Units and worktops are only part of a finished kitchen. Appliances (£2,000 – £8,000) and fitting labour (£1,500 – £3,500) sit on top, along with the sink, taps, handles, and lighting. On one documented South East extension the finished kitchen came to several times the units-only figure once every line was counted, which is why it pays to price each part before you order. See sourcing units and worktops for how to compare suppliers without getting caught by the hidden extras.