Howden's Chilcombe kitchen quote approx 11K

[KitchenRefurb101]

Quote for 11k (including VAT) for a Howden kitchen. I realize that it's part of their luxury range, but still think this is a bit steep.

Any ideas what a reasonable price would be? TIA

Can't you just agree the 4k to fit (if thats fair) and say you are sourcing your own?

Are the units the pre constructed ones? If so it’s not necessarily Howdens taking the P it’s the fitter - it doesn’t cost £4k to install pre made units
your highline units will also push up the price

If I source my own, he's adding 15% collection charge to bring the materials to my flat. As most deliveries are curbside, so his 15% to take the supplies from curbside to inside the flat. I wasn't told this before he started (so stressed)

Don’t forget howdens do all sorts of incentive schemes for builders to encourage them to use them.
get some other quotes. Remember if your using the same builder to fit you might piss him off, so factor that in to any potential savings!

It seems this particular fitter isn’t going to work for you if he is stressing you so much.

kitchens are really important, so I wouldn’t rush it. Delay and get used to living in your flat and take another go at planning. Find a different fitter if you don’t feel comfortable with this guy.

Also, I’d definitely go for the tall units. Not just extra space but looks so much neater - plus no dust traps.

100% agree with this advice, DIY Kitchens matched our Howdens quote with a better range from theirs and saved us £6k!

Thanks everyone. I think I'll put a hold on the kitchen for now. I just can't ignore the 5k cost savings with DIY kitchen supply, and possible better fitting charges with another fitter. 4k is really steep.

Oh yikes, he is totally ripping you off and giving you bad advice. We have a DIY Kitchens kitchen and it is very well made and solid. I would ditch this fitter as he is taking you for a mug and I wouldn't want to give him my money if I were you. We are in london and our builder charged £2.5k for fitting, so £4k is a joke especially as he is clearly taking a big cut from Howdens as well..

Yes, going to just tell him to finish the other bits, and keep it all civilised. He's also changed his tone on emails and being a bit shirty with me, (since my email to him about price comparison with DIY kitchens and Wren)

This! Do you like your builder? Do they do a great job? If so it’s worth trying to stay with him if possible because finding a good builder is like gold dust.

We’ve just had a Howdens kitchen fitted and couldn’t be happier, ours came in at around 11K too (including Bosch dishwasher). I did negotiate and got a few thousand off. My builder and his team are absolutely fantastic and also renovating other parts of the house. I realise we could have gone elsewhere and saved a bit, but I’d rather pay a bit extra and keep my builder.

Gosh, in that case ignore my last post. If he’s being shitty with you, get rid of him.

Our kitchen is DIYK Norton. Solid wood. It's been in three years and still looks brand new.

I bought our kitchen from lark and larks. We had quotes for £18k, I bought it for under £4k including utility room. This was in 2018 so prices will have gone up. We also painted it ourselves which save a couple of thousand pounds. It’s very sturdy. We only paid our builders a few hundred pounds to fit it. Maybe two guys for two days. It doesn’t cost 4k to fit some boxes to a wall.

If you could message me your fitter’s contact details I would be so grateful…

Your kitchen looks amazing.

Me too please - good builders are like gold dust

Amazing, love the Norton range. He's obviously just pro Howdens for the kickback

Yes, the only thing that his changed on my side, is that I went back after the Howden quote saying I need to shop around and then sent him a 5/6k less DIY kitchens and Wren quote.

The margin is enormous. DH worked in the housing and care sector and they bought hundreds of kitchens a year. Typical discount off retail, 75%.

Another one saying DIY is certainly not flimsy! We've put it in our kitchen and utility and also a utility in my MILs house - it obviously depends which range you go for, but in general their stuff is extremely good quality.

My fitter recommended Howden. When he fitted the DIY one he was very impressed and said that the cabinets were much better than Howden.
Any chance you are close enough to visit DIY. They have a section with units in from Howden, B&Q, IKEA and others and you can compare the quality for yourself. (Howden definitely not better)

Ask him to quote for install only and order the cabinets from DIY - we had a very experienced fitter do kitchen and he was extremely impressed by DIY kitchens and total cost for large kitchen , install , electrics and plumbing including separate utility was £10k

My dad had a Howdens account. At that time builders could basically double the cost. We took the Howdens plan to DIY - it is an excellent kitchen. My dad subsequently had a new kitchen from elsewhere and is still hacked off that my ‘budget’ kitchen is such better quality.

Sounds like he was banking on profiting on the kitchen and ripping you off on the install cost.

Who knows because they don’t have a price list