Can anyone advise on moving kitchen down to cellar?

[KitchenMove]

Hello! I wondered if anyone had experience of moving a kitchen down to a cellar. I'm aware planning permission is needed for this and that there are building regs to comply with. I'm looking to understand how difficult it is, any pitfalls to be aware of, and if anyone has done this in the last two years, what sort of costs would be involved. Cellar has power and lighting at the moment but not much else.

For context it's a house I am thinking of buying which has a tiny, galley kitchen as a sort of add on to the lounge. I would like to create a more normal sized kitchen by moving it to the cellar and would then turn the galley kitchen area into a small office or cloakroom.

Any advice and opinions will be very gladly received!

Drains could be a problem, unless they are already lower than the cellar floor.

I didn't move it, but my kitchen is in the basement. The only real disadvantage I can think of is the problem of moving water upstairs to get to the drains. I have a macerator, which always makes me nervous. Also, it does tend to add to the damp.

If you’ve got the money and know tradespeople, a great use of the space. It would need tanking out, possibly lowering floors making structurally sound etc, which is expensive to do. In today’s world would estimate 20-30k with your kitchen and fitting costs on top. But if they don’t want to do it, they’ll quote you something silly.

Thank you. It's a Victorian property with one of those big stone sinks in the cellar so I assume it must have or have had some kind of drainage in the past. It's not something that would be a 'must', the other option would be more straightforwardly just getting the cellar tanked out and converted to additional living space, but I have seen cellar-kitchen conversions in similar properties and I really like the aesthetic so it's definitely something I want to explore if my purchase goes ahead.

Cellars in Victorian homes have a purpose, part of which is so your property can breath. It’s there to take and release water. Tanking is the worst possible thing you can do to it. You will be creating a massive future damp issue for your whole home

I think it needs to be done really well if you’re going to do it. And honestly I have only ever seen it work in houses on a slope where the back of the house is essentially level with the ground (so not a “true” cellar). I would be thinking about plumbing/ drainage (you’re essentially having to pump water uphill which is a bit of a nightmare), and heating, light (I think you need good windows), stairs (some cellar stairs are really steep and a massive faff to be taking shopping and/ or hot food up and down), head height and also flow of the house- if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the day I think I’d consider making a bigger kitchen diner with a sofa upstairs and then having a cosy snug in the cellar.

Also if you do need to dig down for head height it is hugely expensive and your neighbours will hate you for a few years.