How much are Howdens Kitchens?

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

My tenants are moving out of my BTL next month and I am planning on renovating and selling the property. The kitchen is from 1985 when the house is built and I let the tenants paint it as I knew I would be ripping it out when they moved out anyway. The tiles are beige and have pictures of loaves of bread on, that is how old it is!

My house has a Howdens kitchen which was fitted by the previous owners six years ago and I have to say I like it. Seems decent quality, although the Lamona appliances have all lasted about 3 or 4 years before they all died.

I know they are trade, how do you go about getting an account? I will add my brother is a self employed joiner, although he only works for one company so he doesn't have a ltd company or anything.

And how do the prices compare to a high street store such as B&Q? The kitchen is only 10ft by 10ft so we are hardly talking lots of cupboards.

[Lefty]

RRP will be similar so it depends what discount you can negotiate. The more you buy and the better the relationship with your branch manager the better the discount. You can play off different branches too.

We’ve bought five or six from the same branch over 20 years and now get great discount, it varies on what you’re buying too. You’ll get more discount on wooden worktops than composite for example. I think the stated discount on the oak block for our island was 60%, we got 25% on the composite stuff for the worktops. Ditto for doors, discount rate will be different for wood vs mdf.

Long story short - they are better quality than b&q and can be a bit cheaper or much cheaper. Do you have a mate in the trade who buys lots of kitchens who might get a better discount than a one off buyer? If so it might be worth buying it through him and giving him some of the savings as a thank you

[Mr Pointy]

Look at DIY Kitchens as well - several PH posters use them in preference to Howdens:

https://diy-kitchens.com/

[alscar]

My wife has just ordered a new utility room set up from Howdens ( 7 cupboard's ,solid wood worktop and upstand , granite composite sink and drainer etc ) and the local branch was happy to give a quote based on who we had chosen to fit but equally happy to also give names of tradesmen they had worked with previously.
Also happy to come out and do all the measurements and provide CAD's etc.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Mr Pointy said:

Look at DIY Kitchens as well - several PH posters use them in preference to Howdens:

https://diy-kitchens.com/

This looks like the best solution all round, might pop into their Oxford showroom in a few weeks.

[LooneyTunes]

Assuming you are planning to install it yourself:

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

I know they are trade, how do you go about getting an account?

Don't. But if you must, it seems like pretty much any evidence of trading will suffice.

Mr Pointy said:

Look at DIY Kitchens as well - several PH posters use them in preference to Howdens:

https://diy-kitchens.com/

Do.

Having done both in the past year, the product from DIY is so much easier to work with and actually arrives fully built up. Sure, you'll pop the doors off to clamp/join/hang, but units from Howdens only arrive partially built. That's great for a fitter charging installation as the job lasts longer... less so if you're wanting it done quickly.

The only downsides with DIY are:
1) Cost/delay if you miss a part off the order;
2) They tell you which week they expect to deliver and then spring an actual delivery date with an "all day" slot on you at the last minute... not ideal if your only reason for being at a property is to take delivery.

As for this:

Lefty said:

RRP will be similar so it depends what discount you can negotiate. The more you buy and the better the relationship with your branch manager the better the discount. You can play off different branches too.

I hate this about them. Their price opacity always makes it feel like you're getting stiffed.

Howdens also have blokes in vans driving round. Lads working on projects for me have been offered various "free" kit (tools etc) if they can get me to place my business with Howdens. Clearly not going to be getting the max possible discount off their already opaque pricing if some of it is getting backhanded in gifts...

[Baldchap]

I've done about five Howdens kitchens over the last three or four years. They're getting expensive for anything beyond the basics. Things like walk in corner larders and corner cupboards and full height larders are seriously expensive apiece before discount, which I'm not convinced I get a great deal of because I don't do that much with them.

Is the quality there to command the price? I'm not convinced if I'm being honest.

I don't know if I'd use them again given how expensive they've got.

[tog]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

I know they are trade, how do you go about getting an account?

I spoke to my local Howdens a few years ago before we did our kitchen. When asked about self-installing and me not being trade he said it was not a problem and ways can always be found. "I am not gong to not sell you a kitchen" were his exact words!

[ColinM50]

We have a Howdens kitchen and think it's great. Howdens came and measured up and did 3D design and we went into local branch to buy it all via a fitter we were recommended to. FGinaal price from the fitter, including his discount was better than B&Q and Wickes and don't even think about ripoff Wren.

Don't know where you are but if you can visit their H.O. in Raunds in Northanks you won't regret it. They have a HUGE display of all their range and again they'll tweak whatever design you have. No pressure, very helpful and friendly

Worth a day out

/www.howdens.com/help-and-advice/about-us/howdens-expo

[Little Lofty]

I’ve had a Howdens account for 25 years but started using DIY a few years ago as I got fed up of playing Howdens silly pricing games. There's not a massive difference in quality but DIY edge it, they also offer more unit sizes and are cheaper unless you buy kitchens every week from Howdens, even then you have to twist their arm. As mentioned the downside to DIY is their delivery system, it’s not the best. I’m about to order one this week, they have a sale on for a another week or two, lead time at the moment is about 4 weeks.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

LooneyTunes said:

I hate this about them. Their price opacity always makes it feel like you're getting stiffed.

This, cannot be bothered to play stupid games like this. I am fairly certain I am going to end up ordering from diy kitchens. Girlfriend has already agreed to a day out in Oxford, so we will be going to the showroom the week after next.

[119]

Thing is it’s like with most kitchens.

A decent kitchen fitter can make cheap kitchens look good.

We had a Howdens kitchen in our past house that was nigh on 20 years old, and to be fair, it was due to be replaced when we sold up!

[DonkeyApple]

LooneyTunes said:

I hate this about them. Their price opacity always makes it feel like you're getting stiffed.

Howdens also have blokes in vans driving round. Lads working on projects for me have been offered various "free" kit (tools etc) if they can get me to place my business with Howdens. Clearly not going to be getting the max possible discount off their already opaque pricing if some of it is getting backhanded in gifts...

Two very different models that's for sure.

When I moved in here, a local Howdens manager knocked on the door. Lived locally and simply introduced himself and said if we needed a kitchen to call and he'd arrange trade pricing. Nice touch but ultimately any dealings with Howdens are still akin to buying a used banger down on a lot. Whatever price you get you'll always depart feeling screwed.

This house is only for about ten years or I'd nip over to Wozzer on PH as he is a couple of miles away and his kitchens are simply excellent.

In the end, after years of seeing them mentioned here, I called DIY. Classically pleasant Yorkshirefolk so drove all the way up to MonkeyLand and chose a kitchen. Simple pricing and very pleasant people to deal with. And perfectly good quality with everything square.

[tog]

119 said:

A decent kitchen fitter can make cheap kitchens look good.

Or the opposite – we had quite an expensive kitchen poorly fitted and nothing Iines up anymore!

I'd like to get someone in to go through everything and refit / adjust as required.

[Chris Type R]

Watched a YT video recently which might be of interest - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkNmhyEFX5U

TLDW, DIY kitchens were the winner.

[Sheepshanks]

I feel we got reamed over our Howdens kitchen - to be fair, our builder said I could use whoever I liked, but he'd leave me to it. We did get a quote from the people who custom made and fitted our previous kitchen, but their business model had changed, their factory closed, and they were now just fitting pre-made kitchens. They were twice the price (but produce the sort of stuff you see in posh magazines).

The builders "kitchen fitter" (contractor) did little more than plonk the Howdens units down - the builders electrician, plumber and joiners stil did a lot of other work. Howdens wouldn't discuss cost with me and the builder (all through the build) didn't negotiate on any price.

In the end, I did source the quartz worktops myself, and that got messed up - the large single piece for the hob wall didn't fit so was delayed while they remade it. To his credit, the builder did work around that.

I was aware of the Howdens kitchen bloke turning up on each of the two days the kitchen fitter was there - that's the thing people using them they swear by, everything is available and they'll immediately sort out any problems.

.
ETA: I did roughly price it up using DIY Kitchens - not sure if I was doing something wrong, but even for just the units the price was far higher than I expected. If you look at Howdens stories online, some people are getting basic kitchens for £3K.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Tuesday 13th January 10:04

[Road2Ruin]

I looked at both a few years ago. Howdens beat the DIY Kitchens by 10% and threw in a dishwasher. I did buy the quartz worktop from a local supplier, though.