kitchen falling to bits

never_enough

Agree with previous poster, getting the kitchen dry is the first thing you need to sort. As you say mould/damp problems are not something you want to be covering up with a kitchen unit. There must be a problem as it's not 'normal' to have damp (whatever your American friend may think! :rolleyes: ) It doesn't necessarily mean a new damp proof course is needed. It could be pointing needs replacing, or there's a higher level outside so the dpc is being breached or even a leak from a pipe or tap.
Pretty sure the units from Habitat come ready made. I saw them in the shop & they look lovely, really chunky although if money were no object I'd go for the Fired Earth ones. There's nothing stopping you from finding a local cabinet maker or carpenter to make something similar for you. There are a couple of companies on ebay that will make units from wood.
Twenty years really is a good life for a kitchen, I know people who have had at least 2 or 3 refits in that time. Although I also have a friend with a 1950's enamel kitchen still going strong! As people often seem to rip out perfectly decent kitchens when they move into a new place & you don't seem to mind the idea of second hand, it could well be worth checking out ebay, local papers or freecycle.

ScoobieGirl

You might not have proper damp, just a bit of mould. I've got some mould on the wall behind my fitted units where there is condensation from the pipes and no air flow. If it's the same with you the problem should dissappear with freestanding units if there is enough space around them. Unfortunatly my water pipe comes up in a wierd place (Thanks Mr Wimpy) and goes round two walls, so it was a lot tidier to use flat packs - that and they were way out of my budget. It was getting upto £8k to get the same amount of space I could get in a decent £1k flat pack kitchen.

John Lewis do some lush free standing units partial assembly required.

What is the wall like behind you current units? It may take a bit of work to get it tidy enough for free standing units. Probably a bit of making good between the wall and floor required and a skirting board put in?