New kitchen - Is it worth it?

bargain_hunter25

Hi all

I am planning to have a new kitchen fitted which will cost around £8000. This includes everything from start to finish, all new appliances integrated etc.

My question is, I always planned to move on to the next step of the property ladder in late 2016, early 2017 to accommodate my growing family so is spending £8000 now on my current house worth it?

I imagine the house will be more attractive to some people when I come to sell, and it may sell for a little more than its current value of £165000 - £170000.

So, what are peoples opinions on this? Spend the £8000 now and get 12 months out of it, or save that money and invest in the new house. I could probably cut down the quality of some of the appliances and get the cost down towards £7000 too.

There is also the risk that I wont end up moving to a larger house, depending upon finances and any unforeseen issues.

Glastoun

If you're pretty sure you'll be moving within two years you're probably better off not spending £8k on your current house. Try to freshen up your existing kitchen to make it more attractive. A brand new kitchen will make your house easier to sell, but probably wouldn't make you your money back.

When we moved out of a flat we bought new cupboard doors, probably costing us about £350. It looked great for the photos and walk-arounds, and to be honest we wished we'd done it a few years before so we could have enjoyed it too.

richy999

As above, spend a few hundred on new doors and perhaps some new tiles/worktops.
If you don't end up moving, they you can always splash out on your new kitchen.

woodbutcher_2

As stated, will probably make your house more salable but won't necessarily add value. A re-vamp would be better IMO.

Davesnave

A new kitchen can add some value, but not usually to the tune of what it costs if the house is of average type and value.

If the old one can be rescued, as above, that's the way to go, for the short term.

tealady

Personally I wouldn't spend that amount of money. I have see some houses for sale with brand new kitchens and my 1st thought is how much it would cost to rip it out.
For instance I loathe black worktops, Belfast sinks and those shiny white brick tiles which remind me of public toilets. If a kitchen had those I would put the house on the "reject" pile. However it may be what you have just spent 8 grand on!

SplanK

On the flip side... we did this slightly unintentionally.
We spent around 8-9k on our new kitchen at our last house, made it 'ours' but also quite universal with no quirky stuff as we knew we would be moving but didn't know when. The lot was ripped out, including the ceiling.
2 years later we moved after out growing the house!
The old kitchen was beyond its useful life, needed a new cooker, walls were a bit of a mess, a leak had caused damage to the ceiling which I had patched up but no aertex, it was dragging down the perceived value of the house, we estimated somewhere between 5-10k depending who you spoke to and which way the wind was blowing.
It would have made the house more difficult and limited the market who we could have sold to. I know this as a 'good kitchen' was on the very top of our lists when house hunting.
You need to take a step back and think about it from a non-attached, non emotional stance. A kitchen is a big part of the house and quite a costly and intrusive job to replace, getting it to a good, nice state will assist in saleability rather than cost, but should help you get offers closer to asking price.
Is there any scope to do a mini refresh such as fresh door, lick of paint, flooring, new cooker for example? These things don't need to be expensive and a lot can be done on the cheap if you DIY, this will keep your cost down whilst offering a good, functional kitchen that wont instantly put people off.

If however its a wreck, you need to consider:
1. Target market - is the target market willing to take a wreck?
2. How much does it drag down the value of the house?
3. Can you do it for cheaper than 8k? Plenty of options out there that to refresh the kitchen
4. How much of it can you DIY?


Best to speak with some EA's first and get an idea and take a look around a ~2-3 mile radius in your value range to see what you are up against.