LVT would get my vote. Easy to clean and you can use a steam mop on it too.

Ask your self if the kitchen is actually a good kitchen….. if you need a utility room next to the kitchen for additional refrigeration or storage or additional work surface then it’s not a good enough kitchen for you. Ideally the utility should be just a laundry room in which case it’s best near the bedrooms upstairs or at least near the bottom of the stairs.

Is does seem that the lesser known brands of LVT are the same thickness and same warranty as the major brands- the difference seems to be the colour choice and size of marketing budget. So as long as you like the colour choice with another brand then I think the cost saving is worth having. Separately the issue with herringbone over an expansive area is making the pattern meet up- generally a competent fitter will have no problems- I wonder if the issue is that you aren’t actually looking at LVT but instead floating floors (click together floors as opposed to stick down to the screed). Floating floors need to expand and over a large sized area can need an expansion strip adding which looks fine if you can add it to a doorway but looks odd in the middle of a large room.

We had our bedroom floor done 3 years, it’s about 27sqm. It only cost c1k but we didn’t need sound insulation. The guy was an antique furniture restorer who started refurbishing floors as a sideline and i suspect he seriously undercharged us..We also didn’t need much in terms of repair work, all boards were sound and only 1 had been replaced at some point in its lifetime, you may also find holes where central heating has been installed or gaps under skirting etc i think you need to consider whether you’d be happy with all the dents as pine is such a soft wood. We hung new curtains days after the floor being done and the ladder (sat on a towel) created dents. We put furniture pads under everything but have had no need to move the furniture since but i suspect it has big dents everywhere! It's fine for us jn a bedroom but not sure if i could cope in a living space