I’m no expert but that seems really high for a pretty average kitchen. I’m no fan of Howdens due to their weird condition that you need to order via a fitter/builder. How bizarre. In my view Howdens, Wrens, Magnets and the diy stores like Wickes and B&Q are much of a muchness. My kitchen is a 12 year old Wrens. It’s okay but nothing special. I had my own fitter. Have you tried DIY kitchens? They seem to be very popular with Houzzers, or an independent kitchen company, which aren’t as expensive as you would imagine. They tend to have kitchens for all budgets.

Hi Sonia, yes, have looked at DIY Kitchens. They have a planning tool which I've used and they're coming in at about £8.5k which seems much more reasonable. May end up going with them if the builder is happy. Lots of them seem to prefer Howdens etc.

Is that 8k for just installation with the builder?  If so that's way over priced.  We're having a large kitchen from wren and even their own fitting is only 4k when they apply all their offers (about 5.5k full price) But we have had quotes from our own builder and an independent kitchen fitter at around 2.5-3k for a 22 unit kitchen.

We found magnet to be more expensive for less features.  We've gone with wren as we have used them before and we're very happy with product and service.  We are sourcing worktops elsewhere as they didn't have exactly what we wanted but their cabinets are a good deal so all comes in within budget.

Good luck making your decision.

Yep, just for the installation (incl plumbing and electrics as necessary) - seems high to me too. Currently waiting for quotes from a couple of other builders/installers so will be interesting to see what they say.

Howdens cabinets are definitely at the lower end of the quality scale by what I've seen. It therefore comes down to the people selling it and how much they think they can get away with. Of course, this I guess is most sales people !! 17k seems expensive and 8k is far too much for a builder to fit a kitchen, though depending on what type of furniture you have chosen, some styles are more expensive than others.

Try a couple of local kitchen places to see their pricing and make sure you get someone who knows how to fit a kitchen properly ... not a builder.

Good luck :)

DIY kitchens are great, highly recommend.

I’d also recommend DIY kitchens. Ours has been in for 7 years & still looking good. They also come pre-assembled which should save on time & fitting costs. Our fitter always used Howdens by choice but commented that the DIY kitchen ones were better quality inc fittings, such as drawer sliders (& that was at the lower end of the DIY kitchen price range).

My understanding (might be wrong) is that a builder who is the middleman between you and Howdens adds what they want to the Howdens quote. So that's why you could get a vastly different quote from two different builders. It means they're already making money on it, so to charge a high fitting price on top means they're just making even more from you. It sounds to me as though your builder has decided you're rolling in it and is trying his luck!! There are many many better kitchen companies out there than Howdens so I definitely agree with others' recommendations to try some other suppliers and fitters.