Future Trends in the UK Residential Kitchen Furniture Market: A Forecast Through 2028

The UK residential kitchen furniture market is projected to have a marginal increase of +4% in 2028. The 17^th edition of the UK residential kitchen furniture market report presents our forecast from 2024 to 2028 for the following products:

• Kitchen furniture – fitted and freestanding, rigid and flat pack.
• Worktops
• Sinks

Residential Kitchen Furniture Market Overview

The UK residential kitchen furniture market has been impacted by economic uncertainties in recent years. In the short to medium term, consumer confidence may not rise enough to generate immediate growth in this market. Additionally, labour and supply shortages may also mitigate growth. The market remains highly competitive for manufacturers and distributors, with European companies looking to expand in the UK. Additionally, with expected growth in the next five years, it will likely be driven by new design trends for materials, colours, and product functionality, as well as a greater attention to the smart kitchen trend, storage solutions, and sustainability principles.

Market Growth

The UK residential kitchen furniture market has been fairly affected by economic disruption and reduced activity in the construction industry in 2020, experiencing a decline of -5% marginal growth, although the market rebounded in 2021 with a +11% marginal growth. The market experienced further decline in 2023. Despite this, the market is expected to grow in the next five years, with a +4% marginal growth in 2028 reaching £2,212m Manufacturer Selling Price (MSP). The newly elected government and its plan to build 1.5 million new homes for 2029 leads to opportunities for the residential kitchen furniture market, despite consumer confidence remaining low in the short-term and material prices high due to ongoing geopolitical conflicts. However, kitchen installers shortages may impact this market in the long-term, and greater attention is needed on passing expertise to younger professionals. With kitchen furniture imports increasing compared to 2020 levels, competition in the UK market may be impacted. Other factors impacting the residential kitchen furniture market include demographic changes, such as the UK’s ageing population, the smart kitchen trend, and ESG practices.

Major Suppliers

The furniture market sub-sector constitutes the largest sub-sector when compared to the worktops and sinks sub-sectors, and this has been the case for the past few years. Space optimisation remains an important driver in the kitchen furniture market, while kitchen worktops are partly driven by design trends, and sinks are partly influenced by technological developments in the kitchen taps market. Major suppliers in the kitchen furniture sub-sector includes Howden Joinery, Wren Kitchens, Nobia and its subsidiaries, The Symphony Group, Ultima Furniture Systems, Moores Furniture Group, and Omega. In the sinks sub-sector, major suppliers include AGA Rangemaster, Franke, and Blanco. In the worktops sub-sector, important suppliers are categorised by raw material suppliers and fabricators, and major UK fabricators include Wilsonart (incorporating Bushboard), Kronospan, Egger, Howden (including Sheridan), and Pfleiderer Industrie.

Distribution

The distribution of residential kitchen furniture in the UK is composed of eight channels – trade outlets – mainly builders’ and joinery merchants, home improvement multiples, furniture multiples, retail specialists, direct contract, direct sales, department stores, and online retailers. The leading channels are trade outlets, home improvement multiples, and retail specialists, retaining 85% of the distribution market. Many retail specialists are also important manufacturers in the residential kitchen furniture market. Regarding home improvement multiples, their range tends to expand as market trends suggest greater interest in higher quality kitchens. Some major distributors include trade outlets Howden Joinery, Travis Perkins, Magnet, and Jewson; home improvement multiples B&Q, Wickes Building Supplies, and HHGL; retails specialists Wren Kitchens, Tom Howley, Lux Group, and many other specialist studios; direct contract Symphony, Moores, and Omega; and furniture multiples Ikea.

Market Forecast

In the next five years, the market is expected to stabilise itself and experience a slow but steady growth. An increase in public RMI activity, and the new housing target set by the government is likely to provide a boost to the sector. We project the residential kitchen furniture market to have a +14.4% increase in 2028 compared to estimated 2020 levels. The kitchen furniture and worktops sub-sectors are expected to grow slightly more quickly than the sinks market sub-sector. In fact, both kitchen furniture and worktops sub-sector are expected to each experience a marginal growth of +4% in 2028, compared to the sinks sub-sector estimated at +3% in 2028. Consumer awareness in this sector is high, and it is likely to remain the case as more and more customers rely on platforms such as Pinterest to help their interior design projects. Many innovations in this market revolve around worktops and storage solutions. While helping to maximise space in the kitchens, storage solution innovations now also tend to be directed at individuals with less mobility to facilitate accessibility in the kitchen. Additionally, sustainability in the materials used and circularity principles are also more present in this market and may create a competitive advantage as consumer awareness increases.