Kitchen renovation cost in NI: 2026 price guide

Headline cost ranges for 2026

Three spec tiers cover almost every domestic kitchen renovation in Northern Ireland. Pick the tier closest to your brief and treat the range as a sanity check on real quotes, rather than a substitute for them. Figures are turnkey: units, worktop, appliances, fitting labour, basic plumbing and electrical, and a tiled splashback. They exclude VAT, any structural alterations and the contingency.

The ranges above reflect 2026 quotes from independent NI kitchen fitters and FMB-member builders working across Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownards, Antrim and the Greater Belfast commuter belt, cross-checked against published figures from Kitchen Fitters NI (mid-range £5,000 to £20,000 Belfast band) and the MyBuilder Ireland 2026 kitchen renovation guide used as a sterling-converted ROI anchor. NI kitchen labour typically sits 10 to 15 per cent below the GB mainland average, with unit and appliance prices broadly in line. Bespoke joinery, imported stone worktops and high-end appliance brands (Neff, Miele, Gaggenau) push individual jobs above these bands.

What drives the cost variance

Two kitchens of identical footprint can differ in cost by forty per cent or more. The drivers, in roughly the order they bite, are these.

• Size of the kitchen. A small galley with eight to ten units sits at the lower end of each tier. A large open-plan kitchen-diner with 15 to 20 units, an island and a separate utility comes in 40 to 60 per cent higher in the same spec tier. Unit count, not square metres, is the price driver.
• Layout change versus like-for-like. Keeping the sink, hob and fridge in their current positions saves thousands in plumbing, electrical and gas relocation work. Moving any of them, especially the sink, adds £400 to £1,500 in pipework alone before the fitter touches a unit.
• Worktop material. A laminate worktop for a 15-unit kitchen runs £300 to £700 fitted. Solid wood lands £700 to £1,400. Quartz or granite supplied and templated is £1,800 to £4,500 for the same kitchen. The footprint is identical; the cost is the spec.
• Integrated versus freestanding appliances. Integrated dishwashers, fridges and ovens cost 30 to 60 per cent more than freestanding equivalents and lock you into specific cabinet dimensions, which limits future kitchen changes. Freestanding appliances are usually cheaper, easier to replace and faster to fit.
• Gas versus induction hob. An induction hob runs £400 to £1,400 and slots into any 13A or 32A circuit your electrician runs. A gas hob runs £200 to £900 plus the Gas Safe engineer fee for connection and certification, and requires the property to be on Phoenix or Firmus gas in the first place.
• Plumbing and electrical relocation. Pushed-back boilers, repositioned consumer units and moved waste pipework are the quiet cost surprises. NI homes with original 1970s or 1980s kitchens often need a dedicated kitchen ring circuit, an upgraded consumer unit and re-routed waste to meet 2026 building standards.

The trade-by-trade cost breakdown

The figures below are NI 2026 ranges for a standard 10 to 15 unit kitchen renovation. They are useful for two things: sanity-checking a builder or kitchen company’s itemised quote, and identifying where your own job sits relative to the band.

Add the relevant lines together and a typical mid-range NI kitchen lands around £3,200 to £6,900 in labour and trade fees alone, before units, worktop and appliances. That maps straight to the mid-range turnkey band in the headline table once material costs are layered in. The biggest single line item is almost always the kitchen fitter, followed by the electrician if the kitchen circuits need fully rewiring.

NI-specific factors UK guides miss

Most kitchen cost guides online are written for English homeowners and assume LABC Building Control, mains gas everywhere, and a single national electrical certification regime. None of those hold in NI. The points below are where NI kitchen projects quietly absorb hundreds or thousands of pounds that UK-focused guides will not warn you about.

• Oil-fired boiler relocation. Roughly two-thirds of NI homes use oil for heating, and the boiler is very often in or next to the kitchen. A kitchen redesign that moves the boiler position, even by a metre, needs an OFTEC-registered engineer to disconnect, relocate and recommission the unit. Typical cost: £300 to £900, plus the cost of any flue or oil line extension.
• NICEIC or NAPIT sign-off on circuit changes. Part P of the Building Regulations does not extend to NI, but any new kitchen ring main, dedicated cooker circuit or moved consumer unit still needs a competent- person sign-off and a written Electrical Installation Certificate (EIC). NICEIC and NAPIT are the two dominant schemes operating in NI; insist on registration and verify the number on the public register before payment. Our credentials-verification guide walks through the exact steps.
• Gas Safe and Phoenix or Firmus geography. Greater Belfast is on Phoenix; much of the rest of NI is on Firmus. Any gas hob disconnect, move or fit must be done by a Gas Safe engineer registered for the network the property is on. Outside the network footprints, LPG (bottled gas) is an option for the hob but is more expensive to run and stores at the property in cylinders.
• Ventilation and cooker hood requirements. NI Building Regulations require mechanical extract ventilation in any kitchen, with a minimum extract rate of 30 litres per second over the hob or 60 litres per second elsewhere in the room. Recirculating hoods do not meet this standard on their own; you need a ducted hood vented to outside air. Add £150 to £400 for the ducting run if the existing kitchen has none.
• NIE Networks supply load. Older NI homes are often on a 60 or 80 amp supply. An induction hob, an electric oven and a kitchen full of integrated appliances can push that load over. The upgrade to 100 amps from NIE Networks runs around £800 to £2,500 with several weeks of lead time and must be sequenced with the kitchen install or first fix will stall.

Hidden costs homeowners miss

The overrun on an NI kitchen renovation is rarely the units and the fitter. It is the line items that did not show up in the headline quote.

• Skip hire and waste removal. £200 to £400 for a 6 to 8 yard skip on a typical NI driveway, more if a street permit is needed in Belfast city centre. The old kitchen, packaging and offcuts fill it quickly.
• Plastering after units come out. Old units leave bare, unfinished plaster behind them. Patching and skimming the walls before new units go on is £400 to £900 for a typical kitchen, and is rarely included in a kitchen company’s quote.
• Flooring replacement. Old vinyl or ceramic tile under the existing kitchen units often has to come up too: it does not extend under the original footprint. New LVT, ceramic or porcelain flooring for a typical NI kitchen runs £600 to £1,800 supplied and fitted.
• Splashback tile costs. A tiled splashback over the worktop run is £250 to £550 in labour, plus £200 to £600 in tiles depending on material. Glass splashbacks cost £400 to £900 supplied and fitted but skip the tiler and the grout maintenance.
• Appliance disposal. Old fridge, freezer and oven removal under WEEE regulations: £20 to £40 per item via your council, free at most NI Household Recycling Centres if you can transport them yourself.
• Contingency. Ten per cent for a modern, well-built home; fifteen per cent for anything pre-1970 or where the layout is changing. This is not optional if you want to finish the project without borrowing more.

Where NI homeowners overspend

Three patterns show up again and again in NI kitchen renovations that come in well over budget. Avoiding any one of them typically saves £2,000 to £5,000 on a mid-range job.

• Premium worktops when laminate would do. Quartz and granite are beautiful, but on a £12,000 NI kitchen they are £2,500 to £4,000 of the budget for a surface that, in resale terms, returns very little of the premium. A high-grade laminate or solid wood worktop looks excellent and lets the saving go toward better units or appliances.
• Integrated appliances that lock in cabinet sizes. Integrated dishwashers, fridges and freezers cost 30 to 60 per cent more than freestanding equivalents and force you to buy a like-for-like replacement in five to ten years when the appliance fails. Freestanding appliances in matching colour give you the same look at lower cost and easier replacement.
• Layout changes that trigger structural or plumbing work. Moving the sink across the kitchen looks like a small change on a floor plan. In practice it triggers waste pipe re-routing, hot and cold supply extension and often a knock-through of a load-bearing wall. A £14,000 kitchen quickly becomes a £22,000 kitchen plus structural engineer fees. Decide early whether you are doing a refit or a rebuild, and price the right one.

How to get reliable quotes

Treat the figures here as a sanity check, not a quote. Real numbers come from real fitters and builders walking the property. A few rules that make those quotes useful.

• Get three written quotes from NI installers. Browse vetted local options in our NI builder directory or filter by carpenters and joiners for fit-only quotes. One quote is a price; three are a market. Two within ten per cent of each other and a third twenty per cent below the pair is almost always a sign the cheap quote has missed something. Ask what.
• Verify registrations before payment. Gas Safe for any gas work, OFTEC for any oil boiler relocation, NICEIC or NAPIT for circuit changes. Every registered tradesperson carries a scheme ID. Check it on the public register on the day. Our credentials-verification guide covers the exact steps for each scheme.
• Insist on like-for-like specifications. Send each installer the same written brief: unit count, worktop material and brand, appliance list (with models), splashback spec, flooring scope, and whether plaster make-good is included. Otherwise the cheapest quote is usually missing two of those line items.
• Stage the payment. A small deposit on units order is normal (typically 30 to 50 per cent because the units are pre-ordered from the supplier). Then a stage payment on first fix and units on site, and the balance on completion and snagging. Never pay the full amount up front.
• Get the certificates in writing. An EIC from the electrician under NICEIC or NAPIT, a Gas Safety record from the Gas Safe engineer, and an OFTEC inspection certificate if the boiler was moved. Without them, the kitchen is not signed off for home insurance or resale.

Frequently asked questions