The FTSE 100 kitchen specialist Howden Joinery is to sell directly to homeowners for the first time after agreeing a £390 million takeover of the online retailer DIY Kitchens, a strategic pivot that could reshape how landlords and refurbishers source one of the most value-adding rooms in any property.
The Yorkshire-based group, which has built its business almost entirely around trade-only depots, will pay £292.5 million in cash and £97.5 million in new Howden shares for the parent of Ultima Furniture Systems. Shares in the company climbed roughly 2 per cent on the news, adding 15½p to 770½p in afternoon trading in London and reversing a slice of the near 10 per cent decline seen over the past year.
For property investors, the significance goes beyond a single corporate transaction. Howdens has long been the default fitter’s choice for buy-to-let kitchens, prized for its loyalty discounts, flexible credit terms and same-day stock. Adding a direct-to-consumer arm signals that the boundary between trade pricing and retail is narrowing, a shift that comes at a time when refurbishment economics are under intense scrutiny across the lettings sector.
Howdens was founded in 1995 by Matthew Ingle and has grown from 14 depots to almost 900 across Britain and Europe. On completion of the DIY Kitchens deal, the group plans to push that footprint to 1,000 sites, each staffed by designers and fitters who advise tradespeople through the planning and installation process.
DIY Kitchens, by contrast, has built a fast-growing online business serving homeowners who prefer to plan, design and order from a laptop. The Wakefield-headquartered retailer offers self-service planning tools, made-to-order manufacturing and a pair of cavernous showrooms, one of which it claims is the largest kitchen showroom in the country, with a third planned for Scotland.
Howdens said DIY Kitchens would continue to trade independently as an online-only operation, leaving its trade-only depot network untouched. Andrew Livingstone, the chief executive, described the target as a “highly profitable and growing enterprise” with a “distinct” model, adding: “DIY Kitchens share many of the characteristics that underpin Howden’s success, including well-invested manufacturing, strong vertical integration, scalable capabilities and a deep, well-embedded entrepreneurial culture.”
A new kitchen remains one of the most reliable levers a landlord can pull. Research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggests a well-executed kitchen refit can add around 4 to 6 per cent to a property’s value, with returns reaching double digits in higher-priced London postcodes. Combine that with growing tenant preference for turn-key homes, a theme highlighted in our coverage of the shift towards ‘move-in ready’ properties, and a more competitive kitchen market starts to look materially helpful for landlord cash flow.
If DIY Kitchens’ direct-to-consumer pricing pulls retail rates closer to trade, that could ease one of the bigger line items in a refurbishment budget at exactly the point when the market is rewarding well-presented stock. Our latest UK housing market outlook for 2026 shows growth of between 2 and 4 per cent is expected this year, with buyers and tenants alike rewarding properties that need no immediate work.
That dynamic is just as relevant for landlords still building their first portfolio. As our complete guide for first-time landlords sets out, kitchen quality is one of the most cited drivers of tenant retention — and a poorly executed refit can swallow months of net rent.
DIY Kitchens generated about £136 million of revenue and £37 million of operating profit in 2025, having grown sales at more than 17 per cent a year over the past five years. The £390 million price tag represents roughly 8.5 times the trailing twelve-month EBITDA to the end of March 2026, with £240 million of new bank facilities helping to fund the cash component.
Howdens also confirmed that its previously announced £100 million share buyback programme for 2026 was unchanged, and analysts at Jefferies described the transaction as “strategically and financially savvy”, estimating it could drive around 10 per cent earnings per share accretion. The investment bank pointed to the combination of complementary customer access and a fast-growing target as the key attractions.
Howdens generated revenues of £2.4 billion and pre-tax profits of £344.9 million in its last full year and opened 29 depots in Britain over the period. There is, the company conceded, scope for the combined group to take a more common approach to raw materials, sourcing and machinery, although it stopped short of saying whether its flagship Yorkshire manufacturing plant, a Reuters report cited as central to the group’s vertically integrated model, would be reconfigured. DIY Kitchens’ differentiated product range will be made to order and displayed in a small number of showrooms nationwide over time.
For landlords planning works this summer, the immediate implication is competitive: two of the country’s most efficient kitchen manufacturers now sit under one roof. Pricing for both trade and retail buyers should, in theory, become more transparent. The more interesting question is whether Howdens uses its new direct channel to court small-portfolio landlords who have historically used trade desks via their builder.
Completion is subject to customary regulatory approvals. With DIY Kitchens preserved as an online-only standalone, the integration risk looks low, but the strategic signal, that even the most disciplined trade-only operators now see retail as too big to ignore, will linger long after the deal closes.
