Not convinced, myself. You could maybe buy now at X% below the market value; but the smart money seems to reckon the market has quite some way to fall yet - so surely better to wait a few months and buy at X% below the market value then?
Of course predicting the 'trough' in the market is easier said than done, but if I was a first-time buyer I'd be taking advantage of low rents caused by the glut of 'forced-to-let' landlords and biding my time a bit.
David
Out of interest, what's the spares side like on modern kitchens? I get the impression that it's still just about possible to get bits and pieces (doors, worktops, mechanisms) for some 15-20 year old kitchens. So if you move an appliance you can buy a new door without having to buy new doors for the whole kitchen.
Does that still apply to modern suppliers, or do they have a when-it's-gone-it's-gone attitude?
What happened to Howdens regarding the MFI collapse - I know they split but still had some kind of relationship... are they completely separate now?
Theo
I wouldn't expect many styles to last 15-20 years, as tastes will change, so probably not that sort of timescales.
However, IKEA do hold on to their styles for more than just the one year, though I can't say for the sheds.
I think the problem is not so much whether the doors are going to still be around in 6 months time as whether the supplier will still be there.
I'm not expecting the same styles to be in the shops, but that they/their distributor have some at the back of the warehouse if you need it. Of course you're going to pay for the privilege, but it's cheaper than replacing half the kitchen.
That probably doesn't work for the box shifters, where everything's just a part number and anything not in the current catalogue gets dumped.
There is that, especially at the moment :(
Theo
In that case, probably not - but you could always get a few spare doors yourself when you're doing the initial purchase. Think of it as £30-£50 insurance against future proofing in case you want to buy more units.
If you're not changing the units, the only bits you'll need to replace will be the doors, and new doors will still fit the old carcasses.
We re-doored our IKEA kitchen ourselves after about 10 years - we just got some plain pine board , routed a shadow frame shape onto each panel and oil dyed the wood blue. Reused the hinges and fittings.
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