The Property Unleashed Podcast

How Smart Kitchen Design Boosts Rental Cash Flow In 2026

• Mark Fitzgerald • Episode 367

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Your next rent increase might not come from a new strategy. 

It might come from a better kitchen photo and a layout that finally makes sense. I’m joined by Tracy Patel, director of KWT Interiors and Designs, to dig into rental property kitchen design as a real lever for ROI, rental yield, and long-term tenant quality in 2026. If you’ve ever defaulted to “just stick a cheap kitchen in,” this conversation flips that thinking into a design-led approach that helps you stand out in a crowded market. 

We get practical fast: why tenants judge the kitchen first, how visual impact drives online clicks and viewings, and why smart layout beats expensive finishes. Tracy shares how to plan the kitchen early so workflow, storage, and usability are designed in rather than patched later. We also talk integrated appliances, lighting, tall units, corner solutions, and the small decisions that create a premium feel without premium costs. If you’re choosing worktops for rentals, you’ll hear why modern laminate can deliver the look while protecting your refurbishment budget. 

For HMO investors, we go straight at a common mistake: bottlenecks created by placing sinks, hobs, and cooking areas side by side. Tracy explains how separating zones can improve the tenant experience and keep people in the property longer. We also cover serviced accommodation kitchens, kitchenettes in bedrooms, typical price ranges, and a few compliance considerations to keep in mind.  

If you want a kitchen that attracts tenants, justifies higher rent, and lasts, hit play. Subscribe for more property investing insights, share this with a landlord friend who needs it, and leave a review telling us the one kitchen upgrade you’re making next.

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Welcome And Summit Replays

SPEAKER_03

Today, we are going to talk about. Well, I'm not, but one of my guests who joined us on the Property Growth Summit is going to share with you why you really want to be focused on design and how to separate yourself from the crowd. Hello and welcome to the Property Unleashed with me, your host, Mark Fitzgerald. So some of you, maybe a lot of you, I couldn't see everybody who was on there, joined us for the Property Growth Summit 2026. That was a day event, it was a virtual summit, and I invited eight industry experts to come and share their knowledge from all sorts of different sectors. And what I want to do is bring the replays if you joined us live there, but also for the opportunity that if you couldn't make it with us, to still benefit from the event. So over the next few weeks, we will have the industry experts presentations, their talks, because I tell you what, they're so important to your property investing right here, right now in 2026 and going and moving forward. Now, today's episode will feature the legend that is Tracy Patel. She is the director of KWT Interiors and Designs, and she is an absolute master in what she does. So I hope you enjoyed her presentation and the fact that she's going to explain to you why design is so important in 2026 and moving forward, how you can do great design on a budget and what you should be looking out for. So please enjoy this episode, and I'm sure you'll all get massive, massive value from it. Let's get started. But without further ado, I am now really, really excited to invite Tracy Patel up to join us. She's going to go through how to design your properties for maximum cash flow on a good old budget. Hello, Tracy. Great to have you on. Hello, Mark. How are you? I'm very well. Thank you. Very well yourself.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, very good, thank you. Very excited about this. Really looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_03

Brilliant stuff, brilliant stuff. So Tracy herself has a kitchen business key, a WT in it, but kitchens design is a bit interesting. There we are. That's it in T. I thought it changed. That's why I was questioning myself while I was saying it. And they have a business down Greenwich Way in London, and they operate all across the UK, and absolutely amazing. So if you're looking at any of your designs or furniture needs or anything like that, you're really going to enjoy this next segment. And I'll just shut up now and leave Tracy to take it away.

Layout First And Workflow Planning

Visual Impact That Wins Viewings

Storage Upgrades Tenants Notice

Spend Smart And Build For Longevity

Before And After Kitchens Plus Offer

Q&A On Bad Layouts And Materials

SPEAKER_00

Thanks, Mark. Hello everyone. How are we? So we are, I'm really excited about what I'm going to go through today. So we're going to focus on how we can increase your return on investment on your projects, focusing on the kitchens. So I'll just give you a bit of an intro about myself. So I'm Tracy. I am the founder of KWT Interiors joint partnership with my husband Ruben Patel. Not only have we got the KWT Interiors business, we also have a property portfolio with a mixture of HMOs and single LEDs. We have four children between ourselves, which is a very busy household, and yeah, life is great. So we work with property developers and property investors, interior designers, builders, and tradesmen, tradeswomen. So we primarily work with the trade. I've got over 20 years experience within the industry and only ever worked with the trade. So what we do is we help them design kitchens and we improve the property appeal by maximising the return on investment. So that's one big goal for us when we're working with resources. So I want to discuss the role of the kitchen design in the property return of investment. So why do kitchens matter? The heart in any rental property. So the kitchens are the heart of the home and it has the biggest influence. So on tenant demand, rental value, the speed of letting, the resale value, and most importantly, good design really does drive these results. So for tenant demand, for example, the one thing they're looking for when they're looking at your properties is the kitchen, the space, how it looks, how it feels. That gives you also the rental value increase, which also helps with the speed of letting as well. One of the biggest mistakes that we find that investors make is they ask the wrong question. So they tend to ask what is the cheapest kitchen. The better question we find is what kitchen design increases your return on investment. So cheap kitchens often cost more long term. So when we say with the design, you can have look for the cheapest kitchen, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to save you on the cost in the long run. So tenants rarely just view one property. So if you imagine that there's your property and another property down the road, what's going to stand out for them? Is it going to be the kitchen? Is it the layout of the kitchen? The design, is it the wow factor? All these little things make a real big difference. And it also justifies you charging more rent. So it's like higher rent than, say, the house down the road. It's also going to help you rent yours out faster. Design drives value. So great kitchens are not about spending more, it's really where we focus on the smart layout, the flow of the kitchen, the practical functionality, and also the strong visual impact. So these design multiplies the failure of the same budget. So where we look at smart design layout, for example, say if you're renting, that's you're doing a project for a four-bedroom home, and one of the things we see on the day-to-day is say, for example, a fridge freezer. A designer will allow for a 70-30 fridge freezer, but that's not really going to be sufficient for a four-bedroom family home. So it's little things like that that we need to look at. If we look at the smart and like layout on HMOs, what we tend to find is where people have two sinks together, they create separate stones. They do two sinks side by side. We do two hobs side by side. It just doesn't give you a really good flow of the layout and the usability and the functionality. So yeah, it's just very hard for them to enjoy being in the kitchen. That's what we've done. So that's what we tend to really focus on. It's really the design. So here are my five top tips when designing kitchens. And there's a little uh chat GBT image of myself looking very busy. So start with the layout before colours. So when we look at the layout, we focus on so when you're starting the project, you need to be looking at the layout of the kitchen six to eight weeks prior to needing the kitchen. It's going to really help you to you know design a stronger workflow. You're going to just get a better feel for the you know the kitchen for the space that you're designing it for, whether that's singlets or HMO or even service accommodation. So we look at things like with the workflow, for example, the working triangle. We don't work so much to the working triangle nowadays because it's just changed so much in how we use the kitchen. So kitchens now, you know, it tends to be part of a another room, for example. So whether it's a dining room or a sitting area, we tend to go more open plant. So the working triangle doesn't really fit in in today's world. But what we do is we look at you know the functionality. So I tend to like to go into role plays with my clients. If I say, for example, we're going to go and make a cup of tea, pretend we're going to go to the fridge to go and get the milk, whereabouts is your teaspoon because you need to go and put the coffee into it. Where's your cup to go and grab it? And we tend to see, you know, in terms of the journey that you need to make just to make a cup of coffee. So we look at if you've got to go back and forth four or five times just for one thing. We look at the storage. Storage is really key. A lot more people are wanting to live in a minimalist kitchen environment. So they don't want fins on worktops now. We do want fins hidden away, a lot more storage. Another good thing to look at is more worktop space. So we're freeing that up, but also looking at appliances. So, for example, oven housing. So we want ovens eye height rather than below the worktop. It's just easier just for usability. But yeah, improved storage. So small up small layout changes really do create big improvements on the kitchens. And as I mentioned before, the one key thing you should be working with your designer is they need to know what the project's for. So whether it is a single letter or a HMO, because that is going to impact the design massively. We also will need to know how many bedrooms it's for. So when we are designing the kitchen, we're designing it to suit that household. So whether that's a one-bedroom, two bedroom, or five-bedroom, we need to know. We also need to know because with the HMOs, we've got regulations that we do need to keep to. So if we are over a certain amount of bedrooms, we need to make sure we've got enough hobs and have ovens and also enough fridge and freezer. So, for example, for one of our HMOs, we have to have a tall fridge and a tall freezer so that every tenant has got a shelf space, and we have to make sure they've got adequate storage in their cupboards. So, all these things, you know, the more time you give your designer to work with you, the better we've got, you know, making sure that the layout and the workflow really works. And it's really key. So visual impact. Tenants do choose properties online first before arranging their viewings with you. How many times? I mean, I look at it. So when we're looking at properties, for example, that we're looking to purchase for a single let, we're looking for the most rundown property, aren't we? We're looking for the one that we can buy and we can create the biggest impact for our maternal investment. Well, if you switch it around with the tenants, they're looking for the complete opposite. They want the one with the biggest visual impact. They want to be able to see that it is going to feel like home. They're going to look forward to coming home to it every day. They're going to enjoy being in it. They're going to be looking at, you know, modern colours. You know, does it feel good to be there? Things you can focus on are going to be lighting. It just gives it a really good feel in the room. It's not a massive cost, you know, lighting. You're looking£100 to£200 just to add some kitchen lighting, but the mood it creates in that room is significant. We're looking at clean services. So, you know, like I said before, customers want minimalist, they want things off worked up. So microwaves into other housings, that sort of thing. Where also the biggest one is integrated appliances. So tenants do prefer integrated appliances for two reasons. One, they haven't got to move theirs from home to home. So, you know, it's cutting a washing machine around, you know, they've gone from one property that had integrated appliances and they're now having to go and purchase another to go into yours. It's quite an inconvenience for them. But I would recommend, if you can, putting them into your properties. It can increase your return on investment by anything from five to ten percent by adding them in. And the reason being for it as well is you've not got damages coming into your properties when they are bringing in their appliances, you know, with the fridge freezers and the washing machines, etc. So it saves on them sort of damage. But visual appeal really does drive viewings, and it's the big difference over the kitchen, whether they're going to come and see your property or the property next door that's available. Storage. So this one's quite an interesting one, and it's one that I find that we don't really give it much for nowadays at the moment. But for whatever reason, I think we're we're looking at the cost, it's too much cost Steve for it. But if you look at things like tall units, tool units give you great premium feel straight away in your kitchen. It gives you amazing storage, so you're not just relying on base units and wall units. And when we look at the cost of say tool units, people think they're a lot more than say a base and a wall, but then you need less tiles on the wall, you need less work top. So you're just paying for one unit as opposed to a base unit, a wall unit, your corn is your trim, your pink, and then your worktop and your tiles on top. So, really, the cost between the tool unit and the wall and the base, it's very similar when you actually add all the components that you need all together. But for the actual tenant, it's great storage space and it just solves a lot of their problems. Integrated appliances, like I discussed, it looks nice. It looks so much better than a washing machine sticking out, or when they're coming to view the property, you know, everything's all integrated. They haven't just got gaps in places that need to be filled when the tenant moves in. Corner solutions. This is one of the key bugbears of uh kitchens, is allow for a corner, a corner pullout, for example. If it makes that unit become usable, it's just it just adds great value in your kitchen, especially for the tenants. Built-in bins is an interesting one. So, Rupen and myself, we've had many big discussions with built-in bins. He wasn't a lover, I've always been a lover of them, and the reason why he wasn't a lover is because he thought that you couldn't actually fit as much waste into them until we actually fitted one at home. We changed the bin a lot less regularly. You don't have the smelling, and also the thing to bear in mind is you don't play Jenga. And what I mean by Jenga is when you've got a freestanding bin for your tenant, especially in a HMO, they just they just stack it. No one thinks, you know, actually, it's time to go and empty this bin and go and put it into the trash now and replace it. Whereas with an integrated, you can't shut it, so it needs to be dealt with, you know, at that time. But they're a really good use of space. Also, I don't know if you can see in the picture, but you actually get a shelf so you can actually put your bin liners and that in there as well. So it's great storage just for your bin liners rather than storing them into the sink unit. And then we've got a separate corner, which I discussed earlier. So, you know, it's nice if you've got a HMO, add a separate fridge and a freezer. Integrate them if you can, it just really creates a premium feel, but it also gives enough storage for them to enjoy, and they're gonna stay longer because you're giving them a lovely kitchen that's really usable and very practical, especially on storage. Suspend it where it matters. You don't need the most expensive kitchen, it doesn't need to be the solid wood painted. That's not what we're saying. We're saying invest in the elements that influence perception. So, for example, put your time into the flow of the layout, put your time into the design. You know, it's one common thing we find is just because you've got a three-meter wall doesn't mean you have to fill it with three meters of you know, wall units. Create a design, create something different that you just make yours stand out more with worktops. I mean, I recommend laminate worktops when we're looking at the rentals. I wouldn't recommend solid wood. Quartz, I don't think you need to put that amount of expense into it. It is a nice have, but you get the same impact on a laminate worktop, and especially where you can now get the matching upstands and the splashbacks, you can create that real nice view. With the lighting, as I mentioned before, lighting's really key. It really just it adds, it adds, it just adds a wow to the kitchen, all the mood lighting and that. And these little things need thinking about at the design stage, not when the kitchen's being delivered, and or let's add some lighting. All this thought process, you know, six to eight weeks prior to need in the kitchen, it's going to give you massive impact on your design and then appliances. So these shape the overall floor of your kitchen. And then tip number five built for longevity, designed to impress. So rental kitchens must last. So don't what I say is don't always go for the cheapest quote. Look at the cabinet construction, look at the quality of the hinges and the draw systems you're having. So, for example, if you do choose a supplier that supplies blum hinges and blum draw boxes, they come with a lifetime guarantee and they're really straightforward to replace as well. So you don't actually need to go to your actual supplier to get them replaced. You can go direct to Blum. They're based in the UK and they'll send them straight out to you at no cost. So make sure you're looking at what hinges and your systems are being used because they're the things that are opening and closing daily. They're the things that tend to break on the kitchen if you're not choosing the right manufacturers for them. It's not your doors. Your doors are your doors, it's what operates your doors, it's what's um making them open and close hundreds of times a day. And durable worktops. So look at the worktops, making sure that it's really practical for you know the project that you're using them for, because that is going to protect your investment. So, same budget, different outcome. I've got two examples. So the one to the left is a standard rental kitchen, and then the one to the right is a design-led investment kitchen. So, as you can see, I know there are two different spaces, but if you see the one on the left, it's a generic. We put a pan drawer in, built under single oven, we have a free standing washing machine, the good old chimney stainless steel hood, the J Paul kitchen white gloss. And this is what we tend to see when we're dealing with clients coming forward. We tend to start off with this design for some reason, J Paul. But if we look at the design less lead investment kitchen, you know, just having handles, making you know, the position of the handles very streamlined. We've got the tall storage units with the oven at high level, and then we've got a nice angled hood. And with the wall units, I purposely chose this one. With the wall units, we haven't maximized the whole space because we've maximized with tall storage units, we don't need to fill that whole wall with wall units, but in right up to the chimney hoods, which we do tend to see, and it just gives it a more wow feel. You've got clean lines, plenty of worktop spaces, and it just looks nicer just to work in. Sorry, there were the big images there. So remember, so the key takeaways, it's not the cheapest kitchen. The goal is to design the kitchen that's going to attract the tenants, it's going to increase your rental, stand out from your competitors. So, what you know, I've got clients now that we've got one that's with uh HMO, they have their same colour with the kitchens, they have the exact same worktop, they've basically cookie-cutted. So they're not spending the time running around from you know looking at different colours, different styles. They've got the same ones, so they save their time on that part, and then they could just focus on the actual design of the kitchen and you know, making sure they've got the right flow and making sure that you're choosing the kitchen supplier where it's gonna last longer. And this smart design maximizes your return on investment. So, I've got a little gift for you all. We're offering so if you scan the QR code, you can send in your current designs that you're working on with your kitchens, and we'll review them. So, we're gonna offer this. For 10 days only, send them in. Free obligation. Send it in. We'll have a look and we'll book a call and we'll run through it and see where we can help you maximize your return on investment on your design. That is me.

SPEAKER_01

Lovely. Absolutely brilliant, Tracy. I cannot believe. Hello, how are you anyway? You good?

SPEAKER_00

Oh, hi, how are you?

SPEAKER_01

Just burst straight in. I mean, that is the best kitchen presentation I've ever ever experienced. Thank you so much for that. I just didn't realise how much thought should go into a kitchen. That's really, really kind of you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you, James. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, it's been absolutely great. And and when I looked at your designs, and I think that you are right, it's quite we as landlords, we just think, oh, just put a kitchen in, that'll shut the tenant. You know, it's it's uh it's a rental market anyway. You know, this tenant, if that tenant doesn't want it, we'll get somebody else. It you know, but your design is more likely to attract a better tenant, which means they're gonna stay longer, look after it. Just just really, really clever, and also the bottlenecking. So tell me a little bit about have you ever seen a kitchen that is so badly designed that you just want to get your hands on it?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, and it's the genomic one, it's you know, single oven with a pound drawer next to it, chimney hood, you know, very much what I just you know, one of the examples that I sent. You can just do so much, you know, with the the colours and the materials that we've got at our fingertips, you know, today it's so different to what we had available 10 years ago. But what I'm finding is with the rentals, for some reason, we're still designing kitchens as they were 10 years ago, you know, with the J Paul, with the white gloss, and they're not much cheaper, you know, just for that slight increase, you're gonna have such a greater impact on your on your properties, whether it's you know, rental or even flipping. You know, we're working with clients now where they are buying properties to flip and we're putting solid wood painted kitchens in. You know, it's really changing on how much thought we're putting into these rooms because they are the heart of the home. And you know, tenants we had that old witch pool, didn't we, where oh, it's just a rental kitchen, it's just whack, just wacky kitchen in there. These are people that want to live in your home, these are people that are choosing your homes to live in, to raise their family, to grow their families, and you know, the more the more witcher you put into it, they're gonna they're gonna love it like their own, aren't they? They're gonna look after it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right. At the end of the day, um, for me personally, as a land, I almost think you know, if my children were gonna live in my rental properties, that's the standard they should be. And you're absolutely right. Why would you want to buy a kitchen that falls apart, you know, that classic sort of chipboard design, bad design, people banging into each other. I think that, like you say, if you can get rid of bottlenecks, solid construction. And you know, I was surprised when you said laminates was was the best one to sort of get. I always saw them as the sort of cheap option, but you are right. They there's more more design choices than ever, more more colours than ever. And you were saying that you can get the splash backs as well, you say.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean you could with worktops now, with laminate worktops, you can get them in you know, square edge post form, 12mm thick, 25mm, 40 mil thick, matching upstands, matching splash backs, you know, it's just really changing, and it just gives you, you know, it's these design elements that's going to really lift your kitchens and just really, you know, just give you a greater return on your investment at the end of the day. What I'd also say is what you'll find is if you do go with like independent companies, you know, give them a go, have a look at them because the likes of your your nationals, they all do the same ranges, it's the same 10 to 12 ranges that they offer. They've got restrictions on colours. Go into your independence, they're not much more on cost, but what you are getting is you're getting a greater value in product, a higher, higher grade of product as well, as in quality, and just a more personalized service, they really will be invested into your design. Whereas, you know, with the nationals, they're there to sell kitchens, okay? At the end of the day, that's what they're there to do. Whereas if you go with the independents, they will really have an invested interest in your property and make sure that the design is right for your property. That's the key difference.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I totally agree. Actually, I totally agree.

SPEAKER_03

Can I just say, Tracy, can you just put your slide back on with your QR code? We might as well have that on just in case anybody missed it and wants it, it just uh I think someone just wrote, can I just answer this question, Mark?

SPEAKER_00

Someone's just wrote built-in kitchens are harder to replace when appliance models are discontinued. Yeah, so that's a really interesting question. Uh years ago, yes, that would have been the case. Now, no, they're all set sizes. So with if you're having a built-in microwave, you'll find that they're either 390 high or 450. Your single ovens, they're your standard 800. Your washing machines are standard that they'll fit in with a 720 door, anything from a 700 to a 720 door, whatever integrate the plant, fridge freezers, nope, standard 70-30, 50-50 or tall. So, no, they're not difficult to replace if they are discontinued. Um surprise. So, Lynn, oh, so you went for an independent and surprised it was very competitive. That's really great to hear. Honestly, go and try your independence. You really will be surprised, and you will just get a greater a greater service on your design. And that's the one thing that we focused on KWT. It's really just being design led. That's what we really enjoy doing. We enjoy designing, solving the problem. So knowing what we're working with, what property, what's the problem we've got to solve, and just giving you a greater product at the end of it as well. Is there any other questions before I put my PowerPoint on? Because I'm not great, I can't, I can actually see myself by the way when I was presenting and it threw me.

SPEAKER_03

Hey, it was good, really good, really good.

SPEAKER_00

That's it. Um, is there any more questions before I put my PowerPoint on?

SPEAKER_03

Well, even if you just even Tracy, if you can see it all now, just go back up a slide or something or click click on one and it'll just bring it up on there, won't it?

SPEAKER_00

So Rip is talking in my ear well.

HMO Zones And Avoiding Bottlenecks

SPEAKER_03

There we go, there we are. So, yeah, at least I mean if anybody does have any questions, now's a great time to ask. But I I've got one as well because I watched one of your reels yesterday, I believe it was. I don't know when you posted it, maybe it was yesterday. But it's it was it was it was great because being design led is what it's all about. And you were talking about it then with HMOs, and the majority of HMOs that are a decent size, and they put everything in the kitchen side by side. So I I mean it was a great talk that you did then. Can you sort of explain what I'm talking about, so to speak? I'm putting that and what it's all about.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so where we say it being designed, so one of my biggest bugbears, uh and I see it more and more, is say you've got HMO and you've got to have two sinks because of the occupancy you've got in there. So you've got to have two sinks, you've got to have two hops, and sometimes two ovens. What we see in the designs that come to us is designers are putting the two sinks right next to each other. Like, do I really want to be washing up right next to my tenant, side by side? Do I really want to be cooking side by side next to my fellow tenant housemate? It's just separate them. So where you've got the space, you can create two different zones. So basically, you you've got two kitchens in one, but tenants are going to enjoy like using them, but no one's gonna enjoy them washing up side by side or cooking side by side, which you know, and I'm talking hobs with a hundred mil gap between, but it's just not practical, but it doesn't cost any more to separate them, which also then gives you a greater design impact. I've got I've got some more questions. Is that answer? It was a good one, though, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_03

It was it was why does everybody put everything side by side? Because even when I go into my HMOs, and you see it's normally one person's cooking, and they just say, I'm just waiting for them to finish. And it's like, well, we've got two ovens, the ovens might both be going, but when it's Hobbs, most people wait. Whether there's like eight hubs together, a lot of the time they they they I'll do it when they finished. And it's just like um when you said that, I was just like, Yeah, why don't people just make two separate spaces? And it's a lot nicer for for everybody in there, but you know what is the thinking in it? It's just because it's how it's always been done, and it's easy for the company that's sorting out your kitchen to just say, here's a cookie cutter, side by side, jobs are good, and and everybody as property investors, we just go along with that. But we need to change that game because you will separate yourself from everybody in a competitive HMO market. But as soon as you said it, then I was just like, Yeah, of course it is. That's genius, you know. At the end of the day, something's so simple. Why aren't more and more people doing it? And you don't see it, you can still go on right move or you know, spare room and see all these HMOs and all of the ovens and everything are all together. And it's just like, oh, come on, guys.

SPEAKER_00

You just you just don't need to, and and that's why we're saying, you know, the time that you need to start looking at your kitchen design, we say six to eight weeks, okay. But really, the moment you've got the keys, you need to be looking at the design. Where we're finding people are making mistakes on the design layout is where it all becomes rushed, and then you've got the fitting team going, we've got first fix, we need the plans, we need to know where the plumbing's going, where the hobs are going, and then all of a sudden, we're rushing, we're making silly mistakes when we're all of a sudden the design element of the kitchen's gone out the window. We're now just going, oh, we're just going to put the hob there, the sink there, two hobs there, two sinks there. Yeah, just allow more time. That as soon as you've got your keys, you need to be instructing your designer to start looking at the layout of your kitchens.

SPEAKER_01

Awesome, absolutely awesome. Thank you, Tracy. That has been an absolute eye-opener for me, and I really, really enjoyed that presentation. And I hope that everybody else has made lots and lots of notes. So, thank you so much for that. Really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03

You also we do still have some questions.

SPEAKER_00

Yep, I can see.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I'm so sorry. That's all right.

Kitchenettes Costs And Compliance Basics

SPEAKER_00

Which suppliers are good? Yeah, KWT interiors. Well, that's so so with the suppliers. I mean, I would be looking at independence. We are an independent, it is a higher quality product. So, can I can I give a little bit of info about our kitchens? Yeah, on why we are different. So, what a variety. So, we do compete with the nationals on price, we're very competitive, but the difference with ours is we have got 18mm solid backs to our units, all solid backs. We use egg of 92 colour options for inside your carcasses, so it gives you a you know a more premium feel to your kitchens, and then with the door colours, I mean we've got over 92 door colours as well, which are match your carcasses. We use blum hinges and blum drawer boxes as standard. So, as I mentioned, that you've got a lifetime guarantee for them. All our legs are all fitted, all the drawers are all fitted, so you're not making up drawer boxes. Everything comes fitted in the unit, ready to go. So that's why you need to be looking at your independence. They will save a lot of time for your fitters when the kitchen's been delivered. I've got another question. Would you suggest separate cooking areas or essay also? Yeah, definitely, Caroline. I mean, it all depends on the project. What I would suggest, Caroline, is if you have got one for me to look at, send it over on the QR code, and I'll be more than happy to jump on the call and then just have a look at the example you've got. So it all depends on the project you're working for.

SPEAKER_01

I think that's a really good remark. I think that's a really good question, actually. When because I do service to combination, and I always think, should I bother to put in a big kitchen? I mean, you know, are are they are they going to be using it? Are my clients gonna be eating out and just need somewhere to eat their takeaways? What's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00

So I would say, especially in, I think you need to give them a really good, you know, in accommodations, they're gonna be more opting to eat in rather than eat out. So they're gonna want the kitchen facilities to be able to cook, you know, if they're staying in your property for a week because you know, with work, affordability-wise, of eating out every night in comparison to being able to cook a meal in the kitchen. I know what I might is what I'd be doing, but yeah, definitely you should definitely be putting a decent sized kitchen in there, depending on the size of the property. But yeah, 100%. I I would.

SPEAKER_01

And do you do these new more fancy kitchenettes that I see? I've seen these, I mean, I don't do it myself, but sometimes you could put like something in the room that isn't a kitchen but is a kitchen. What what what are what are those all about?

SPEAKER_00

So with a kitchenette, so you'll find that in HMO's we're we're now doing more kitchenettes inside tenants' actual bedrooms. And the reason for that is creating like a dry kitchen, a tea point, so they can now go and make a coffee without having to go to the main kitchen all the time. They've got their fridge so they can have their cold drinks, they tend to have an air fryer. You're not actually allowed, by the way, just to point out, to actually put hobs in your kitchenets because it does actually stand it's classed as uh like a studio flat, isn't it? I don't I can't remember the terminology.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but basically, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, fixed clicking point. But people do want to be able to just shove something in an airfire, for example, in their bedroom. You know, not all tenants are very sociable, so if they have got the option to have their own kitchen in a bedroom, you're gonna find that that will actually appeal to a lot more rather than those that haven't. I think it's just down to the individuals what they want.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm a slow cooker man these days. I'm a slow cooker man these days.

SPEAKER_00

You're a slow cooker.

SPEAKER_01

I've got slow cooker, honestly, they're the best things ever. I mean, I I will cut that because I don't know if Mark's doing this, but me and Mark both intermittent, you know, intermittent fasting. So sometimes it's really good to put the slow cooker on because we know that our meal's coming, but that wouldn't that wouldn't change anything, air fryer or slow cooker. I don't know why I said that. I just thought it'd be quite quite funny to talk about slow cookers. You have to put it in the chat. Has anybody else got into slow cooking? I'd love to hear, but no, that's um we have to share recipes. Can we share recipes? I've got this really good Roman dish.

SPEAKER_03

I'm more of an air fryer myself.

SPEAKER_00

I was gonna say definitely air fryer. Do you know do you know what's interesting though? So when you're looking at another point just from the discussion that we're having about slow cooks and air fryers, it's these sort of conversations. It's amazing how everyone, you know, see how everyone works in their kitchens. So if you imagine, you know, James, you're you love your like slow cookers, Mark, you like air fryers. Imagine with a customer coming to rent your property, you know, they're gonna are they single oven, are they double oven? Do they want built-in microwave, etc. etc. But you can't actually ask them what their preferences would be in the kitchen, can you? No, you haven't got you haven't got the resources. Just work on the flow of the kitchen, put some thought into it. The more thought you put into it, you really are going to appeal to you know a certain clientele in the audience. You're gonna create longevity with your tenants, they will look after your home as well. They will, it's been proven, but yeah, just really work on the design. I'm very passionate about the design element of kitchens.

SPEAKER_01

You can tell, we can tell, and we're all definitely coming to you for our kitchens in the future.

SPEAKER_00

Please do, please do. You will be looked after.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, so Caroline's got another question as well in the chat there.

SPEAKER_00

If you want to go through that one, uh property is sitting in a key leisure. Is it that one, Mark? Yes, that one's back to contact. So a bit stuck. You need to get this correct before we launch an invest in the refund following a long-term tenant finally leaving. So, congratulations, Caroline, for the tenant finally leaving. That's great news. So, with the so key leisure needs to also attract contractors. Yeah, do you know? So, people think the contractors actually want to eat out, but I'm actually finding the opposite. Some do actually prefer to cook inside. So, with the kitchen, I would design it as as if people are gonna want to use the kitchen and cook in there. You haven't got to go through a huge kitchen, Caroline. You can, you know, just single oven, nice four-in hob, something nice that you know, looks nice to be in. Yeah, 70-30 fridge freezer, or maybe an under-counter fridge with an ice box that'll give them enough facilities for what they need. Yeah, I'm not sure if that answers you. It's hard to tell unless we know what the actual project's for, how many people, sort of area. But I do believe you sent it over to the QR. So I'll jump on the call with you. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01

Tracy, we've got one more question, and uh, this is obviously this this this is probably all over the ballpark. What is the average cost of a kitchenette? We've got uh Lenji's asking.

SPEAKER_00

Average cost of a kitchenette. So it yeah, good question. It all depends on the size and obviously what you're wanting to put into it, but I'd say on average, anything from 800 to 1500. So, and that can include your appliances as well. What you've also got to bear in mind is say you've got kitchenets going into five rooms. What you'll find is if you go with an independent company and they're this is what we do. So if we're looking at the worktops laminates, for example, we'll work out how many kitchenets you can get out of one length of worktop. So we'll price up the whole job rather than going that kitchenette is going to cost you that much, and we allow for a three-meter worktop for every kitchenette, even though you're only going to be using 1500. So we'll allow for the overall job, which will reduce your costings. Um, so yeah, anything from 800 to 15 with one, but yeah, it depends if you're putting a sink tap in there, the plumbing, or fairies. That's what we allow for.

SPEAKER_03

I love it, I love it. I also love what Sean put as well because he's resisted air fryers and crocs. I don't know where Crocs comes from for a long time, but now he's converted. That's the slowest program.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, okay, it's very funny.

SPEAKER_03

Caroline says a superb eye opener to kitchen design, which I never considered. Thank you very much. And then another question in, so I'll shut up.

SPEAKER_00

Would kitchen let's also mean more stringent fire safety regulations? No, so no, as long as you're not putting a hobin, an air fire, you don't supply. The tenant can supply it. But in terms of regulations, Mark, James, can I lean on you for that?

SPEAKER_03

For fire eggs, uh obviously, yeah, if it's self-contained, if you have anything that could potentially be an open heat source, then you're gonna have fire eggs and everything a lot more stringently. But if it's like a microwave or it's like you say, it's not having a hub and things like that, it's a self-contained unit. I believe you should be okay, particularly with uh HMOs and you know, small serviced accommodation units, is my understanding on that.

SPEAKER_01

Um if you've got a fire system in there anyway, then that will detect a fire anyway. So they should default. Um most HMOs have to have a full full fire system now, anyway, don't they?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it is yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, six single banding, you've got to be careful about single banding council tax when you're putting kitchen in rooms. So if you do have like an oven or a hub that makes it into a proper kitchen, i.e., you couldn't just lift it up and walk out the room with it, you could leave yourself open to single banding. So just be very mindful and careful of that. Obviously, you know, you've got an ensuite, you've got your taps and your water in there, and you can dispute that. But why open that sort of can of worms to that sort of can? A single banded thing, but again, if you're doing service accommodation and you're having sort of micro units or you're doing apart hotels, those little sort of food stations, as they can be called, as well, is just handy to have. But no, the design, I mean, basically, I was going to say to you, Tracy, as well, because I know you're based, you know, you guys are down south and stuff, but what areas do you predominantly cover, or is it the UK and and more?

SPEAKER_00

We do, yeah, we cover a majority of the UK. So, yeah, area pending. So, yeah, I mean, we've got projects at the moment in Liverpool, we've got some going on in Manchester, we're down, we're up north as well. So, yeah, we can cover pretty much the whole of the UK for you, which will all be yeah, all delivered. I'm just seeing so I'm just seeing if there's any more questions. We don't like airfires, we don't like crops. Oh, we've got another one. No, might you just on the ladder? So, no, we covered the whole of the UK, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Excellent, excellent. So it's well worth reaching out to KWT designs because interior designs, Sorry. I've got to get used to that because it used to be kitchen designs, didn't I?

SPEAKER_00

It used to be kitchens with Tracy. Yeah. But we do so also with your if you've got any HMOs and that, we do more than just kitchens. So we do do bedrooms, we do orphans interiors, boot rooms, laundry rooms, all that sort of thing. But yeah, we cover it all.

SPEAKER_03

Brilliant stuff, brilliant stuff. Well, I would like to thank you, and I'm sure James would as well, and and everybody else who was here because that was a great presentation. And um, it's amazing to see you. Thank you ever so much for coming on as well. So, if you want any help with your designs, take the opportunity here, a little gift, reach out to Tracy and the team, they'd be more than happy to help you and point you in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00

100%. Thank you for having me, guys.

SPEAKER_03

Our pleasure, absolutely our pleasure. Thank you ever so much for joining us today, Tracy. I'll see you very soon.

SPEAKER_00

You will do, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of the day.

What’s Coming Next At The Summit

SPEAKER_03

Great stuff, great stuff. Thank you very much. Okie dokie. So moving on, as we are. We have a bit of time now, so it's a it's a nice little opportunity, realistically. I can let you know what's coming up next. But if you want to have a quick break, now's the time to have a quick comfort break, maybe grab yourself your favorite beverage and be ready. We've got about 12 minutes. 1.30 will be our next presentation. So if you need that and you want to go and grab something, you can do. Also, do feel free to just stay on the feed as well. There's not a problem whatsoever. But I'm sure you'll all agree that we've had uh, I think we have had a great morning so far. How about you, James?

SPEAKER_01

I totally agree, my friend. I mean, like I said, you know, we there's always room for us to learn new things. And when we're when we've got industry experts that are doing this day in, day out, you know, we're we're literally fast tracking our opportunities, aren't we? You know, your your talk about you know the creative strategies, understanding what the problem is. I think I mean that alone is really what property investors should be looking for. We shouldn't be looking for, we should be looking for the problems. How can we solve those problems? What are the circumstances that I can get you know help? I mean, it's all about helping the seller, and obviously, you know, you're a property investor, so you know you're entitled to make a profit as well. But it's you know, I just think that you you are right. It's it's about and of course a property could could be a multitude of strategies, Mark, couldn't it? Just because it doesn't work for HMO doesn't mean to say it might not work for supported living, or if it doesn't work for supported living, can it work for service to accommodation? So I think you're right. We have to uh really be open-minded and really look at every property strategy there is, and that's what's I love about ETA. We have got all these experts, we can call on them and ask their advice. Even myself, when I was looking at my properties, finishing them, Emily came on and gave me some good advice on service to accommodation. So it's it's been great so far, I've got to be honest. Good, good, good.

Education To Action And Podcast Wrap

SPEAKER_03

Well, I've been I enjoy it as well. I mean, the whole reason of putting these together is to it's it's because I I'm always learning, I'm always looking at you know, learning from the other experts out there. So to have everybody on has been a true blessing so far. And we haven't finished yet, we were only halfway through the day. So obviously, I had myself starting it off this morning, then we had Anthony and Allison going through the renters right bill, and I thought their session was excellent as well with the true and false game as well, because there was a couple I got wrong actually, and I I'm not quick enough typing. I was typing them and I was like, Oh, they've caught me out there. I need to uh brush up my skills on this. Then, of course, we had James himself with uh any of your limiting beliefs and any blockers that you've got there, and of course, we had Tracy as well talking about how you really want to be design-led in your property investing and separate yourself from everybody else. But that's not all, because in a moment we will be handing over to the lovely Hoddy Jennings, who's going to be sharing with us some property software that they have built and put together that can help you in your follow-up, it can help you to get out there and really stack your deals, know your numbers, and keep everything in one place. If you're anything like me, which I hope you're not, I'm I used to be paperwork everywhere. Where did I put that thing? Oh my goodness, I do I need to follow up. I forget things. So Holly's gonna go through how you can systemize and do that. Then at 2:30, we are gonna have Rupin Patel coming on. And Rupin is all about refurbishments. That's what he predominantly loves to do. So I asked him if he'd come on and share his expertise with us of how to price up opportunities, what to be looking for, and the methodology that he uses to price up his refurbishments to know whether or not he's gonna be doing a good deal or not. And then we will come up to 3:30 and we will then have the lovely Emily McTamini who's gonna be coming on. Now, Emily has quite a background in property investing in the sense of she's a service accommodation expert, she's also a social living and supportive housing expert, and she's gonna be coming on talking to you about the opportunities there are to work with supported living and social housing providers in 2026 and how that can suit some people's strategies when it comes to investing. And rounding up the day, we've got Rob Peters, my old mucker, who's a financial expert. He's a mortgage broker, he's got his own company and things, but he is predominantly a property investor himself as well. And he uh is gonna come on, he's gonna share some case studies of deals that he has been doing over the last years or year or so. I mean, he's been doing a lot more deals than that, but he's gonna share with us a lot of the traditional ways that you can fund opportunities that we don't always know because, excuse me, we're not the experts in that field. So, all in all, we've still got an action-packed afternoon. So don't go anywhere, don't leave your seats, as they say. Stay tuned. And if we can answer your questions and help you on the as we're going along, then that's brilliant. So, for people that are also live and here, we do have certain little bonuses and stuff. I put the PDF for the questions to answer, has already gone into the chat. We can always put stuff back into the chat if you're missing anything as well. But predominantly this day is all about sharing knowledge, it's a bit of brand awareness for the different speakers, of course, as well. But it's all about giving something back, and that's what me and James are very passionate about. And I know a lot of the speakers that we've got on today are very, very passionate about giving back because we all believe in what goes around, comes around in life. And we know when we were starting out, I as James rightly said at the beginning up here, I would have loved to be able to jump onto things like this where I could ask questions, where I could listen to the speakers. And I did. There were certain things that we were doing, but it always seemed to what you know, there always seemed to be an end game at the end of it all. Whereas today it's really all about just sharing with you a bit of knowledge, getting out there and help trying to help people. And the other thing that I would say as well is all of the speakers and all of the people that are talking today, in some form or another, have also been speakers and have spoken in my uh community, education to action as well. And we continue to help that community to grow forward. So if you are ever suffering or struggling, then do check that out. So I've got a couple of business things, so to speak, to do because today is brought to you by my podcast, the Property Unleashed Podcast, is presenting this. So if you've never listened to that podcast before, where have you been? But it is available on all good podcast platforms or on the propertyunleash.com. And as I say, everybody who is speaking today has been on that podcast or featured on that podcast, and we have a lot of our community members as well sharing their success stories. So we put that out there to try and inspire everybody and to try and help move people forward. We also have, I'll just slip through that, we are sponsored today by ETA Education to Action, which is where we help property investors take the education and the knowledge that they have and put it into action. And this is something that was very important as well to me and James because we spent a lot of time putting our heads together saying there's a lot of people out there that have got the edge, got the education. Why are they just not getting the results? And I always say it, it's about consistency and persistency to do so. But could we put an environment together, a community together that A gives you the knowledge so you can go and learn different strategies at your own pace and things, but also gives you the team, your own power team in the background to be able to ask questions to at any specific time. So if you are struggling with anything or you need help, check out Education to Action because it is our community built by property investors for property investors, and it can be a lonely place, can it, James? I mean, that's one of the reasons we put this whole thing together.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right, Mark. I mean, we we spent you know a lot of miles in the car talking about something that we we think's been overlooked, actually. We you know, we've both been in the property education business for many years, and what we saw was a lot of a lot of people would be successful anyway. So they'd go onto these courses, you'd see a few people sort of become successful, do the deals, and that had a it had a you know a two-angle effect. What it did is it made the people that weren't getting deals feel a little bit low, but it was also good for the people that put the educational stuff on because they look they were used as social proof. But I would say this is like I said, there are there are always going to be people that are successful. It doesn't matter you know what they get into, they they've just got it in them. But me and Mark are interested in the people that fall through the net. We are interested in the people that are that get forgotten about, and and we want to we want to help them get those first feels, you know, get them over the line, get rid of that procrastination, get rid of that fear, change that identity, become a better version of themselves. We will not let anybody get left behind, and that is what me and Mark did. We put together ETA. I mean, Mark's done an awful lot of work on just getting the software and the systems in place, but it's also this is see, this is the skill that me and Mark have got. We understand how to connect people, we're very good at knowing who's who in the zoo. So when we get an idea, when we can see an opportunity, we're very good at linking people that that don't know about that opportunity with the right service providers to create this win-win, and that's really where this whole ETA has come from. You've got the education, but but there's a gap between the knowing and the doing, and this is what it's all about. And me and Mark have created this bridge where we can help you across so you know what you you're educated on property, you understand all the acronyms, you understand all the properties, you just don't have that courage. Well, me and Mark are on that bridge, and using the service providers and the strategies that we know, and we are doing them day in, day out. We're able to take people, guide people across that bridge and into action. And the thing is, once you do it, once you become that version of you that is courageous, you've gone out there and you've got your first deal, which may or may not be the unicorn deal that everybody's chasing, but a deal is a deal. Oh my goodness me, does that unblock suddenly? Me and Mark are like, oh, here we go. Two, three. It just unblocks everything, Mark. And it's just that is the reason we're doing this because we love to see people getting exactly what they deserve. And I'm really, really, really honored, Mark, to be part of ETA.

SPEAKER_03

And it's an absolute pleasure to have you as well, my friend, because it's people like yourself and you know, your Rupens, your Tracy's, and everybody else who make it all worthwhile. So I hope you've enjoyed this episode today. I hope you've taken plenty of notes from it. And I look forward to you joining me in the next episode very, very soon. But before I go, all of these industry experts that we have are a part of my property community, education to action, brought to you by the Property Unleash Podcast. This is a community where you can ask these industry experts questions on a weekly basis, daily basis if you want to, that you can keep your finger on the pulse with what is hot and what is happening in the property market right here and now. And that goes from design, from flipping properties, doing renovations, the BRR strategy, rent-to-rent, service to accommodations, uh HMOs, social housing, and supportive living. We have a section for that as well. So if you really want to keep your finger on the pulse and be a part of something that will help you get the results that you want, take the education that you already know and move it forward by taking action, then our community is there for you. And we have a vault of knowledge with trainings on all of these great strategies and more. So, all that leaves me to say is thank you ever so much for joining me here. Take care, and I'll see you very soon. Bye for now.