Kitchen choices survey
Have your say on the kitchen choices tenants will receive.
We’ve appointed Howdens Joinery as our new provider of kitchens, and we need your help.
We need your help to agree the range of colour choices to be offered to tenants when they receive a kitchen replacement, as part of our scheduled replacement works programme, and in accordance with condition survey results. Your choices will also inform the range of choices for kitchens in our new-build properties, as well as our empty homes if they’re needed.
What we need
You’ll need to choose your top three preferred kitchen door colours, and your top three preferred worktop colours. There are eight different colour kitchen doors, and five different colour worktops to choose from, as well as two handle styles. We have shared some recommended combinations, based on things like versatility, durability, long-term appeal and also longevity of supply. Our homes might be lived in by tenants of different ages throughout the lifespan of a kitchen, so it’s important that the style appeals to all, and that they are durable to marks such as fingerprints.
Important factors when choosing a kitchen
The durability of the finish – the ability to not be marked by fingerprints, water marks, or similar, and to not require constant maintenance or cleaning.
DDA Compliance – In respect of visual impairments and the levels of reflectivity of surfaces. This is mainly why we don’t supply kitchen doors with a gloss finish. All doors will be supplied matt.
The Longevity of supply – consideration of the length of time the ‘colour ranges’ are likely to be available for, and the amount of shade variations the colour may have been subject to over the past few years. This is to try and ensure the availability of parts for future repairs and replacements.
The long-term appeal of a kitchen – Some colour ranges come and go with ‘trends’, meaning that some kitchen styles do not stand the test of time. The kitchens we install have a projected life span of up to 20-years, therefore fitting ‘on trend’ or ‘fashionable’ kitchens may not always be practical as they may look dated and unfavourable within a much shorter period of time.
Versatility across different age ranges – during the projected lifespan of a new kitchen, our homes may be lived in by several tenants of different age groups, therefore kitchen finishes, colours, and styles need to be as universally appealing as possible to a broad range of people.
The full range of options – kitchen doors








The full range of options – kitchen worktops





Handle choices


Our recommended combinations:








More information on recommended combinations
Preferred options have been chosen by Ongo colleagues based on the below important factors. We believe that this range provides the greatest amount of versatility for the broadest range of tenants.
- Black doors are not recommended because they can make spaces feel small and dark.
- Beige doors are affected by longevity of supply. There have been approximately five shade variations of this colour over the last 15 years.
- Grey-brown doors are not recommended because of the way they are affected by light.
- Blue doors don’t tend to have a durable finish – they appear to show marks easily, making them impractical.
- White doors typically show marks very easily, making them impractical.
- Dark grey worktops are not recommended because this colour is considered to be a little dated and may not be well suited to a broad range of tenants.
- Beige-grey worktops are not recommended because this colour is considered to be a little dated and may not be well suited to a broad range of tenants.
Have your say by completing the form below
Tell us your kitchen choices
Please choose your top three colours for kitchen doors, top three colours for kitchen worktops, and one choice of handle.
You can choose whichever colours you wish, but please take a look at the ‘Important factors when choosing a kitchen’ section before making your choices.
Useful information
We have a planned and scheduled replacement works programme, in accordance with condition survey results, that tells us when a tenant is due for a kitchen replacement.
These new kitchens will also be fitted in our new-build homes, and into empty properties where required.
The procurement exercise we conducted consisted of evaluating a range of proposals from several different suppliers under a competitive process. All kitchen offers received were evaluated by a panel of evaluators including Ongo colleagues and tenants.
The kitchen styles have been pre-determined, based on them being the best quality kitchen ranges, offering the greatest value for money when compared to other kitchen styles proposed by other suppliers.
All customers and tenants are able to submit their choices, including those tenants who are scheduled to receive a new kitchen within the next few years.