Kitchen respraying in Norwich

22.1% of Norwich households rent from the council, against 8.3% across England and Wales. Norwich City Council's tenancy agreement says you must get its written permission before carrying out any improvements or alterations, and that this applies to changing "standard fittings" as well as bigger works. Its page on making changes to a council home lists kitchens among the work that needs approval.

The council's pages do not mention respraying either way. So treat a colour change on the cupboards as something to put in writing before you book it, and wait for the written answer. You send the details to the council's tenants' own improvements team (the address is on its Making changes to your council home page), or ring 0344 980 3333 if you need help sending it.

That same request does something useful. The council checks if your home is already in a planned improvement programme. Under the Norwich Standard it aims for council kitchens no older than 20 years, and every council home is surveyed every five years. If yours is due a new kitchen, the council contacts you, and paying for a respray first would make no sense.

30.2% of Norwich households live in a purpose-built block of flats, close to double the share across England and Wales, and another 32.0% live in a terraced house. Detached houses, with a drive and a garage to work from, are just 10.3% of the city. That shapes how the job runs.

Doors are either sprayed in your kitchen or taken away to be sprayed, and the quote says how long the kitchen is out of action. In an upstairs flat, taking them away means every door and drawer front goes down the stairs and out of the shared entrance, then back up again. Before you book, say that it is a flat and which floor, and check if your block has rules about using the hallways and stairs. Spraying in the room avoids the trip; worktops, floors, appliances and the insides of the cupboards are masked first.

Nearly one Norwich home in five (19.0%) was built before 1900, against 15.4% across England and Wales. In an older house the units are already fitted to the room. A respray changes the colour of the doors and leaves every unit exactly where it is.

Norwich City Council's bulky item collection charges £24.50 for one item and £104.50 for the maximum of ten. Kitchen cupboards and doors are both on its list of things it will not collect, along with builders' rubble and trade waste, and there is no refund if you cancel. So the council's own service is no help with a ripped-out kitchen.

That matters more here than in most places, because 32.7% of Norwich households have no car or van, against 23.3% across England and Wales. If you are pricing a new kitchen, ask the fitter what happens to the old one and whether it is in the price. A respray gives you a different-coloured kitchen with nothing to take away: doors, drawers, panels and trims are resprayed, and new handles go on if you want them.