In 40 seconds
A new kitchen worktop in the UK is usually priced as a range, not a single figure, because it depends on the material, the number of linear metres and how much fabrication is involved. As a guide, laminate runs roughly £35–£150 per m² for the material, solid wood around £120–£250 per m², Corian and solid-surface around £300–£450 per m², granite around £270–£600 per m² and quartz around £280–£500 per m² supplied and fitted, with premium quartz reaching £600–£1,000+ per m². For an average kitchen of roughly five linear metres, a full worktop replacement commonly lands somewhere between £2,000 and £4,500 in stone or solid surface, while laminate can come in far lower. Cut-outs, drainer grooves, upstands and fancy edge profiles add to the figure. The honest answer is always a range, because it depends on your kitchen.
Most worktop pricing is published by the firms supplying and fitting the surface, so the headline numbers tend to be optimistic and the extras glossed over. The pages below give sourced cost ranges, compare the materials fairly on heat, stains and maintenance, and explain what template, fabrication and edge profiles really add — before you take a single quote.