As #GBBO fever takes hold for the seventh year running, we have become a nation of bakers once again. Supermarkets report huge spikes in baking-related products in Bake Off season, from cooking fruits to food colourings. Other retailers stock up on extensive ranges of bakeware items, from cake ribbons and cookie cutters, while John Lewis noted a 300 per cent rise in the sale of Kenwood Mixers last year.

Whether it's a culinary masterpiece or a soggy-bottomed disaster, for the bakers in the show and the eager cooks across the country, the action all takes place in the kitchen. The kitchen, of course, has long been the hub of the home, but now it is the epicentre of family life, and not just a space for baking. And as our relationship with food has changed over the past two decades, kitchens have become bigger and smarter, the perfect place for series 6 winner Nadiya Hussain to whip up a winning  ‘big fat British wedding cake’.

A recent survey of Savills agents revealed that a new kitchen can add up to 7 per cent to the value of a property. However, it's important that it matches the rest of the house: a Boffi kitchen won’t suit a scruffy home. The brand you choose says a great deal: Smallbone is the classic, Bulthaup says efficient and Tsunami says super high end. 

As well as adding value, a kitchen is crucial when it comes to the saleability of a property. It’s a space all buyers identify with, be it a young couple, a growing family or downsizers, so its appeal is far reaching and always the major selling point. Viewers will mentally purchase a house after falling in love with the kitchen – often before they even see the rest of a property. And if a kitchen is in a really poor state, buyers will expect a discount to apply across the whole house – baker or not.

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