The Article 4 direction on five town centre office sites is signed. From 30 October, turning any into flats needs planning permission. Comments close then.
Maidstone Borough Council has signed the Article 4 direction on five town centre office properties. From 30 October none of them can be turned into flats without a planning application.
When we reported the plan in August, nothing had happened yet. Cabinet had agreed in July to proceed, the council had announced it, and the council’s own list of Article 4 directions did not include the buildings. That has now changed. The direction was made on 15 September and advertised in the Kent Messenger on 18 September (public notice). Five copies of it, one per site, are now published on the council’s website.
The five properties, as the direction names them
The direction is a single document covering all five, with a plan for each appended:
- Invicta House, Maidstone, ME14 1XX
- Medway Bridge House, Fair Meadow, ME14 1JP
- Meadow House, 28 High Street, ME14 1JF
- Kestrel House and Knightrider House, Knightrider Street, ME15 6LU
- County Gate One and Two, Staceys Street, ME14 1ST
Two of those cover a pair of buildings, so the direction reaches seven buildings on five sites. Invicta House is much the largest, at 7,990 square metres in the council’s evidence base, and it is owned by Kent County Council.
Two addresses differ from the Cabinet report we worked from in August. That listed Meadow House on Medway Street and Medway Bridge House on Fairmeadow. The signed direction gives 28 High Street and Fair Meadow. The postcodes are the same in both.
What it actually does
An Article 4 direction does not ban anything, and it does not stop flats being built. It removes a permitted development right.
The schedule to the direction is narrow. It covers a change of use from Class E, the commercial, business and service class, to Class C3, dwelling houses. Without the direction, that conversion can be done through prior approval, which is a much lighter test than a planning application. With it, the owner has to apply for planning permission and the council can weigh the scheme against its Local Plan, and can seek contributions towards schools, roads and affordable housing.
That was the argument that started this. Councillor Russell’s motion to full Council in December 2025 turned on the fact that a permitted development conversion of Invicta House would collect no Community Infrastructure Levy and no section 106 money.
It is not finished yet
Two things still have to happen, and both are on the same date.
The direction is a non-immediate one, which means it comes into force later than it is made. The document sets that date as 30 October 2026, and says it is “not less than 28 days and not more than two years from the date of this Direction”.
It is also subject to being confirmed by the council under paragraph 1(10) of Schedule 3 to the 2015 order. The confirmation block at the foot of the direction, which carries the common seal and the date, is blank on all five published copies. Until the council confirms it, the direction is made but not settled.
How to have your say, and by when
Representations are open from 18 September to 30 October 2026, and must arrive by 5pm on 30 October:
- by email to LDF@maidstone.gov.uk
- or by post to the Head of Planning and Economic Development, Maidstone House, King Street, Maidstone, ME15 6JQ
The notice is signed by Karen Britton, the council’s Head of Planning and Economic Development. A paper copy of the direction, including the plans, can be seen by appointment through legalqueries@midkent.gov.uk.
There is no right of appeal against an Article 4 direction. It can be challenged by judicial review, and the Secretary of State has the power to modify or cancel one at any point, before or after confirmation.
What it means for you
If you work in one of these buildings, or rent space in one, nothing changes on 30 October. The direction does not affect the use they are in now. It bites only if an owner wants to convert to housing.
If you live near one of them, it means any conversion has to come through the planning system, with a public consultation and a decision you can read, rather than through prior approval. That is the whole point of it, and the reason the council spent money on an evidence base to justify it.
The buildings are all inside the town centre boundary, and the same square mile is covered by the town centre order on begging and street drinking signed on Monday and by the Brewer Street traffic ban. For what is being built across the borough, see our planning applications guide.
Sources
- Maidstone Borough Council: Article 4 directions, which now carries the five signed directions
- The direction as published for Invicta House (PDF), which names all five properties and gives the coming-into-force date
- Public notice, Kent Messenger, 18 September 2026, giving the date the direction was made and the representation period
- Cabinet decision, 22 July 2026 and the officer report (floorspace figures)
- The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Article 4 and Schedule 3
Checked on 23 September 2026. Our earlier report on the council’s decision to proceed is here.
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