A new Maidstone Article 4 Direction targets seven major town-centre office buildings and their Class E to residential permitted development rights.
The direction is not yet operative or confirmed. If the remaining steps are completed, it is due to take effect on 30th October 2026.
What the Maidstone Article 4 covers
Maidstone Borough Council made the non-immediate direction on 15th September 2026. Notice was publicised on 18th September, opening a representation period that runs until 5pm on 30th October 2026.
The five sites named in the signed direction are:
- 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
Because two of the sites contain pairs of buildings, the direction reaches seven individual office buildings.
It targets the Class E to C3 right
The direction removes the permitted development right for change of use from Use Class E to Class C3 dwellinghouses. In current Schedule 2 terminology, that is the right in Part 3, Class MA.
Some of these offices were already covered by older directions aimed at the former Class O office-to-residential right. The September 2026 Direction is a new legal instrument aimed at the current Class MA right, rather than simply a routine confirmation of those older directions.
It does not ban residential conversion. Instead, once operative, owners would need planning permission for a conversion that would otherwise rely on Class MA.
The council’s stated concern is that major office-to-residential conversions should be tested through the full planning process, particularly where they affect employment space, housing quality and the wider functioning of Maidstone town centre.
An independent evidence base commissioned by the council identified a relationship between concentrations of office-to-residential conversions, deprivation and housing-quality concerns. The council also wants to retain the ability to consider infrastructure and other planning consequences through applications rather than the narrower prior approval process.
The timing needs care
This is a non-immediate Article 4 Direction. It has been made, but that is not the same as being in force.
The published direction specifies 30th October 2026 as the date it is intended to come into force, but it remains subject to confirmation by Maidstone Borough Council. The confirmation section on the published direction is currently blank.
So, as at 23rd September 2026, the accurate position is:
- Direction made: 15th September 2026
- Notice publicised and representations opened: 18th September 2026
- Representations close: 5pm on 30th October 2026
- Intended operative date: 30th October 2026
- Confirmation: not yet completed
Routine confirmation later would not normally justify a second Planning Geek news story. A failure to confirm, lapse, withdrawal, revocation or material alteration would be a different matter.
The council had previously announced that it intended to pursue the direction. The news now is that the statutory direction has actually been made and the clock is running.
Read Maidstone Borough Council’s signed Article 4 Direction, the formal public notice, the Cabinet report and evidence, and the council’s Article 4 Direction page and Planning Geek’s Article 4 section and Class MA Article 4 map.
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