Maidstone Conservatives try to block Reform UK £3m property sale

Any attempt to sell a major property owned by Kent County Council (KCC) to a London borough for overspill accommodation for the homeless could be blocked next week.

Invicta House, next to Maidstone East railway station, will go on the open market as part of the Reform UK administration’s drive to economise.

But Conservatives at Maidstone Borough Council are seeking to stop the £3.3m building being converted into flats without planning permission.

The move would make the property less attractive to London councils seeking to turn Invicta House into a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

Under the move, Maidstone councillors would look to use an Article 4 Direction which can remove “permitted development rights” which currently mean the property can be converted into flats without planning permission.

They argue that the rights can be removed “where it can be demonstrated that such rights would be harmful to local amenity, character or public wellbeing”.

The motion, tabled by councillors Claudine Russell and Lottie Parfitt, states: “The residential redevelopment of Invicta House under existing permitted development rights would pose serious and ongoing risks to local residents, the town centre, and community safety.”

Confidential KCC papers seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in November suggested the “highest value use” for Invicta House would be for high density studio and one-bedroom flats owned by a London council.

The documents did however carry a clear caveat that there was a “strong argument” that the trend of such conversions in Maidstone had adversely affected the town centre and “caused a rise in linked antisocial issues in the past 10 years”.

The motion will go before full council on Wednesday and the councillors hope it will be voted on, but council sources suggest it is just as likely to be referred to the policy advisory committee at a later date.

Reform UK ditched plans to sell County Hall, also known as Sessions House, in favour of retaining it and selling Invicta House instead, but left the HMO a possible future option.

KCC previously said it did not comment on “specific disposal activity and valuation advice which is commercially sensitive”.