Plans to turn a Grade II-listed building into self-contained flats have been submitted.
Medway House, opposite the London Road Retail Park in Maidstone, could be turned into 14 homes.
The proposed development site is just metres from Golding Homes’ Somerfield Terrace.
By the end of 2026, the housing association is set to have built 73 homes where Somerfield Hospital had previously been.
Last week Heritage Designer Homes submitted an application to Maidstone council seeking permission to carry out internal and external works to Medway House to turn it into fourteen flats, and its outbuildings into a further two.
But, this is not the first time plans for it have been lodged. It was approved for a conversion in a separate application in July 2023.
The applicant sought permission for nine one-bed units and seven two-beds.
Heritage Designer Homes had said the conversion could be achieved with no changes to the exterior of the building.
But permission was later refused in March after the council decided “the proposed works” would cause “less than substantial harm to the significance” of the listed building, which was unjustified.
A new application was submitted in July and approved, but after discoveries made during the construction process, another was put forward to the council the following spring seeking to “update the internal floor layout” from the previous plans.
It was refused in June 2024, as was a fourth application submitted in July and turned down just a month later in August.
The latest plans will mark the fifth time the developer has sought permission for the internal and external works.
But earlier this year, the developer held a pre-application discussion with the council to identify an “appropriate way forward that prioritises listed building and makes conversion possible” ahead of lodging plans.
In the application, Heritage Designer Homes declared work began on the development “without consent” in July 2023.
To see more planning applications and other public notices for your area, click here.
Medway House dates back to the 18th century and had originally been the Seven Stars Hotel.
Despite its historic structure, the building was substantially altered in the 1970s and is currently used as offices and has 50 parking spaces.
Most recently, it had been occupied by Brachers law firm, who are now located at Somerfield House, a stone’s throw away in London Road.
