What is the Article 4 Direction for HMOs in Maidstone?

An Article 4 Direction is the legal mechanism a local planning authority uses to withdraw permitted development rights in a defined area. Maidstone Borough Council operates one that affects Houses in Multiple Occupation.

The mechanics:

• The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (the GPDO) normally lets you change a use from Class C3 (a dwellinghouse) to a small HMO (technically sui generis) without applying for planning permission
• An Article 4 Direction removes that automatic permission in the area it covers
• Once an Article 4 Direction is in force, converting a family home to a small HMO within its boundary requires a full planning application to the local authority — and you cannot rely on the previous "no permission needed" assumption
• Article 4 Directions do not change the underlying planning use classes. A property used as a C3 dwelling remains a C3 dwelling until a new use begins. The Article 4 just means you have to ask first

What this means in practice for Maidstone landlords:

• Maidstone Borough Council adopted an Article 4 Direction covering HMOs — confirm with MBC Planning the precise date it was made and the geographic area it covers (typically the wards most affected by student and professional letting, around Maidstone town centre and parts of the borough where HMO concentrations have grown)
• For a small HMO (3-6 unrelated tenants sharing), the planning application is decided against MBC's HMO Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) — common refusal reasons include the proposal tipping the HMO share above the SPD's saturation threshold in a 50m radius, inadequate amenity space, or insufficient parking/refuse storage
• For larger HMOs (7+ tenants) the planning requirement has always existed because larger HMOs have never been permitted development for this change of use; Article 4 just extends the requirement to smaller HMOs
• A separate HMO licence under the Housing Act 2004 is a parallel requirement, not a substitute for planning consent

Practical effect on the drylining timeline: most Maidstone landlords should assume a 3-6 month planning permission lead time before HMO drylining work begins. The drylining spec itself is set by Building Regulations (Part B fire, Part E sound, Part F ventilation) and is unaffected by whether planning is required — but the order of operations matters: planning first, then Building Control application, then drylining.

We work with Maidstone landlords and their planning consultants to get the drylining specification right first time so the HMO licence and planning permission processes run in parallel rather than sequentially. Ask us for recommendations of local Maidstone planning consultants if you don't already have one.