Maidstone Borough Council is reviving a dormant housing fund to build and manage 1,000 affordable homes across the borough, with 103 already in its portfolio and five new building sites under way.

Residents in Maidstone who are struggling to find an affordable place to live could benefit from the council’s most significant housing push in two decades. The council has approved a target of 1,000 affordable homes to be owned or managed by the council or its housing company, Maidstone Property Holdings Ltd — and it’s reopening a financial account that’s been shut since 2004 to make it happen.

The Housing Revenue Account — a ring-fenced pot councils use to manage housing income, borrowing and spending — was closed when Maidstone transferred its housing stock that year. It will reopen in 2026, giving the council a dedicated financial framework to invest in new homes directly rather than relying entirely on housing associations or private landlords.

According to Maidstone Borough Council, 103 homes are already managed through the programme. Five further development sites have started work, with a combined target of 94 more affordable homes. The sites are Bathstore, Corben’s Yard, land at Granville Road, Britannia House, and the Royal British Legion/Heather House site in Parkwood.

The council says the schemes have received Social Housing Grant funding from Homes England under the Affordable Homes Programme 2021–26, which reduces the amount the council must fund from its own resources. It also holds £2,250,884 in affordable-housing developer contributions — money paid by housebuilders as a condition of planning permission — earmarked for the building programme. Under council planning policy, qualifying residential developments are generally expected to include 30% affordable homes within the Maidstone urban area and 40% outside it.

The council’s case for the programme is straightforward. Direct ownership, it argues, gives the council more control over rent levels, repairs and tenancy standards than leaving provision to the private market.

But the 1,000-home target is openly described as ambitious, and there are real questions about delivery. Not all 1,000 homes have secured planning permission, confirmed funding or a completion date. Reopening the HRA also brings long-term financial responsibilities: borrowing costs, maintenance liabilities and exposure to changes in government rent policy all fall on the council’s books. And individual development sites — including those in Parkwood and elsewhere — are likely to generate local concerns about construction disruption, parking, density and pressure on schools and roads, all of which will be tested through separate planning applications.

Households seeking a council or housing-association home in Maidstone need to join the housing register and bid for properties through Kent Homechoice. The 1,000-home target is a borough-wide ambition and does not guarantee an allocation to any individual applicant. The council has not set a single confirmed completion date for the full programme.

Key information

  • To apply for affordable housing in Maidstone, join the housing register at Kent Homechoice — search “Kent Homechoice” to find the application portal
  • Residents with concerns about individual development sites can comment through Maidstone Borough Council’s planning portal when applications are submitted
  • The Housing Revenue Account is due to reopen in 2026; the council’s Housing Strategy sets out the full programme detail