A 200-year-old building once active in the pursuit of smugglers and the control of illegal imports is set to be converted into 27 homes – and we got a sneak peek inside.

Developer Mile Property Group is hoping to start work on the Grade-II listed Custom House in Gravesend town centre next spring.

Company director Michael Keckes told KentOnline: “It will be something different, something you cannot buy from the likes of Bellway. It is an amazing building and location.

“I think people will appreciate what we are planning to do. It was doing nothing empty so we wanted to bring it back to life for the area and community.

“The building had been empty for nearly five years and it was running into disrepair and was not bringing any value locally.

“We are looking to change that and leave the site in a better shape than we found it and add value to the local neighbourhood.”

The historic building, in The Terrace, was built by the King’s Office of Works in 1815-16 and served for many years as a base for HM Customs and Excise Service.

It then became the office for HM Revenue and Customs before it closed in 2018 and has been vacant since then.

Mr Keckes then bought the building in 2021 before submitting a major planning application to redevelop it into a mix of apartments and townhouses the following year.

The scheme was approved by Gravesham council officers last month who believe it will “offer a modest but not insignificant contribution towards meeting local housing need” and redevelop “an under-used site”.

As part of the plans, the southern part of the workshop building and corridor link at the first-floor level between the house and outbuildings will be demolished as they are not of historical value.

Custom House will be converted into 13 flats while the coach house, outbuildings, and the old boathouse will become townhouses and a new three-storey building is being built to create 27 homes in total.

In their decision report, officers said Custom House is not to be extended but instead “restored and conserved with minimal alterations”.

It added: “The proposals for the main Custom House would protect the architectural and historic interest of this Grade-II listed building which is of high heritage significance.”

Mr Keckes said he will be looking to retain most of the historical features, such as the original stone and unsupported central staircase designed by Robert Adams, and has designed the flats around this.

He added: “People can expect high-quality finishes and very quirky spaces given that the old Customs House is more than 200 years old.”

Concerns were raised by conservation officers over the use of the other Grade-II listed building on the site, the gazebo, which is set to be repaired and conserved to be used as a communal multiuse space.

They said they could not see how it would have a “viable or sustainable purpose” and questioned how it would be managed.

Planning officers said to address the concerns a new flood defence wall could be designed to allow access to the gazebo and as part of the development, Mr Keckes said the wall is being upgraded.

There will also be landscaping works to create amenity areas for future residents and 15 car parking spaces are also being created.

Mr Keckes added: “We could have put in more properties but we wanted to keep it low density with a lot of space. It is quite rare as others usually want to fill the space.”

No affordable housing will be provided as it was said to be “unviable” but the developer has agreed to pay a £30,000 contribution as part of a section 106 agreement.

“We hope it will bring a unique and luxury form of development to the town,” Mr Keckes added. “I think this is what Gravesend needs.”

Works are expected to start in the spring of next year with the project, which is one of the biggest the company has done, finished by 2025.

It is just one major residential development taking place in Gravesend.

Work has restarted on The Charter which will create 242 homes on the market car park and earlier this year plans were approved for a mixed-use development including 156 flats on the former Lord Street Car Park.

Further down the river, new proposals to add nine extra flats at Clifton Slipways were approved as the developer Quinn Estates said the application was “no longer viable”.

The additional units bring the total up to 236 but in doing so the number of parking spaces has been halved, dropping from 111 to 56.